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OPINION: A mate of yours truly reckons rural Manawatu families are the latest to suffer under what he calls the Government's "performative restraint" - penny pinching on needed community stuff while the bureaucrat head count and wasteful spending in Wellington charges on undiminished.
He says the disruptions "have been as massive as the savings have been minimal".
He says, over the past year, the Ministry of Education has been reviewing school bus routes, quietly tightening eligibility rules that determine who qualifies for state-funded transport.
Students are increasingly required to attend their "nearest" school to qualify for a Ministry bus.
Routes that once served rural communities feeding into a range of secondary schools are being cancelled, merged, or redesigned.
Hundreds of families have apparently been affected.
Kaikōura families affected by July's severe storm have found a practical solution to a problem that's kept some children away from regular schooling for weeks: a washed-out section of Inland Kaikōura Road, which has stopped the local school bus from running its usual route.
Special courses for secondary school teachers to help excite kids about agriculture and horticulture are now being run at Massey University.
The Government has announced a new rural scholarship designed to back emerging primary sector leaders.
OPINION: This old mutt went to school to eat his lunch, but still knows the future of the country, and the primary sector, depends on a conveyor belt of well-educated youth coming through the system.
Feilding Agricultural High School isn't alone in offering agricultural or horticultural subjects as part of its curriculum, but the location of one of its farms on the northern edge of the urban fringe makes for some interesting considerations.
B+LNZ's Wormwise veterinarian Mary Bowron has won the Best Sheep and Beef Vet of the Year Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to New Zealand’s sheep and beef sector.
Researchers at Massey University are using a special piece of scientific equipment to improve the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from pasture soils.
More signs of a booming kiwifruit sector.
OPINION: David Seymour and James Meager's plan to make it easier for farmers and orchardists to operate drones can best be described a 'courageous' move.
New Zealand wool is reaching new heights as air filtration companies move away from synthetic products to biodegradable alternatives.
Opuha Dam's ability to protect South Canterbury communities from major flooding has taken a significant step forward, with Opuha Water Limited (OWL) successfully commissioning a new outlet valve capable of releasing record volumes of water from the dam ahead of a weather event.
OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities…
OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in…
