The Ministry of Education (Māori - Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga) is the primary state sector organisation of New Zealand charged with aspects of New Zealand's education system. It was formed in 1989 when the former, all encompassing Department of Education was broken up into six separate agencies- including a new, small, policy-orientated ministry. As part of these reforms, regionalised Boards of Education were replaced by individual Boards of Trustees for all primary and secondary schools. New Zealand's minister of education is the Hon. Trevor Mallard.
Responsibilities
The Ministry of Education's role is to raise the overall level of educational achievement and reduce disparity. It is not an education provider. That is a role carried out by indivudual elected Boards of Trustees for every state school in the country. The ministry carries out a range of functions - it advises government; provides information to the sector; provides learning resources; administers sector regulation and funding; and provides specialist services. The ministry works with other agencies in the education sector- the Education Review Office, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and Learning Media.
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