PPP schools bad news for education says Green Party

News that the Government is opening up tenders to build and maintain two new schools in Hobsonville under a public-private partnership (PPP) is being greeted with concern by the Green Party.

Green Party education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty said PPPs were bad news in the education sector.

“Experience overseas suggests that however you set up a PPP, the public ends up funding the project while the private partner creams profit off the top.

“The so-called “business case” for PPPs in the education sector here in New Zealand is laughable. Earlier this year, Radio New Zealand obtained the business case under the Official Information Act, which revealed that the savings over 30 years would be minimal.

“The Government has admitted today that building these new schools in Hobsonville under a PPP is unlikely to produce any significant savings.

“In the absence of any significant savings, the only explanation for going down the PPP route is that the Government wants to do a favour to big business,” Ms Delahunty said.

Ms Delahunty said decisions about new schools should be made with the best educational outcomes in mind, not the best interests of big corporates.

“PPPs in the education sector are particularly concerning because of the potential impact on the educational experience of students.

“It is easy to imagine a scenario in which the Board’s wishes for new projects to benefit students clash with the business agenda of the private company, and the Board loses out.

Ensuring good, consistent educational outcomes for New Zealand children was too important to mess around with, said Ms Delahunty.