Nearly half of the Government's Cabinet ministers send or have sent their children to elite schools which are unlikely to feel the effects of changes to classroom sizes.
A Herald survey of ministers found that at least seven of the sixteen Cabinet ministers with school-aged children sent all or some of their children to private schools. Four ministers refused to say where their children attended or could not respond, and five ministers said they had enrolled their kids in state schools.
Education Minister Hekia Parata announced as part of the Budget the new standardised ratio for Years 2 to 10 would be 27.5 students per teacher - up four students per teacher.
Critics of the changes to class sizes point out the National-led Government has doubled state subsidies to private schools in its time in charge, allowing them to keep class sizes smaller.
Quality Public Education Coalition chairman John Minto argued in the Herald yesterday that ministers had enrolled their children in schools which were unaffected by the proposed changes.
