Page updated on: Friday April 23, 2010
The law relating to education covers such matters as suspension, exclusion and expulsion of students, substandard or misleading education courses and the rights of education "consumers" and the role and powers of Boards of Trustees.
The Education Act 1989 gives every NZ citizen or permanent resident from age 5 to 19, the right to free education at any state school. Those aged from 6 to 16 must attend school unless they are given a special exemption from the Ministry of Education. An exemption can be granted where a parent wants to homeschool the child or if a child has special needs and schooling is provided by an approved specialist service. Children with special educational needs (because of disability or any other reason) have the same right to receive education at state schools as children who do not.
Each school must have a geographically defined home zone. Every child who lives within a school’s zone is entitled to enrol in that school. The school must have an enrolment policy in place to determine who can attend the school if they don’t live within their zone.
A child can attend a school out of their zone if they satisfy the policy of the out of zone school or if they have been expelled from their school, and the out of zone principal agrees to enrol the child. The Education Act 1989 sets out specific priorities schools must take into account when determining which children out of their zone can be enrolled, such as whether the child has a sibling who is already attending the school.
More information on "zoning" can be obtained at http://www.minedu.govt.nz by searching for ‘enrolment schemes’.
Parents are able to homeschool their children, so long as they maintain a standard of education equivalent to that of a registered school. An annual grant is given to assist with the cost of learning materials. To find out how to apply to homeschool your child, contact the Ministry of Education.
New Zealand Home Education also has information about home schooling.
Primary and secondary education at state schools is free to NZ residents. Schools may ask for an activity fee but these are only donations which are not compulsory. Students should not be stopped from taking part in any curricular or extracurricular activity because of non-payment of any fees. The school may charge for materials in a practical course such as woodwork, where the student will take the end product home with them. They may also charge for field trips as the student may choose whether or not to go.
A student may not be entitled to receive extra items which are subsidised by fees, such as a school magazine. Schools are required to report on the ongoing progress of students so reports and leaving certificates cannot be withheld if voluntary fees have not been paid. Testimonials may however be withheld. The Ministry of Education’s guidelines for schools state that at no time should a student be embarrassed by the school because of non-payment of donations.
Students aged between 6 and 16 must attend school. A student may be suspended for truancy, or if they are absent for 20 consecutive school days without explanation, the principal can record the fact that the student has left the school.
Parents can be prosecuted and are liable for a fine for each day the student has been away from school without explanation. (There is also a fine for not enrolling a student if they are between 6 and 16.) The school or Police may refer a matter to Child, Youth and Family as a child is in need of care and protection if the school has intervened and the student has failed to return to school.
Parents have the right to ask for help and to receive support if their child is playing truant by contacting the school principal, class dean or guidance counsellor. District Truancy Services exist to support schools and may be approached by parents. Each district operates independently and contact details are in the phone book or can be obtained by contacting the local council.
A student may be temporarily excluded from school by being stood-down or suspended. A stand-down is the formal removal of a student from school, by the principal, for a specified time. A suspension is where the student is formally removed by the principal until the Board of Trustees decides the outcome at a suspension meeting.
A student can be stood-down if their "gross misconduct or continual disobedience is a harmful or dangerous example to other students, or that because of the behaviour it is likely the student or other students at the school will be seriously harmed". A student can only be stood-down for one or more specified periods which do not total more than five days in a school term and more than ten days in the entire school year. The day that the student was stood-down and any day where they wouldn’t normally have been at school aren’t counted in the stand-down period.
A parent must be told immediately if a student has been stood-down and provided with a Ministry of Education information sheet. The parent is able to request a meeting with the principal. The principal must agree to this and if, as a result of the meeting, the stand-down does not seem to have been justified, the principal can withdraw it. The student may be allowed to attend school to sit exams or fulfil a course requirement and should be allowed on the school’s premises to receive counselling. Any reasonable request must be considered by the principal.
A student can only be suspended if the same conditions as a stand-down are satisfied: if their gross misconduct or continual disobedience is a harmful or dangerous example to other students, or that because of the behaviour it is likely the student or other students at the school will be seriously harmed. When a student is suspended, a parent must be notified immediately.
