Our 2011 election manifesto - Labour Party

in years to come, with the primary school population in particular expected to surpass
500,000 by 2015 according to Education Counts.
Labour will work alongside communities in making decisions about the use of scarce
resources in building, developing and maintaining schools.
Prior to the 2008 election, the National Party signalled their intention to make use of „publicprivate
partnerships‟ in building schools. PPPs are unproven and untested in New Zealand,
and such agreements have run into trouble overseas, with cost blow-outs and poor quality
building and maintenance.
The National Government has announced contracts to build two schools in Hobsonville by
PPP.
Labour will cancel existing PPP contracts where the Government can do so without
incurring legal liability.
Labour will not pursue PPPs in the education sector.
Supporting Canterbury‟s recovery
While they attempt to recover from the devastating earthquakes, Cantabrians need stability
and certainty in as many aspects of their lives as possible. In order to return to some kind of
normality, it is important for both students and parents that schools are open for business.
Schools and ECE services will have an important role in bringing together communities
under immense pressure.
ECE services in particular have suffered a decline in their rolls and, as a result, a decline in
their funding. There are a number of community-operated ECE centres, particularly in the
poorer parts of Canterbury, that are struggling as a result of the earthquakes.
Labour will provide transitional support to earthquake-affected schools and
community-operated early childhood centres in Canterbury until the end of 2012,
funded out of the $5.5 billion earthquake recovery fund.
After the election, Labour will meet with the affected schools in Canterbury to determine the
support they need.
Many costly school property repairs are not covered by the Ministry of Education‟s insurance
policy. Repairing earthquake damage could run into the tens of thousands of dollars to
replace things like boiler rooms, pathways, courts, and storm water systems. Schools will
have to find money within their own budgets and decide what they can afford to fix.
Currently, some schools are barely fit for use and Canterbury‟s children need a habitable
learning environment.
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