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Let Students Choose to Learn
16 June 2008
Libertarianz Education Spokesman Phil Howison today labeled a Government plan to halve the number of students allowed to leave school early an "arbitrary and unjustified gesture, which shows no respect for the individual needs of students". The number of 15-year-olds allowed to leave school each year to enter training or employment has already been cut from around 4000 to 2000, and the Ministry of Education plans to reduce this figure to 1000 in the next financial year.
Government Schools are Revolting!
10 June 2008
Libertarianz spokesman Phil Howison is completely unsurprised that 15 Auckland principals are "deeply concerned about the future of New Zealand's schools" due to the ill-conceived and unworkable 'Schools Plus' initiative.
Unprecedented State Control of New Zealand Youth
31 January 2008
"Forcing students to stay at school until they are 18 will cause unruly classrooms, bored students, stressed teachers and an increased burden for taxpayers" says Libertarianz education spokesman Phil Howison.
Libertarianz Welcomes Raising of University Standards
03 December 2007
"The Libertarianz Party is pleased to support moves by Auckland University
to raise their standards, with a proposal to eliminate open entry to most
courses by 2009," Libertarianz Education Spokesman Phil Howison said today.
New Curriculum, New Minister, Same Flawed System
08 November 2007
Libertarianz Party Education Spokesman Phil Howison today welcomed Chris Carter as the new Minister of Education, and offered three suggestions for Carter to improve New Zealand schools. "With a new minister and a new curriculum, this is a great opportunity for change in our dysfunctional education system," said Mr. Howison.
New Curriculum = More Incompetence and Deception
08 November 2007
"If anyone actually believes that the new curriculum can improve the
intellectual standard of New Zealand children then they really have been
sucked in," said Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Associate Education Spokesman
today. "This curriculum is mere window dressing for our shoddy,
incompetent and deceptive education system, whose victims, as always, are
the pupils."
Clark The Jailer Adds An Extra Year
05 November 2007
"Helen Clark's suggestion that the school leaving age may be raised is yet another example of how much she hates children." Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Education Spokesman, said today.
Parents Must Be Allowed to Choose Qualifications
23 March 2007
"The news that several prominent schools are considering offering alternative international qualifications, in response to parental dissatisfaction with NCEA, was completely predictable" Libertarianz Education Spokesman Phil Howison said today. "Parents have good reasons to be concerned about NCEA - but the harsh response from the education bureaucracy suggests simple contempt for the rights of parents."
Doctors May Stop Discounting Fees
23 March 2007
Libertarianz spokesman Richard McGrath today wondered whether his medical colleagues would shorten consultation times and cease discounting fees in response to the government's persecution of general practitioners who want to raise their charges.
Dump Violent Students, Says Libz
01 October 2006
"Violence has no place in schools," Phil Howison, Libertarianz Education Spokesman said today, agreeing with Graham Young, president of the Secondary Principals' Association, that "The basic assumption that every teenager is fit to be educated in a mainstream secondary school should be debated."
Outstanding Teachers Deserve Better
04 September 2006
"Paying outstanding teachers the same as their less competent colleagues is unjust," Phil Howison, Libertarianz Education Spokesman said today, in response to recent debate about performance-based pay for teachers. "A Massey University report shows that principals and school board members agree that performance-based pay is a good idea, and a significant number of teachers support the idea. Another academic study suggests that the wider public is also concerned; the unjust teacher pay scale actually reduces the status of teaching as a profession, making recruitment harder."
Secondary Education A Straitjacket For Students
31 July 2006
The Libertarianz Party questions the need for the new draft curriculum for schools, released today by the Ministry of Education. "The curriculum is an example of centralised, bureaucratic control over schools, denying freedom of choice for parents," said Phil Howison, Libertarianz Education Spokesman.
NCEA Lessons Learned? Yeah Right!
05 July 2006
"The overwhelmingly negative response by students to NCEA, subject of a recent Ministry of Education report, was entirely predictable," Phil Howison, Libertarianz Education Spokesman and former NCEA student, said today. "The NZQA wastes $40 million dollars of our money every year - and for what? The same problems keep recurring, even after endless reviews."
