I fear for Syria.

The situation in Syria is descending onto hellish civil war where there will be no winner; only losers. The vast majority of ordinary Syrians will pay the price, because as usual, the rich and influential will just take planes, ships and cars out of the country and wait until things ‘settle down.’

We are hearing disturbing reports of atrocities being committed on both sides. Isn’t this the way of civil wars? Has not history shown how depraved people can become as the rule of law (even the cruel law of Assad) breaks down?

Families are often unable to move away from the violence and if they are in the way of the military or the ‘rebels’ and if they don’t show their support, they run the risk of being gunned down or worse. That Syria is plunging towards an abyss is now more than likely. I am saddened at the inaction of the UN; China and Russia of course are blocking moves to even ‘talk about the issue.’

There is no clear united ‘opposition’ to Assad, once he has fallen. It is all too easy to oppose and fight, but once one dictator is tumbled, we will see another power- hungry despot move in to take his place. It may be a fundamentalist Islamic regime or an equally corrupt tribal group.

Syria has suffered enough. I hope I am wrong and that we see something more representative of the vast majority of Syrians--- someone who offers a real future for Syria. I am not confident.

The end is nigh but what is to come in Syria?

It seems that even in Damascus, the entrenched regime can be targeted. How much longer can the ruling clique (for four decades now) survive an ever increasing pressure to resign? If they don’t then they will probably perish at the hands of a diverse opposition.

That the end is nigh is obvious but what is not so clear is who will take possession of the baubles of power? There is no guarantee that this war-torn nation will be delivered into the hands of democratic governance. Waiting in the wings are a variety of groups, manoeuvring themselves into positions of influence.

No doubt the ‘West’ would like to see a democracy modelled on their perceptions, but the situation in Syria is far more complex. Don’t be surprised if the influence of Iran, Iraq and other less reputable groups (based on previous experiences) force their way into power. What will have been gained for the Syrian people then? I fear deeply for the ordinary citizen of this country. Get rid of the present regime---but the troubles are not over.

A marriage of (in)convenience--National and The Maori Party

I suppose you could say that it ‘was a way of getting a foot in the door,’ or an ‘an arranged marriage.’ However you see it, you must be struggling to determine whether you should laugh or cry--- maybe both at once. I for one always found it strange that The Maori Party could ever come to an arrangement with National. Certainly many of its supporters were perplexed to say the least.

No doubt Peter and Tariana feel they have made some gains for Maori, but for those looking into the tent, they must be wondering what will come next after the debacle around the ‘water ownership rights’ rages on. It seems that John Keys, indelicate’ remarks of late have done little to extinguish the fires of love between the two parties.

All is forgiven after the two co-leaders accepted Johnny’s explanation. They will stumble through to the next ‘fall-out’ and carry on because there is a certainty that being ‘in’ is much better than being ‘out.’

Such a pathway carries with it a range of difficulties; the most obvious being keeping ones integrity as a party. Out the window go the lofty ideals as expressed in the past. In stays the desire to stay at the ‘trough.’

Hone Harawira seems to be a lone voice, along with a few labour MPs who are promulgating the real stance of Maori. He has been brash (forgive the word--- I’m sure Mr Brash still ‘admires’ Hone) in the past in his interactions with our leaders but of late he has been almost sounding parliamentarian in his approach. Yes, he says it as he sees it, but that is becoming more and more ‘mainstream.’ Is it his age or a growing belief that you have to take people along with you if you wish to achieve anything?

We shall all watch as The Maori Party try to maintain their position within Government without choking on their machinations in order to stay with Johnny.

Do we reallly need the Auckland Rail Loop?

As Auckland continues to grow, its transport needs become more complex. The present Mayor has a perchance for a rail loop costing around NZ$3 billion dollars. That’s just an estimate and history tells us that these things have a way of expanding as new costs come to light.

It is true that the rail system ending in a no-exit underground station at Britomart doesn’t really make sense. The new proposal takes note of this and extends the rail out through and under the city to places that may well benefit from such an extension.

We are beginning to hear the human stories about people being transplanted and losing their houses and business premises. Yes there will be compensation, but that never seems enough to those affected. We now need to take a very careful look to see if the transport needs can be met in other ways.

Firstly, I do not advocate yet more motorways. The inner city is already choked with them and they tend to take an even larger footprint than railways. What do we have that works now? We have all noticed the improved bus system and the increased patronage reflects that. If we extend the bus usage by tweaking routes and increasing the number of busses on the roads, that may go part way to solving the ever increasing demand for public transport in our Queen city.

However, even bus lanes require land--- and that may not be hugely different to the requirements for rail extension land purchase, so we are at a point in time where we have to choose. Do we develop work opportunities in the outer suburbs and therefore decrease the need for ever more traffic heading into the city or do we take the plunge and just get on with enhancing (at huge expense—monetary and human) the rail system? Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in between. Is there a compromised where we can make some additions to the rail system while at the same time embarking on better services for bus and ferry, along with building employment hubs in the suburbs?

