Class cut to meet school budget

Cuts to senior French classes and other subjects at Marlborough Boys' College will be to the detriment of students and the region, says a Blenheim parent and member of the college's new charitable foundation.

Mike Eaton, co-owner of TerraVin, said his son Harrison, who will be year 11 this year, will have to study French by correspondence with six other students.

The school will cut Year 11 French and senior food technology classes to meet a tight budget caused by a falling student roll and a big debt to the Ministry of Education.

Principal Wayne Hegarty said teachers who left would not be replaced and some support and administration staff hours would also be cut.

Staff in managerial roles would also spend more time teaching.

In December, a group of college supporters launched the Marlborough College Charitable Foundation which aims to raise money for the college and increase the community links with the school.

Mr Eaton said Marlborough had a strong connection with France through the wine industry and he worried about the next generation of winemakers' language skills.

Correspondence classes did not allow for the camaraderie with classmates, he said.

Mr Hegarty said while the situation was not ideal, the only way the school could offer small classes was by raising money through alternative sources such as international students or by having more students in another subject's class.

For example, a group of 90 students that normally would be divided into four classes, could be split into three.

"That's more work for staff, there's no debate about that."

Eight year 11 and three year 12 students wanted to study French this year, he said.

Year 12 and 13 students normally studied French by correspondence because of the typically small numbers who chose to further their study, he said.

He and the school board had a "wishlist" of all classes and resources for the school and trimmed the list back to meet the school's budget.

The classes which have been affected did not have enough students enrolled to make them economically viable, he said.

The school would continue to employ a French teacher, but she would only teach junior classes.

Mr Hegarty said the college runs some classes of combined year levels, but it was difficult because staff would need to teach different curriculums at the same time.

"Some teachers will say they can manage it, but others won't be [up to it]. It's a hell of a work load."

Combined language and specialist classes with Marlborough Girls' College were also being discussed, but problems with the timetabling needed to be sorted out between the two schools, he said.

Any changes to the number of teaching staff would be associated with roll changes, he said.

A finalised list of other classes to be dropped or scaled back was not available.

- The Marlborough Express

SIMON WONG

Last updated 12:00 28/01/2011