Pokies payouts no dilemma for principal

By STUART DYE

John Davies says gaming trusts are doing a huge amount for the education of New Zealanders.

The Blockhouse Bay Primary School principal has used grants from small groups such as the Portage Trust to pay for "luxuries" such as a computer laboratory, sports equipment, televisions, learning resources and property development.

He says the Government demands quality education but fails to provide "quality funding" to support that demand.

Many parents would probably not contemplate the amount of money that came to schools from the pokies.

And although Mr Davies, who has been principal at the West Auckland school for 17 years, admits it is a moral dilemma, it is not one he will lose sleep over.

"My job is to deliver a high-quality education to the kids and if I have to get pokie money to do that, I will."

The decile 8 school needs to raise an extra $350,000 each year and so relies on parental contributions, foreign fee-paying students and, increasingly, pokies money.

Schools would be in a bad way without the extra cash, said Mr Davies. The money the Government provided "is simply not enough for basics that schools need".

"It is not funding for quality, it is funding for adequacy."