Respectful attitudes to sex would become a core part of sex education in schools under an overhaul recommended to the Govt.

Finding the right school is not an easy task. There are many complications, not least the relevance of data available on each school, and ongoing debate about the value of the qualifications offered.

In the second of our three-part education series we investigate what's gone wrong - and how more time with better-trained teachers could help our kids lead the world again.

New Zealand's most at-risk school students should receive similar funding as those who are attending controversial charter schools, those involved in alternative education say.

The Government is working towards more charter or partnership schools beyond the five already approved Prime Minister John Key said ahead of the opening of the first one today.

A top Auckland secondary school is asking parents to shell out more than $1000 when their sons return to class in two weeks' time.

New "executive" and "expert" positions in schools could have wide-reaching effects - including more-energised teachers and reduced competition between schools.

National has managed to win praise from many of its usual critics - even the teacher unions - for its latest policy to try to lift student achievement.

Parents are fuming at early-childhood education centres that charge for public holidays, when the doors are shut and children are not able to attend.

Older long-term unemployed people look set to lose out in a radical reshuffle of foundation education which will give higher priority to young people.

A delay in getting at-risk youth back into education can have life-long consequences, education experts say.

The Education Minister has defended national standards despite an independent report which found teachers get them right only 60 per cent of the time.

Nearly half of the millions of dollars mistakenly overpaid to teachers by Novopay has not been given back - with repayment rates as low as $2.50 per week agreed on.

A primary school's board of trustees has been taken over by the Govt, after refusing to implement controversial National Standards data - a move labelled alarming and heavy-handed.

Schools are illegally pressuring difficult students to leave and an independent authority needs to be set up to review expulsions and exclusions, a community law advocate says.

Parents should have the option to drop their 4-year-old off at school, says a principal who is set to open a preschool on his school's grounds.

Schools are bracing for the biggest changes to their funding in seven years, as officials measure how rich or poor their pupils' families are.

At 3pm every weekday it’s a circus outside most primary schools in the country as parents vie for a parking space so they can collect their children.

Children's marks in National Standards will be artificially lowered this year because last year's assessment was too easy.

The report plans for the creation of a "Finishing School for New Zealand Political Aspirants - the Cabbage Boat Academy", writes Toby Manhire.

The Government might look at merging the boards of small neighbouring schools that struggled to get enough suitable candidates for this week's nationwide board of trustee elections.

Editorial: The Teachers Council, the registration body that ought to speak with the authority of the New Zealand Law Society or Medical Association, never offers a view on educational issues.

School children are being taught how to read and write by watching Hollywood blockbusters with subtitles.

The Government will invest $80.5 million of operating funding over four years to lift educational achievement, including funding for behaviour programmes.

United Future leader Peter Dunne has said he won't support a bill to introduce charter schools. However, the bill will go ahead with National, Act and Maori Party support.