There was the lie in parliament swearing on the bible that she consulted with a Christchurch special needs group about the proposed change to targeted funding.
That, even for her, was unusually reckless.
The signs of increasing growing desperation about the so-called ‘big shake-up’ – but that is only a small part of the miasma over which Hekia is responsible.
She knows, except for some academic and principal cronies, she won’t be missed, and that she will go down in education as the worst minister of education ever, unparalleled in never allowing a fact go by without seriously interfering with it.
Deep down she knows history will condemn her, the most chilling condemnation, in particular, will be her betrayal of Maori children with her pernicious 18% rhetoric; and the most horrendous, in general, creating education mayhem with her leadership style; locked as she is into an inability, because of her personality, to introduce education change, even in the rare circumstance where it meant good, without revelling in the power of imposition and thereby destroying possibility of that good.
With all this I said ‘Hah!’ get ready for the profile spin, she will be fearful for her job.
And on 27 September there it was in the NZ Herald; what a strange foundling of an article it was by Nicholas Jones. He had obviously been called in by Hekia’s media team and handed the bundle.
There was a potted history of the girl from Ruatoria being marvellous scattered throughout the article, along with bits and pieces of the so-called shake-up and some comment from education spokespeople.
It had the structure of a squashed jellyfish
So there it was, ostensibly about the big shake-up but really about Parata trying to come across as the Ruatoria girl next door: we get loads of family references, for instance, crossing the Waiapu on horseback to go to the rugby, her secondary school principal father, and a lot of attention to All Blacks (even an actual tweet sending best wishes to the World Cup squad), then a reference to Waikato university days and ‘helping to get the Hamilton game called off’ (sorry Hekia I was there, and all the other weeks before, noticed Donna but not you). This attempt at making her a real person slithers about for three long pages.
The article in its formlessness and idiosyncrasy unprecedented surely in newspaper history.
Something is up and that indicates Hekia is in danger of coming down.
For Hekia to use this populist, down-home stuff to distract from the way she has ripped the heart out of New Zealand schools, especially primary schools, and to further her plans for more rough surgery (better called the ‘big shakedown’), demonstrates she senses a problem of tenure, and she knows it.
She knew there was a Herald article in the offing demonstrating that NCEA is an education fraud of her construction. And she knew that the article wasn’t even going to get to the real point of the NCEA shambles – that of manipulation within the manipulation described, and it being symptomatic of whole-of-system failure.
For all that million dollar smile and oleaginous demeanour what a cold-hearted minister of education she has been. In her pursuit of putting down teachers and public education she can’t help herself from, in the end, hurting children, especially vulnerable children. I have mentioned Maori children above (oh yes let them eat cake); now, once again, children with special needs. She once notoriously hinted that special needs children are a result of poor teaching and teachers should just get on with it; and here we have the miserly funded targeted provision, but even more, if bulk funding came in, it would be special needs children that would suffer most.
She knows but doesn’t care.
And there are other things in the offing aren’t there Hekia? you know what I mean. And I don’t mean the mess that is clusters and the questions Treasury is asking about them.
“Kelvin Smythe was a primary school teacher, teachers college lecturer, and senior inspector of schools. He has been battling the neoliberal agenda in New Zealand education since 1989.”
She’s part of the evil empire. get rid asap.
I remember Ms Parata a couple of years ago hooking up to the notion that a couple of years of having very good teachers would overcome the affects of poverty.
The reality of that is bewildering. On Monday waif goes along to school at 8.30 in the morning, out of the desperation of their home, to work with a skilled enthusiastic, positive adult. At 3.00 the bell rings and she goes back to the real world. And Tuesday and Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday. If she gets there. So the injection in 32 of the 168 hours of some of the weeks was the magic, the antidote to the other 136 hours.
If the family didn’t have to move somewhere else.
(As an aside, if the teacher did not have the child reach the National Standards, the teacher had failed, the school had failed.)
It is stunning that Hekia Parata is the Minister of Education in a country like ours.
Of course she is the most perfect person to be the Minister of Education for the John Key/Bill English government.
At the same time Hekia Parata is the least suitable person in the world to have anything to do with children and learning and an education system.
Bravo
I’ll support teachers over politicans any day
Poor Hekia – in denial and so unaware of the real issues and real problems. Parata thinks she is so clever. She is a good little mouthpiece, a phony woman spewing superficial nonsense. She has bought into the govt.s B.S. as being a good thing and she defends the madness. She is so sucked into being a good little puppet and has bought the Natzi party’s insane plans and goes along with the program that clearly has damaged the quality of many lives and quality education. Poor poor poor Christchurch – what a shame.
She laughs and deflects and when she speaks people cringe. Many see right through her mask, the phony mask she wears.
She actually believes the games and passes the buck quite often. She is a master at deflection and not being genuine and REAL and warm and supportive.
Poor students and teachers and principles and parents who have to deal with her nonsense. The sooner she is put out to pasture, the BETTER ! ! !
Andrew – someone needs to take over the education system because it is a total failure. For the most part, Kids hate school and can not wait to get out or leave. There are a few great schools but the Charter system is taking over and putting profits before quality education. This govt. has failed yet again.
Unions are to be supported so many of feel that you are dead wrong.
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