Tim Dower: Would you pay for private schools?

$27-28,000 a year. That's about the going rate for private secondary education in New Zealand right now. 

And you'd pay it gladly wouldn't you, if you could afford it. 

I hope the kids whose parents are working or on their way at five in the morning to help pay for it recognise what a privilege it is. 

I referred to that St Andrew College prizegiving a little earlier, and the takeaway for me is the value of a good education. 

The basics? Yep, obviously, but opportunities too for kids to explore what they're really interested in, and seek the passions that'll give them exciting, rewarding, and worthwhile lives. 

And you know what? You don't need, actually, to fork out for private to get that. We've got some great state schools in New Zealand too. 

My kids went to cracking state primaries in Auckland: Botany Downs, Mellons Bay, Farm Cove Intermediate, then onto MacLeans. 

I think they know they were lucky. Like in health, our education system is a bit of a postcode lottery. 

Would I have pushed for private if we'd had the money? It's hypothetical, but probably, yes. 

Rough calculations: taxpayers are currently spending well north of 10 grand a head teaching secondary students. 

We do it more cheaply than the OECD average, except, and who knows why this is, in tertiary education. 

How much of the overall $21 billion that goes on education gets soaked up by ideologues at the Ministry or wasted on endless reviews and rehashings of the system is a mystery. 

But you get what you pay for in life and education is no exception. 

Maybe this is another area like infrastructure, health, and immigration, where we need less political meddling and to-ing and fro-ing with each change of government, and more of a long term, locked in plan. 

Just think what we could achieve in productivity, creativity and quality of life, if every kid had the chance those at our best schools do now. 

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