The Board of Trustees and the Ministry of Education must also be notified. The student can be suspended for up to seven school days or ten calendar days if the suspension is given just before the end of term. A student may attend school if the principal grants them permission to (- for example, so they can sit exams).
The Board must meet to determine the outcome of the suspension. The parents of the student must be given notice of the meeting at least 48 hours before and invited to attend. Information about the meeting procedure, a copy of the principal’s report to the Board giving the reasons for the suspension, any other material to be presented about the suspension and the possible outcomes of the suspension must also be provided to the parents. Parents, the student and support people are able to attend the meeting and provide alternative ideas about possible punishments.
The Board can choose to:
Exclusion is for students under 16. They are removed from the school and have to enrol at another school. Expulsion is for students 16 and over. They are removed from the school. However, they may enrol at another school if they wish to continue with their education. If a student is excluded, the principal has ten days to try to arrange for the student to attend another school. The Ministry of Education will help if they are unable to find another school. Parents are also able to look for another school, but there is no requirement for another school to enrol a student who has been excluded. If a student has been expelled, the principal does not have to arrange for them to attend another school. The Ministry may help.
Information regarding stand-downs and suspensions can be found at the Ministry of Education’s website and their information sheet for parents is at http://www.minedu.govt.nz/web/downloadable/dl3861_v1/parent-info.pdf.
There are a number of options to take if it is felt a suspension, exclusion or expulsion is unreasonable. If the suspension is for an unspecified period, the principal may lift it. If it is for an unspecified period, the Board is able to lift it. If a decision hasn’t been made on a suspension, the first step is to ask either the principal or the Board to withdraw or reverse the suspension.
Otherwise, a complaint can be made to the Ombudsman, through the High Court, the Human Rights Commission if the exclusion was a result of discrimination or to the Education Review Office. Any investigation into a complaint or court action is likely to take considerable time and the student may need to attend a different school in the meantime.
If the principal recommends that a student be taken to another school or that the student be kept at home for a period of time, without any notice or formal procedure having taken place as outlined above, the suspension isn’t legal. Schools often try to encourage parents to take their children out of school if they’re difficult by suggesting they voluntarily withdraw them before the student is expelled. In this situation there is no requirement that the student be withdrawn and if this happened, there is no requirement that any other school enrol the student. If this happens, contact the Ministry of Education.
The United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child sets out a child’s rights to education in Articles 28 and 29.
Among the rights affirmed are school discipline must be "administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human dignity". Under the principles of natural justice, a student has the right to be heard. When school rules are breached, the teacher should talk to the student about it and give them an opportunity to explain the behaviour. Only if they can not give a reasonable explanation should the student be punished. Written work, detentions, extra work around school, "time out", taking away privileges such as attending a school ball and daily reports or contracts are all legal punishments. Corporal or physical punishment is illegal and includes throwing things at students.
Any punishment must comply with the Bill of Rights Act, Education Act, Human Rights Act, Race Relations Act as well as the Convention. The first step to take if a parent is concerned about punishment of a student is to speak to the principal or the Board of Trustees. Complaints can be made to the Education Review Office or the Commissioner for Children or via the Courts.
Teachers do not have the right to search students or their bags unless the student has consented. If there are reasonable grounds for suspecting a student is in possession of something which may cause harm to other students, such as a weapon or drugs, bags may be searched by a teacher or the Police. Staff cannot carry out strip searches on students. The school may not call in the Police to do a general search for drugs. Complaints can be made to the ERO, Commissioner for Children or via the Courts.
Under the Education Act 1989, parents elect the members of a Board of Trustees for a three year term. The Board has complete discretion to control the management of the school as it thinks fit, subject to the general laws of NZ. If a parent has a concern about the way the school is being run, the first step is to talk to the principal about it. If the concern isn’t resolved, contact the chairperson of the Board and ask for time to be given to discuss it at the next meeting or write to them outlining the issue and what action would be preferred to resolve the problem.
If there are concerns about the way the Board has handled an issue, the NZ School Trustees Association represents and provides advice for Boards and are able to talk the issues through with concerned parents. Complaints about the conduct of Boards or schools may be made to the Education Review Office. The ERO will file the complaint and check for that concern when they next audit the school or, if the complaint is particularly serious, they may order a special audit of the school. Complaints can also be made to the Ombudsman.