Māori-medium schools: transport safety and reporting requirements
The Ministry has reviewed its Memorandum of Agreement for transport funding with Māori Medium Schools (i.e. schools established under Sections 155 and 156 of the Education Act 1989 where Te Reo is the language of instruction).
The Ministry has recently requested feedback from Māori Medium Schools on the proposed memorandum. The Ministry thanks all those boards that submitted feedback. Below is a summary of the issues and concerns which were raised as well as the Ministry’s response.
The finalised Memorandum will be emailed to boards shortly. The Ministry requests that each board returns its signed Memorandum of Agreement to its local service agent by 28 May 2012.
If you have any questions please contact the Resourcing Contact Centre on 04 463 8383 or resourcing@minedu.govt.nz.
| Clause |
Feedback |
Ministry response |
| 2.1 - The Board shall provide school transport assistance to those students (of its MMS) who meet the Ministry’s eligibility criteria (as published by the Ministry) and who have been included in the funding formula. |
Is the clause ambiguous? Does it suggest that the Board is only required to transport those students who were accounted for in the funding formula and not any eligible students which have enrolled since this time? |
The Ministry agrees that the clause is ambiguous. To clarify the clause, the Ministry has removed the italicised font. |
Schedule 2 – Driver Trainer Requirements.
‘Have an ongoing plan.’ |
Feedback given by a school which uses a 11 seater van for school transport purposes: Doesn’t the driver only require a full licence? Isn’t it excessive to have an ongoing training plan for the driver? |
All vehicles funded using Ministry of Education Transport Funding must have a Passenger Service Licence (PSL)/Transport Service Licence (TSL). And all drivers operating under this licence must have a P-endorsement, not just a full licence. Given this, a training plan is appropriate. At a minimum, the training plan should require the driver to complete a 1st Aid Certificate every second year. The Ministry has therefore left the section unchanged. Please note that the training plan is only necessary for drivers who transport students 20 school days or more over the course of a complete school year. |
Schedule 2 – Driver Training: Driver Training Programme - ‘As from 1 July 2013 all drivers… must have completed either the NZ Motor Industry Training Organisation (Inc) (MITO) Limited Credit Programme (LCP) for School Bus Drivers or the National Certificate in Passenger Service (School Bus Driver).
New drivers, starting after 1 July 2013, must have an agreed programme to complete the National Certificate in Passenger Service (School Bus Driver) within 6 months of their engagement by the Contractor or the Board.’ |
N/A |
The Ministry has made the following amendments due to recent changes with the LCP qualification:
As from 1 July 2013 all drivers who transport students in receipt of school transport assistance 20 school days or more over the course of a complete school year must have completed either the NZ Motor Industry Training Organisation (Inc) (MITO) Limited Credit Programme (LCP) for School Bus Drivers or the replacement qualification.
New drivers, starting after 1 July 2013, must have an agreed programme to complete the replacement qualification (i.e. the qualification replacing the LCP) within 6 months of their engagement by the Contractor or the Board.
The Ministry will write to MMS providing details of the replacement qualification. |
| Administration Allowance |
Query about whether the administration allowance of $3.35 (this is a quarterly, per student, GST exclusive rate) will vary. |
The rate will not vary from year to year. The administration allowance for Directly Resourced Schools is also set at a fixed rate. This query has not resulted in a change to the Memorandum. |