I am glad I am not a transport planner!

Have we seen something like this before?---100 high-level

I heard a report today that more than 100 high-level ‘Educationalist’ have signed a ‘letter’ to try and change the mind of the Government to release ‘League Tables.’ I have not seen the content as yet but the move reminds me of an event many years ago when the Labour Government led by Bill Rowling was under fire.  The ‘Citizens for Rowling’ campaign backfired baldy.

Many prominent people sign the ‘petition.’ I remember seeing the huge list in the herald at that time and wondered I thought that the Government couldn’t fail after that. I was so wrong. The Labour Party was thrown out of office in a landslide and we had to put up with the Muldoon Administration for many years.

I am not saying that this present campaign is the same and I strongly agree with the sentiment. League Tables are just another platform to grow the agenda of the ‘Right’ in NZ politics and in our educational institutions. That there is a great deal of research to show that it will not work in any way to improve the education our kids receive is just not getting through to Key and his associates.

It seems that they come up with idea after idea and continue to press their case despite the warnings from here and overseas. They don’t get it. Their ‘competitive model always hurts the lower decile schools and any flickers of improved achievement are more than wiped out by the losses that schools struggling to meet the needs of their students incur.

What is it with this Government? They are incapable of understanding the real issues in NZ education. They seem to be hell-bent on destroying the gains we have fought so hard for ever the years. They have turned their backs on the wonderful ideals of Peter Fraser way back in the 1940’s, where he stated that ‘every child should be able to achieve their full potential.’ How are the moves of this present government aiding that lofty ideal?

So maybe the thrust of the idea of the 100 ‘signees’ is laudable, but I hope that it does not become a target for a Government willing to use any tactic at its disposal to launch yet another attack on New Zealand’s top—class Education system. The least the 100 can do is raise the level of the debate about what is really happening in the area of educating our students in New Zealand. Many of us not so prominent educators would love to sign alongside our colleagues in the list.

All 'Dunne' and dusted-- better late than never Mr Dunne.

Giving Peter Dunne a hard time over some of his stands re various issues (The Asset sales coming to mind) has been both easy and necessary over the past few years. His do anything to keep the baubles of power approach has caused many to mistrust him.

 I have to give him credit for his belated stand re ‘party Pills’ though. Cabinet is finally going to act and put the onus on importers and sellers of all ‘Party PiIls’ to prove that a substance is harmless. That will effectively remove all such pills from outlets (it’s dairies that gets me the most annoyed) and hopefully making it much harder for our young people to buy these terrible pills. The news that ‘Bath Salts’ has reached our shores must have been the final straw.

I am giving Peter a bouquet rather than lambasting him about his other failings today so here goes----‘well done Mr Dunne. Now we may consign all the pills to the place they belong--- the dunny!’

But before we get too carried away in our praise we better not slip into some naïve position that the problem has gone away completely. Unfortunately, there will be other ways of sticking this evil stuff ‘out there.’ There always has and always will be the underworld that will continue to supply such substances. All we can say about the latest moves is that at least for some of our kids (and yes--- adults) it will be harder to get the pills.

Keep our troubled kids at school---Principal Youth Court Judge

Of course we should keep our troubled kids at school. Most would agree that the best place for kids is to be at school. We all know that much of the youth crime is committed by kids who are not actively engaged in meaningful, well supported educational courses.

The judge says schools should be well-resourced for this to happen. That is where the idea of keeping the said kids in school falls down. Most schools try their utmost to engage with the students who are falling through the cracks; be it their attendance, behaviours or issues they bring from home. They give students ‘second, third, fourth—you get the picture--- many chances. They provide counselling, youth support and social workers to work with families (In decile 1-3 schools). There are teacher aides (an undervalued and underpaid resource) and special programmes to enhance student learning.

In many schools absenteeism is a scourge. I well remember our last principal continually saying that ‘if you attend regularly we can teach you.’ However, with absenteeism rates often running at 18% plus in many schools you can see that there is a huge problem. If students are not in school it makes their learning problematic. It also ‘steals teacher time,’ from other students when these students return or attend intermittently, because of these behaviours.  Their behaviours fuel a classroom environment that is not conducive to effective and safe learning. They ‘don’t know what is going on and fall further behind their cohort.

Teachers are a resilient group of professionals, but they are worn down by the behaviours that students bring into school. As an institution we are not always able to change the home situation that our students come from. We try to engage with families and we are often part of initiatives like ‘Strengthening Families’ to bring together all of the agencies who may be working with a particular family. Despite these programs, we are still losing ground in many ways.

The Youth Court Judge was correct in that we are in need of more resources to help change the outcomes for the students who have often been excluded. Teaching does not occur in a vacuum. It needs a working relationship with the family and when needed, support agencies. If that partnership is effective, then there is a chance for the would-be-excluded students.

The resourcing the judge was talking about needs to happen with the agencies and within the school. In the current climate of ‘cost-cutting’ I feel less than confident that we can attain this wonderful aim of retaining the students who are most at risk in school.