International students are paying tens of thousands of dollars to attend our state schools - funding that is crucial to lessons, teacher development and other support for locals.

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.

Looking over the curriculum for Bible in Schools, what is most striking is how innocuous it is, writes Dr Paul Moon. It makes its critics appear self-righteous and doctrinaire.

An estimated 10,300 new entrants are just starting school - and beginning to learn the "three Rs". And their parents will soon have to learn to grapple with the fourth R: Reports.

About 30 boys are being pulled out of class and made to sit in the school hall while staff at Whangarei Boys' High School chase up outstanding fees.

Thousands of Kiwi parents have a new shopping dilemma this year - they will need to buy a tablet or other digital device for their child, writes Diana Clement.

Education Minister Hekia Parata said this morning members of the wider education profession would play a key role in further developing school leadership initiative.

A student learning expert has suggested a top-level review of the schooling system after international testing showed 15-year-olds had slipped in maths, science and reading.

PISA envy is rife at the moment as we find NZ has slipped. This should be a shot of reality and force us not to be complacent with the status quo.

Editorial: It is highly appropriate that NZ officials have been to Asia to identify the key points of the successful programmes there. But implementing their findings on what works will require political will.

Should we worry about our ranking? No, not per se, writes Dr Fiona Ell. Focusing on one number, one position in the race, who our neighbours on the list are is missing the point.

New international test results in reading, science and maths show that Australian education is going backwards - a declining trend that has been going on for the past decade, writes Dr Sue Thomson.

New Zealand educational achievement has dropped significantly in the core subjects of science, maths and reading, according to a OECD report.

Primary and intermediate school teachers are being overworked and some subjects are prioritised at the expense of others, says a study into National Standards.

The Government is providing $10.5 million in extra school funding to improve student achievement in maths and science.

Teachers of students as young as 5 will soon have access to new sexuality education guidelines addressing issues such as identity and relationships.

New Zealand is among the top 10 best places to be a woman, according to a worldwide report on gender equality.

Every New Zealand classroom will soon have access to digital devices - opening up huge learning opportunities, but also a risk of another "digital divide".

New Zealand's school curriculum has been hollowed out of knowledge as academic learning is increasingly abandoned for a misguided focus on skills and the process of learning, an academic claims.

Of the kids who start at Takanini School each year, only 20 per cent have had early childhood education experience.