Primary and secondary education

Description

Background and history

Given the scope of this document, this section focuses on physical school buildings rather than the educational services they are designed to deliver.[125]

The last major education reform was “Tomorrow's Schools”, introduced in the late 1980s. This moved the administration and management of schools and their property from the then Department of Education and its Education Boards to Boards of Trustees to enable schools to become self-managing. From a school property perspective, schools became custodians of their property responsible for operational decision-making, while the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) remained the steward, policy setter and funder of school property.

From 1999 to 2004, the number of students increased considerably. However, there has generally been a decline since. Total student numbers by year are shown in the following figure:

Figure 50: Total student numbers: 1999-2009 (July figures)

Source: www.educationcounts.govt.nz

In July 2008, total enrolment was 758,094, which was 0.2% less than in 2007. Primary and intermediate school rolls accounted for most of this decrease (down 0.6%), while there were roll increases for the Correspondence School (up 4.1%), composite schools (up 1.5% ), and special schools (up 0.5%).[126]

Assets

At 1 July 2009, there were 2,178 state, 327 state integrated and 96 private schools in New Zealand.[127]

Institutional arrangements

The Ministry is responsible for the regulatory arrangements for the education system as a whole, the provision of public schooling and for over $10 billion of Crown assets.

Under the Education Act 1989, New Zealanders aged between five and 20 have the right to a school-based education, and the Ministry has the power to set:

• national education goals (reflecting government policy objectives for the school system)
• administrative guidelines for schools (set out in codes and principles of conduct), and
• terms and conditions for land and buildings occupied by school boards (including standards of maintenance, capital works, and minimum health and safety requirements). In addition, all school property must comply with the building code at the time of its construction, and with legislation related to the use of public buildings.

Each state school has a school board, which reports a Ten-Year Property Plan to the Ministry. School boards are responsible for the planning and day-to-day management of school property, including maintenance and project management of property projects.

Funding and pricing

The Vote Education operating budget is $10.8 billion for 2009/10. A large component of this is for non-property costs such as teacher salaries and school operational grants.[128] As part of the operating budget, a capital charge is levied on school land and buildings through the Ministry.

Funding is provided to schools in five-year increments (through the Five-Year Agreement process) in line with the priorities set out in their Property Plan.

The property funding provided to each state school is largely determined by the number of children attending it and the condition of the property. The majority of capital funding is allocated on formula-based budgets through a school's Five-Year Agreement, with additional funding available in exceptional circumstances. Schools have discretion around the priorities for spending property capital and operating funding (subject to some considerations, such as prioritising health and safety and building within space entitlements).

New school site purchases and construction are managed directly by the Ministry, which sets up the Establishment Board of Trustees and provides a Governance Facilitator to work with the Board to develop the school's education programme. For the construction, the Ministry has an approved budget which provides the design/build tender contract. The Ministry employs a Client Representative to ensure construction is within Budget, and to work with the Board and Contractor to ensure that the educational design features desired by the Board are, where possible, included within the design and construction. Other procurement options are also being investigated.

Planning

The Ministry prepares 10-year capital asset management (CAM) plans for Core Crown CAM purposes, and is looking to prepare these with a 20-year horizon. In addition, the Ministry annually develops its School Property Capital Plan, which looks ahead 3-5 years.