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Take a good look at the person sitting next to you at work. They might have a lot more influence on your life than you give them credit for. Read more

The old human sciences building on the grounds of the University of Auckland was affectionately known among my peers as The Dungeon. With its dingy basement corridors and eerie acoustics, it stood in stark contrast to the more recently-constructed business school, a colossal, contemporary glass structure. Read more

As a general rule, heated policy debates do not really make for appropriate wedding banter. Regrettably, this was the situation in which this correspondent found herself over Waitangi weekend, stuck in a rather incoherent conversation with a heartily inebriated guest over whether the benefits generated by tertiary education are entirely public. Read more

The flagship policy in Labour’s ‘State of the Nation’ speech was the announcement to roll out three years of free tertiary education should Labour get in power at the next election. It is good politics since it will increase the party’s appeal to young people – and probably also to their parents. Read more

Interest-free student loans have been very costly. The billions spent over the past decade subsidising student loans is only part of it. Read more

Retirement savings, lavish family holidays or private dance lessons: these are some of what the cost of a private education in New Zealand could buy according to the New Zealand Herald's calculations. The paper ran a story last Sunday questioning why New Zealand parents choose private schools for their kids. Read more

In the schooling world, the word ‘incentive’ may conjure all sorts of negative vibes. Particularly if the word implies receiving an external reward for doing something that one would otherwise do purely for intrinsic satisfaction. Read more

"Education is a right! Stop the debt sentence!" These were the slogans emblazoned on placards, held by students rallying against the University of Auckland’s 2015 fee hikes. Read more

There is no such thing as a free lunch. The very same logic applies to tertiary education. Read more

Shanghai’s number one position on international school league tables is the envy of public school systems around the world. Notwithstanding claims that some of the city’s results may have been engineered or that students there are among the least happy by OECD average, the system is one that New Zealand could learn from with regards to turning around poorly performing schools. Read more