More Big Brother in the School Yard
02 February 2006
"A press release issued by Physical Education New Zealand (PENZ), shows the standard mindset of people and groups, who can't help but interfere with the minds and lives of New Zealand children." This was from Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman for Education Deregulation today.
QPEC Champions of Moronism
09 November 2005
"The Quality Public Education Coalition (QPEC) need to pull their paranoid heads in," said Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today.
Bugger the Schools & Bugger ERO
28 October 2005
"Bugger the teachers, bugger the schools and bugger ERO," said Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today, in response to a PPTA press release calling for ERO to get off the backs of teachers and schools.
Orauta Holds Off Ministry Thugs
15 September 2005
"Orauta School remain defiant in the face of Hard Labour's eviction notice, and Libertarianz will keep fighting for their right to educate their children as they see fit," said Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today.
Killing Bureaucracy so Schools can Flourish
13 September 2005
"Despite the ever increasing funding that goes into our state schooling system, it is little wonder that schools are only fed the crumbs while the bureaucracy that controls them thrives." This was from Peter Osborne today releasing the Libertarianz Education policy, following a report from the Council for Educational Research, showing that costs within the state education sector are spiralling and that more parents are reneging on the donation fee.
Voting for More Parasites This Election
12 September 2005
"The complaint by the state-worshipping and misnamed Quality Public Education Coalition (QPEC) that Hard Labour's increase in its Step Up scholarships does not go far enough is a stark reminder that the parasites amongst us are alive and very healthy," says Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today.
Stop Buggering About, Dump the NZQA and The Ministry
05 August 2005
"What a waste of space the State Services Commission is. The findings in its report on the education sector are not telling the public anything they didn't already know. What is surprising though is the public's lame acceptance of the status quo. New Zealanders need to snap out of it fast. Things are not going to improve while the state is in charge." This was from Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today.
Bribery and Corruption. OK By Student Associations
28 July 2005
"The scrapping of interest on student loans, promised by Hard Labour, is an absolute disgrace and the response from the various student associations across the country shows that they are just as bereft of any sense of decency." This was from Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today.
Election Bribes For Student Debt? No Chance
26 July 2005
"While New Zealand University Student's Association (NZUSA) spokesmen Andrew Kirton and Camilla Belich are banging on at National to come clean over its tertiary education policy, we at Libertarianz have nothing to hide." This was from Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today.
Writing On The Wall For State Education
20 July 2005
"Trevor Mallard's re-jigging of the education sector is just another patch job for an industry that is well on the road to collapse. This is no thanks to his incompetence and that of his bureaucrats," said Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Education Deregulation Spokesman today.
A 'whiff of Orwell' hangs over NZ schools
22 June 2005
"News that children will be receiving a course teaching them right from wrong from an organisation that understands neither is wrong on its face," says Libertarianz Hamilton East Candidate, Robin Thomsen. "There is more than a whiff of Orwell about it all."
Nanny's Extravagance Has No Limit
21 June 2005
"While hardworking tax victims struggle to make ends meet, they could be forgiven for being thoroughly pissed off with the Electoral Commission, squandering $30,000 of stolen loot on teaching awards to teachers who use the general election as the basis of classroom study." This was from Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Education Spokesman today.
Orauta a Good School
12 June 2005
"The persecuted school Orauta is a bright, cheery place with a friendly, positive learning environment, and bright, energetic, inquisitive and well-behaved children," says Libertarianz Hamilton East Candidate, Robin Thomsen. "Orauta School is everything that state schools are not, and it's probably this contempt of success which is the reason for the Ministry of Education's reprehensible attempt to close down the school."
Libertarianz Gets Set to Support Orauta School in Court
09 June 2005
"In an appalling display of intimidation, the government is set to take parents in the community of Orauta to court tomorrow (Friday). The 'crime' they are charged with is little more than teaching their own children. Libertarianz supports these Orauta parents every step of the way!" says Libertarianz Northland candidate Julian Pistorius, who has organised a courtroom protest "to raise awareness of the injustice of honest people being done over by a Nanny State."
