The Government will double funding to tackle truancy after a survey of schools found more than 30,000 children a day are skipping classes.

Two teenagers forced to take drug tests at their high school deserve apologies for their inappropriate and unfair treatment, say their parents.

Tertiary students who fail more than half their courses may lose their student loans as the Government moves to crack down on abuse.

Finance Minister Bill English says decisions will be made mid-year on whether to use public-private partnerships to build new schools and a new prison.

Hesitation is death in Parliament. Hesitation suggests a minister is not on top of his or her portfolio, writes John Armstrong.

The Government is taking aim at lazy students and courses with high dropout or failure rates in looming reforms in tertiary education.

A high school renowned for producing a string of Kiwi sporting stars has been accused of inappropriately drug-testing some students.

Almost three-quarters of parents support the Government's controversial national achievement standards for primary and intermediate students.

The Govt's approach to national standards has shifted from benchmarks to help students to performance measures for teachers, the NZ Principals' Federation says.

Albany High equalises software access.

John Key and Anne Tolley justified a $200,000 taxpayer-funded public relations campaign to sell national standards.

The Govt will spend $200,000 on a nationwide letter and brochure drop to inform people about new educations standards in place from today.

Today marks the beginning of the school year and the start of National Standards, but it should be business as usual for children heading to class.

John Key is trying to shut down concerns about national standards by saying decisions on how the data will be publicly reported are too far away to worry about.