Andrew King: Rural Schools Leadership Association President on the $413 million investment into school infrastructure

A much-needed boost to rural schools' infrastructure, which has been neglected for many years. 

The Education Minister's unveiled a $413 million package to get maintenance and improvement jobs at schools underway sooner. 

More than half is for improvements on all isolated, rural, or small schools. 

Rural Schools Leadership Association President Andrew King told Mike Hosking it will predominantly go towards basic infrastructure. 

He says in the past, rural schools haven't had work done simply because of the cost to get trades people out there. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yesterday it was health. Today it's education. More money, four
hundred and thirteen million of it. We've got fifty eight
million on operating maintenance, two hundred and fifty five for
rural and isolated schools, one hundred million over five years
for urgent infrastructure work. Andrew King is the president of
the Rural Schools Leadership Association as well. It's Andrew morning
to you.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Good morning, Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
This inphasite. I'm well, thank you. This emphasis on rural
and isolated. Is this a sector that's been neglected?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yes, I would say that there's been a lot of
need there for a long time around basic infrastructure and
the cost of getting trades people out there has been
an issue, and I think this will boast and enable
schools to get things done.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Good. Do you have a specific sense of what it
literally buys you and what it actually solves?

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Not yet. I guess the devil will be in the detail,
which has yet to come. But there's a lot of
things that we're that rural schools try and do on
their own. But of course you don't have the economies
of scale when you're trying to individually purchase drainage or
lighting or carpet or whatever. And so this program coordinatkohurd

(01:04):
iknew that's getting extra investment will enable schools to pull
together and get things actually done.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
That's encouraging. I don't want to make it too political,
but when the government, the previous government was spending money
like there was literally no tomorrow, how come none of
this got done? Then?

Speaker 2 (01:18):
If this is just repair work, well, the program was
put in place in twenty twenty, I think it was,
but this has boasted the boasted the fund. Really, it's
put extra money in there so more things can be
done through it.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
Because the difficulty is that how much of its patchwork
versus how much of it's actually enhancing or improving something.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
That's a very good question. I think it is pretty
much basic services to ensure that. I think what's happened
in the past is rural schools have not got things
done simply because of the cost of getting trades people
out there to get the work done. So a lot
of it is basic and structure. I think it might

(02:02):
also include things like water services and effluent services, which
is a big issue and need for rural schools to
get up to scratch.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
While I've got you to the sector changes coming in
from the Minister in terms of subjects, curriculum etc. You
broadly on board, Yeah, broadly on board.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yes, yep.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Good, appreciate you getting up early too. That is Andrew King,
who was the president of the New Zealand Rural Schools
Leadership Association with US out of South Korea. He is
a nominee, of course, for the Simon Watts List of
getting up early in the morning.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
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Speaker 1 (02:36):
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