Green Tertiary Policy Indistinguishable From Theft
06 June 2005
"The Greens are resorting to outright bribery in a bid to return to Parliament after the next election, trying to woo tertiary students with dubious promises of a free education," says Libertarianz Hamilton East candidate, Robin Thomsen. "Nandor Tanczos would like to dress up the student loan scheme as 'intergenerational theft', although the system they would replace it with is simple full-scale burglary."
Signs of Awakening Freedom
01 June 2005
Following a recent survey by the Maxim Institute showing most parents agree that education decisions should sit with teachers and parents, Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Spokesman for Education Deregulation says, "This comes as no surprise and should be a warning to all political parties."
Academia Brainless Over Tertiary Savings Scheme
11 May 2005
"If comments emanating from areas of the tertiary education sector are anything to go by, the future for New Zealand looks very bleak indeed," says Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education, today, "and I don't mean the reactions to the Te Wananga o Aotearoa debacle either."
Wananga Woes Demonstrate Tertiary Failure
09 May 2005
"Trevor Mallard's 'short-term loan' of $20 million of taxpayers' money (with more to come) on top of over $200 million already poured down this educational drain - along with (possibly) appointing a commissioner to oversee the Wananga and (maybe) an advisory group to work alongside the putative commissioner and the existing Mallard-appointed Crown Manager - is greeted as expected by Ken Shirley, Bill English and others with the joy of being vindicated in their attacks on the Wananga and its management," says Libertarianz Education Deregulation Spokesman Peter Osborne.
Thuggery at School OK for Labour
06 May 2005
"At midday today Orauta School will find themselves the victims of government thuggery from this Labour Government. However the Ministry of Education have chosen to hire guns from the private sector to do their dirty work for them," noted Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today. He and other Libertarianz supporters will be at the school today to support the school trustees on this day of shame for state education.
Kidicorp Position Themselves as Enemies of Freedom
27 April 2005
"Kidicorp have pinned their colours to the mast and deserve to be exposed for the acquiescing selfservers that they are," says Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today.
Nats Education Policy, a Right Yawner
14 April 2005
"The National Party's newly released education policy is to be commended for its move toward greater educational freedom but it still remains hugely restrictive," says Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education in response to Don Brash's announcement.
You Want Dictatorship? Watch this Ministry
13 April 2005
"If New Zealanders want proof that this Labour Government wants total control over our children and are prepared to sink to any level to achieve it then they only need to watch the Castro-style bullying the Ministry of Education are presently applying to Orauta School at present." This was from Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today.
Orauta School Must Stand Firm
05 April 2005
"Orauta School must stand firm and remain in open defiance of this Government and the Ministry of Education," says Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education, in response to Ministry of Mis-Education orders to close.
Labour culpable as Te Wananga feathers its nest
18 February 2005
"Te Wananga o Aotearoa increasingly looks like a massive taxpayer funded scam that should stop," announced Libertarianz Leader Bernard Darnton today.
NCEA Arse-Covering - Standard Practice
18 February 2005
With accusations flying of a cover up by Trevor Mallard and David Benson Pope over the NCEA scholarship debacle, some people just wonder what all the fuss is about. Said Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today. "This is what politicians do. As the joke goes: 'How do you know when a politician is lying?' Answer: 'Their lips are moving.'"
NZQA Will Get Incompetence Reward - You Watch
11 February 2005
"What more evidence do people need to realise that education must be independent of the State? The recent failures of the NCEA and scholarship exams are a stark example of the Libertarianz case for separation," says Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education. "But just watch as this Government rewards incompetence by increasing the amount of taxpayer money wasted on the incompetent Ayatollahs of the NZQA."
Dump the NCEA? Dump The Whole Stinkin' Ministry
02 February 2005
Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education today applauded Act MP, Deborah Coddington's call to allow school dumping of the NCEA.
Greens' Bland and Dank Utopia? No Thanks!
01 December 2004
"Green MP Metiria Turei makes some valid observations in regards to New Zealand's so called free education system but predictably she comes to some incredibly irrational conclusions," said Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Spokesman For Education Deregulation today.
State Education Nothing To Crow About
15 November 2004
"Congratulations Mr Mallard. You've accomplished what no other Education Minister has ever managed to achieve before. Your comprehensive and total control over the education market is complete." This dubious compliment was given by Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman For Education Deregulation today in response to Mr Mallards trumpeting of 'Early Childcare and Education Awareness Week'.
