A former principal and her husband who scammed $30,000 from a decile one school have abandoned their appeal after a judge told them they may be jailed.

The number of young school children achieving or bettering the national standard in reading has fallen or flat-lined in half of the country's regions.

How open Kiwi students are to international cultures and opportunities could be measured as an important part of the school curriculum.

New Zealand women are earning thousands of dollars less than their male counterparts just five years after graduation, a report reveals.

The Serious Fraud Office says it has found no criminal offending at Te Pataka Ohanga, the subsidiary of the Kohanga Reo National Trust.

How much graduates in different fields of study can expect to earn has been revealed. So what should school students be choosing to study?

A teacher at a now defunct school created a "truly horrific environment" for pupils, including threatening to cut off boys' penises, a Teachers Council decision reveals.

A former teacher at one of the country's top secondary schools has appeared in court charged with committing an indecent act at the school.

One of New Zealand's first charter schools is urgently searching for teachers and has turned to outside help for lessons just over a month after opening its doors.

Editorial: To obtain the right answers, it is necessary to ask the right questions. Asking the wrong questions invites only obfuscation or a muddying of the waters.

The distraught parents of an infant who needed hospital treatment after being repeatedly bitten by a 2-year-old boy at a preschool.

A principal and her husband siphoned off more than $30,000 from a decile one school in South Auckland and splashed out on themselves.

There will be less chance of dodgy teachers resurfacing at other schools under legislation to be introduced in Parliament today, Education Minister Hekia Parata says.

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.

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.

PM John Key is today expected to unveil a plan that will allow the boards of some poorly performing schools to hire high performing principals with big pay incentives.

Education Minister Hekia Parata is preparing for an embarrassing drop in New Zealand's education rankings in an international survey next week.

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.