Mt Roskill by-election heats up again, now on education
The heat and the war of words refuse to die in the Mt Roskill by-elections as Labour and National Party candidates continue to engage in making claims and counter claims on getting the policy numbers correct.
This time it is on the education when the Labour candidate Michael Wood made the claim that “the Government is reducing funding to most schools in Mt Roskill.”
“The National Government’s funding proposals mean that 21 of the 22 schools in Mt Roskill will receive less OPEX funding than they would have, had the current year's funding simply been increased for inflation,” has been argued in a press release issued from the Michael Wood’s office.
It all started when Education Minister Hekia Parata’s office contacted the principal of Waikowhai School to request a visit for her and the National Party candidate Parmjeet Parmar.
The Labour candidate Michael Wood, who is the chair of the Board of Trustees, took the opportunity to raise this issue of ‘fall in funding of schools’ in line with inflation.
Shortly afterward this National Party candidate Dr Parmjeet Parmar’s office issued a press release suggesting counter claims that the Labour Party has got ‘their numbers wrong again.’
Dr Parmar said that “the Government has increased operation grant funding for schools by 1 percent this year, which is more than double the current rate of inflation of 0.4 percent.”
“All schools in Mt Roskill will receive a share of this funding based on the number of students they have that met the criteria. Waikowhai School, the school where Mr. Wood is chair of the Board of Trustees, is getting an increase of 1.25 percent, which is more than what his school would have received had the Government simply increased funding by 1 percent across the board,” further asserted Dr Parmar.
When Indian Weekender contacted Michael Wood’s office about counter claims made by Dr Parmar’s office, they categorically rejected the allegation stating that Dr Parmar's press release is incorrect.
“This year the Government changed how it funds schools, opting for ‘targeted’ increases, rather than an across the board increase for all schools,” said the clarification issued by the Michael Wood’s office.
It is further claimed by the Labour Party’s office that “all we’ve done is applied the formula they’ve consistently used in the past to the funding schools will receive in 2017.”
“When that formula is applied – with a 1.5% adjustment to account for forecast inflation (as per the BEFU in Budget 2016) – we can demonstrate that 21 of the 22 schools in Mt Roskill will receive less funding than they would have under the previous funding model. In other words, those schools will be worse off,” further asserted the statement issued by Michael Wood’s office.
Dr Parmar’s office was unavailable to further respond to this ongoing war of words at the time of going to print.
Roshan Nauhria, the candidate for the New Zealand People Party was also unavailable for comment.
Yet it is clear that the heat generated in the Mt Roskill by-election refuses to die soon.
This is when all major political parties publically claim that the outcome of this by-election will have an insignificant impact on the general elections in 2017.
The heat and the war of words refuse to die in the Mt Roskill by-elections as Labour and National Party candidates continue to engage in making claims and counter claims on getting the policy numbers correct.
This time it is on the education when the Labour candidate Michael Wood made the claim...
The heat and the war of words refuse to die in the Mt Roskill by-elections as Labour and National Party candidates continue to engage in making claims and counter claims on getting the policy numbers correct.
This time it is on the education when the Labour candidate Michael Wood made the claim that “the Government is reducing funding to most schools in Mt Roskill.”
“The National Government’s funding proposals mean that 21 of the 22 schools in Mt Roskill will receive less OPEX funding than they would have, had the current year's funding simply been increased for inflation,” has been argued in a press release issued from the Michael Wood’s office.
It all started when Education Minister Hekia Parata’s office contacted the principal of Waikowhai School to request a visit for her and the National Party candidate Parmjeet Parmar.
The Labour candidate Michael Wood, who is the chair of the Board of Trustees, took the opportunity to raise this issue of ‘fall in funding of schools’ in line with inflation.
Shortly afterward this National Party candidate Dr Parmjeet Parmar’s office issued a press release suggesting counter claims that the Labour Party has got ‘their numbers wrong again.’
Dr Parmar said that “the Government has increased operation grant funding for schools by 1 percent this year, which is more than double the current rate of inflation of 0.4 percent.”
“All schools in Mt Roskill will receive a share of this funding based on the number of students they have that met the criteria. Waikowhai School, the school where Mr. Wood is chair of the Board of Trustees, is getting an increase of 1.25 percent, which is more than what his school would have received had the Government simply increased funding by 1 percent across the board,” further asserted Dr Parmar.
When Indian Weekender contacted Michael Wood’s office about counter claims made by Dr Parmar’s office, they categorically rejected the allegation stating that Dr Parmar's press release is incorrect.
“This year the Government changed how it funds schools, opting for ‘targeted’ increases, rather than an across the board increase for all schools,” said the clarification issued by the Michael Wood’s office.
It is further claimed by the Labour Party’s office that “all we’ve done is applied the formula they’ve consistently used in the past to the funding schools will receive in 2017.”
“When that formula is applied – with a 1.5% adjustment to account for forecast inflation (as per the BEFU in Budget 2016) – we can demonstrate that 21 of the 22 schools in Mt Roskill will receive less funding than they would have under the previous funding model. In other words, those schools will be worse off,” further asserted the statement issued by Michael Wood’s office.
Dr Parmar’s office was unavailable to further respond to this ongoing war of words at the time of going to print.
Roshan Nauhria, the candidate for the New Zealand People Party was also unavailable for comment.
Yet it is clear that the heat generated in the Mt Roskill by-election refuses to die soon.
This is when all major political parties publically claim that the outcome of this by-election will have an insignificant impact on the general elections in 2017.
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