Illiteracy Part of Willing Legacy
24 March 2004
"Trevor Mallard's announcement of a major extension to literacy programmes for primary and secondary schools is nothing more than just another desperate PR job for which the taxpayer is once again being screwed," says Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Spokesman for Education Deregulation. "More of the same failed nonsense as before," is what he says disparagingly of the new 'programmes.'
You Damn Well Voted For It
05 February 2004
Bill English makes an interesting point when he says that Labour's "revamp of the school network review has left thousands of parents angry," but when he notes parents' "sullen acceptance" of these closures he says more about the electorate than he does about Mallard. So says Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman for Education Deregulation.
Students Demand More For Nothing
31 January 2004
The NZUSA protest at Parliament calling for unemployed students to receive the dole over summer was condemned as "a mass exercise in scabbing and irresponsibility" by Libertarianz
Deputy Stephen Berry. "These students seem to think that
others should pay for their life-decisions. I say that nobody else is
responsible for their choice to pursue further education
other than themselves."
Curriculum = Mind Control
01 October 2003
"Calls from the Maxim Institute for a curriculum re-write show that Maxim are more interested in pushing their religious ideology than they are in promoting a decent education system," Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education, said today.
Steal-and-Bribe Means More Failure
16 May 2003
"Mr Cullen's increase in funding to the education sector comes as no surprise, as he is only continuing along the same lines as countless previous budgets," says Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Spokesman to Deregulate Education. "This budget simply reapplies the policy of Steal and Bribe - you would think by now that people might have awakened to the fact they are being bribed with their own money."
Mind Control - By Who's Edict?
01 May 2003
"Act MP Deborah Coddington's assertions on Trevor Mallard's cynical attempts to spend another $167 million more of stolen tax money on a patch up job is spot on. But her own ideas on what constitutes a decent education system are ill-conceived and smack of yet another politician using force to formulate her own grand ideas , and other peoples money to pay for them." This was from Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Spokesman for Education Deregulation today.
Put the old dog down
20 April 2003
"Julie Pettett wants to add a dose of fleas to an education system that is already a dog," said a Libertarianz spokesman today. Speaking in response to a proposal put forward by the President of the Aotearoa Tertiary Students Association (ATSA) for an 'International Students Reference Group,' Libertarianz Spokesman for Education Deregulation Peter Osborne agrees that international students do have the right to be heard, but he says Ms Pettett's solution will only create an even more ineffective bureaucracy.
The State Killed The Apprentice
20 April 2003
"The President of the ASTE is correct when she links the destruction of the apprenticeship system as part of the leaky buildings problem, but her solutions for fixing the building industry's woes are flawed and short sighted,"says builder Peter Osborne, who is also Libertarianz Associate Spokesman for Education Deregulation.
Bankrupt Tertiary Strategy
20 April 2003
"Over a century of State education, and all we can produce are grasping moral bankrupts," said Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Associate Spokesman for Education Deregulation today. He was responding to numerous comments made in response to the Government's new Tertiary Education Strategy.
Teachers get what they asked for
20 April 2003
"You get what you ask for," says Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Associate Spokesman for Education Deregulation, reacting to the PPTA's announcement that they had rejected the latest short-term pay settlement from Mr Mallard. Teachers have never been completely satisfied says Osborne, who suggests teachers begin to understand the source of their problem. "The problem lies," he says, "in what it is you have been asking for."
Business NZ Takes 'Neville Chamberlain Approach' to ECE Report
20 April 2003
"Business New Zealand's Simon Carlaw is spot-on in saying that private early childhood centres have been unfairly treated in a research paper released by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. However, once again Businesss New Zealand is too spineless to really call a spade a spade," says Peter Osborne, the Libertarianz Associate Spokesman for Education Deregulation.
Hail Maharey's Underclass
20 March 2003
"If Mr Maharey was truly genuine about his desire to improve skill and knowledge in New Zealand's work force he would move aside and leave it to the FREE market," said Peter Osborne, Libertarianz Education Deregulation Spokesman, today. "The very sad irony," says Osborne, is that the policies of this government are the direct cause of a worsening underclass. An underclass that has been conned by short sighted bribes in return for votes."
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