labour's problem with education

+ I would have added racism but I didn’t want to stir that pot..

Where would you rather raise your kids Fogg?  

You're English yeah?  That gives you the option of Europe which is something most of us kiwi's don't have.

I had two years in London and was gutted I had to leave when I did, I loved every minute of my time there, but there is no way I'd raise my kids in England if someone gave me the option to be here or there.

To be fair, if that’s how you honestly feel about things then that’s great and you should embrace it and enjoy it. And not be distracted by restless souls like me. I only wish I felt the same degree of contentment as you. I envy you in that regard.

I spend a year at school on England, the Howard of Effingham High school in Leatherhead. I wasn't a school liker in NZ and even less so in the UK due to things like a tie and things a little too la de do da for a kiwi lad. But I torn the UK school apart in sports, bog washing, how to use the chemistry Dept to blow shit up and so on. The schools bully boys very quickly learned 1 Kiwi was equal to 3 of them....luckily for a wee Aussie dude who they were hammering until I arrived. The experience was OK as I knew I could play up and get away with it. But compared to NZ schools it was far less (to non-existant) get off your bum and do stuff schooling. Also after school there was far less to do so that caused a few issues as well, ideal hands can play up and they did. In winter it was worse, we were in Surrey so winter wasn't really that bad.

But the experience was good so when my kids hit 15 we sent them away to school for a similar experience. One went to the Uni of Stockholm, the other to Germany.

A few years later I got to live in the UK for a long while. We, me and 3 mates, went all over and spend 6 months cruising the EU in a Bedford van, the one with the suicide doors. Living on fuck all so used to spend the nights in corn fields having corn for dinner, breakfast and lunch. Again the experience was a good one to have.

Like Fogg lately I've also been wondering if my kids should stay on NZ or fuck off due to all the stupidity going on. One is a traveller anyway, she came home with me last week after 9 months this time. Chatting last night about this and she thinks I'm nuts in suggesting they settle down elsewhere. She reckons NZ has freedoms most other places don't and we also have very easy access to cool shit like sailing, skiing, walking and a huge range of things.

After doing Central America where there is fun all over the show, and often cheap fun but with cautions like their ability to go evil fast which leads to guns being used, I came home disillusioned with bits of NZ again, I do most trips away. But when taken as a whole D2 is right, we can do a lot of shit here you can't elsewhere. Sure we're trying hard to fuck all that but the current rate of muppetry is unsustainable so I see change coming and it can only change to less muppetry.

Personally for me and the Wa we can ensconce ourselves in rural quite happily so for us any offshores are trips, we have no desire to move even though we could quite easily. If we were to move no way would it be to the EU, the place is tired and we see it as good for old people. Interestingly D1, 27yo, agreed with me on that, she also said everywhere she went there were lots of older people, most just sitting around talking about days now gone. I'd move to Asia and now Nicaragua would be high on the list, far more vibrant and go ahead IMO.

But as much as I try I really can't think of a place I've rather be full time. As for my kids, they seem quite happy to be here and have no plans to move on any long term basis...even if I suspect D1 will bugger off for another biggie soon. But both, and their partners, have expressed a desire to get out of the city and into somehting more rurally relaxed. One is like me and expects cities to get increasingly yucky place to live due to rampant muppets and other dickheadery.

It's a interesting dilemma Mr Fogg has on his hands. I can see where he's is coming from and why. I watch with interest as he works it through to wherever it leads.

I’m probably being quite fussy by constantly bringing an international perspective to things. Partly because of my background - having lived and worked in several countries before NZ - and partly because the world is obviously increasingly inter-connected.

And that’s where the NZ system all goes wrong for me. Here is a real and practical example…

Last year the UK Govt announced a new program to attract young talent to kick-start the economy after Covid. Previously, a new graduate could get a visa to live in UK if they had a confirmed job offer. But under the new rules a new graduate can now get a 2 year visa to live in the UK and find a job. At which point the temporary visa gets renewed / extended so they can stay there.

The only criteria is that they must have graduated from a top 100 university in the world. And not one NZ university makes the list. I think Auckland is the highest at about 180.

So what that tells me is that even if your child excels in NZ and works their hardest to make it all the way through the education system and get a 1st class honours degree from the best university in NZ - then they will be disappointed to find they do not have all the wonderful opportunities they were promised - for example the door would be closed to them qualifying for the UK program. Whereas their Australian counterparts would get in. And that’s just one example.

See my dilemma?

I should of pointed out,that I was away 3 nights per week and wife worked fulltime,so the boys had to get breakfast and make their own way to and from school.