Last month we joined representatives from NZ's online communities to discuss the proposed changes to the Education Act that could see more support for virtual learning in NZ.  

All of those present at the meeting see these proposed changes as a great opportunity to fully support our work in NZ schools. Sustainability, equity and access to resources has always been an issue for every cluster operating in the Virtual Learning space. 

The discussion was wide ranging around school/cool status, accountability, student support, teacher conditions & collective agreements, accreditation, funding models, and the role of the MoE. There is a lot of detail still to be unpacked and a political process to go through before we can consider applying to be an accredited CoOL.

We are very aware that proposed changes to the Act (including CoOLs) are not supported by the unions and that there has been a lot of negative media about online learning. There are potentially many fish hooks involved. From our perspective, you couldn't find a bigger double edged sword and we are very wary about becoming a political football as this unfolds. The proposed legislation, as it stands, is very open and invites ANY provider to apply to be COOLs, therefore opening the door wider to privatisation of education which could be hugely damaging for our education system. Stories of Virtual Charter Schools in the US are an example of that. We don't want to see our NZ education system sold to the highest bidder and taken over by K12 Inc or Pearsons. We are very lucky that we have Dr Michael Barbour on our Governance Group, he has a lot of research experience in Virtual Schooling in the US & Canada and is advocating a cautious approach.

We were as surprised as others in the sector to hear that CoOLs were part of the proposed education review changes but unlike others who had thought this had 'come from nowhere' we have been asking for this change for some time. 

We plan to make a submission to the select committee in November, and would appreciate VLN Primary schools views on the proposed CoOLs. (Contact Rachel) 

If you are interested in making submissions on the Education Act here is the link - closing date November 11th.

Here is some current reading:

Government documents

• Proposals in the Amendment Act
  
• Establishing a regulatory framework for online learning
  
• Regulatory impact Statement
• Ministry’s Roadmap
  

From the education sector 

• VLN Primary Statement
  
• NetNZ Statement
  
• NetNZ Opinion
  
• Education Council Statement
  
• Derek Wenmoth Opinion
  
• Claire Amos (HarbourNet school) Opinion

Research on Virtual Learning in NZ

More background info on :

• the VLN Primary
  
• NetNZ
  
• VLNC Regional Secondary Clusters