There are no plans to replicate the way Christchurch schools have been rationalised elsewhere in the country, Education Minister Hekia Parata has assured primary school principals.

Education Minister Hekia Parata has corrected an answer to Parliament about the resignation of Education Secretary Lesley Longstone.

Education Minister Hekia Parata is refusing to budge on Thursday's Christchurch schools closure and merger deadline in spite of an Ombudsman's Office investigation into the consultation process.

The Education Minister has accepted there's room for improvement after a rare move from the Ombudsman to investigate Education Ministry consultation processes

It is now two months since the Government's trouble-shooting minister, "Mr Fix-it" Steven Joyce, was sent into the Education Ministry to sort out Novopay.

The head of secondary school principals has criticised the Government for not doing enough to help schools combat the growing problem of bullying.

The Ministry of Education is bloated, inefficient and making the jobs of principals more difficult, says the outgoing president of the Secondary Principals' Association.

Preschool educators are calling for an urgent review of government funding after the Herald on Sunday revealed a large number of parents are paying extra for what was supposed to be a free service.

Steven Joyce, the minister in charge of Novopay, says debt collections have ceased following revelations teachers were being chased for overpayments as low as $22.

The Novopay debacle has hit a new low, with revelations the payroll company and debt collectors are chasing teachers for overpayments as low as $22.

Schoolchildren have got worse at basic arithmetic skills since the introduction of new teaching methods designed to lift the country's poor performance in maths.

Almost half of New Zealand preschools are charging parents for what is supposed to be a free government-funded service, according to a Herald on Sunday investigation.

A Herald on Sunday investigation has found nearly half of all early childhood providers surveyed supplement their 20 hours Early Childhood Education with extra "optional charges".

Thousands of Kiwi teachers are at risk of developing serious voice problems because of high noise levels and poor acoustics in classrooms.

The Ministry of Education is reviewing a key test for school pupils amid concerns that it is producing unusually high results.

Education Minister Hekia Parata has been quizzed for the first time since responsibility for the Novopay debacle was taken off her hands.

Call centres set up to deal with teachers' payroll problems have taken more than 800 calls after the first pay round of the school year, with hundreds of problems reported.

Angry parents in a small coastal town claim changes to a school bus route will put children's lives at risk.

The Korean parents of a Year 7 student are being billed more than $6000 by an Auckland school for helping to improve his knowledge of English.

Prime Minister John Key mounted a strong defence of Education Minister Hekia Parata today in a speech during annual Ratana celebrations.

A teacher at a Christian school has admitted to an inappropriate relationship with a student - one of 11 teachers found guilty of serious misconduct last year.