20 Sep 2012

Parata grilled on Christchurch school info

5:59 pm on 20 September 2012

Education Minister Hekia Parata faced a grilling in Parliament on Thursday about her proposals to close and merge schools in Christchurch.

Last week, the minister announced plans for a $1 billion overhaul of the system that includes the closure of 13 schools and the merger of another 18.

The Labour MP for Wigram, Megan Woods, asked Ms Parata about whether she had faith in the Ministry of Education's information about the affected schools.

Ms Parata replied she does have faith in the data, which has been collected over two years.

But she said if schools had information that differed from the ministry, they should share it at the consultation meetings.

Ms Woods tabled emails from four schools outlining errors on the number and use of buildings, roll numbers and whether they have swimming pools and dental services.