He played 55 internationals for the All Blacks. Now Michael Jones is stepping up to lead West Auckland's Pacific community and agonising over going into politics.

The Govt's plan to cut Education Ministry backroom staff would force paperwork on to frontline workers, the Public Service Association says.

Once parents join Education Minister Anne Tolley in the national standards debate, she wins, as was evident yesterday.

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

Police have released the name of the student found dead at King's College in Otahuhu, south Auckland, yesterday.

A 15-year-old college boy was found dead by his schoolmates in his boarding house this morning.

A 13-year-old Brisbane schoolboy has been remanded in custody over the stabbing death of a fellow student.

New Zealand's once-yawning gap in student achievement between schools in rich and poor areas has closed by almost a third in the past five years.

Education Minister Anne Tolley has defended herself against claims she has not been coping with the demands of her education portfolios.

The Ministry of Education was forced to intervene in almost 50 at-risk schools last year, more than four times the amount from 2007.

A school in Huntly paid out nearly $400,000 in undeclared benefits to its principal, an Education audit found.

Greater powers are needed to censure private schools which are not up to scratch, the Law Commission has recommended.

Five students have had their rugby dreams restored after an appeal committee overturned "manifestly excessive" playing bans for a violent brawl.

Five students from Auckland's Kelston Boys High School banned from playing rugby for their part in a brawl with rival Auckland Grammar School players have had their sentences drastically reduced.

Only 2 per cent of high schools are ready for an extensive overhaul of the national curriculum in five months, a report says.

A rugby disciplinary committee member is accused of not declaring a friendship with the father of the sole boy acquitted in a violent brawl.