The Wire with Caeden

In early April, Christopher Luxon and David Seymour addressed journalists with promises of several policies aimed at reducing absences in public schools. 

These policies join other policies introduced by the current government, such as the school cellphone ban and ban on disposable vapes, which hope to improve education outcomes in our schools and increase attendance. 

Additionally, the government recently announced 565 job cuts in the Ministry of Education, including some currently vacant roles, in part of their larger move to cut costs across all ministries. 

Wire host Castor spoke to the president of the Secondary Principals Association NZ and principal of Papatoetoe highschool, Vaughan Couillault, about these changes and how they affect teachers on the ground in Aotearoa. 

A University of Otago study assessing the harm reduction behaviours of people who consume MDMA and their use of reagent testing and KnowYourStuff's drug checking service, found most MDMA consumers engage in harm reduction practices relatively frequently.

News and Editorial Director, Jessica Hopkins, spoke to lead author of the study, PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago, Jai Whelan, about why it is important for drug-checking services to be accessible in Aotearoa.

She started off the interview by asking Whelan about what harms MDMA can cause and how to prevent it.

Ngaruroro is a brand new Māori well-being. 

Created to fill a gap in self-reporting well-being models; Ngaruroro ‘s development was a collaborative process.

The model includes eight key themes in relation to wellbeing;

1) Here tāngata (social and familial ties)

2) Te taiao (the environment)

3) Taonga tuku iho (cultural treasures)

 4) Tinana (body) 

 5) Wairua (spirit)

 6) Ngākau (inner-system)

7) Matea (core needs)

and,

 8) Mana (authority)

Nicholas spoke to the lead author of the article and PhD researcher at Victoria University of Wellington, Finely Ngarangi Johnson (Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Kahungunu) about Ngaruroro. We also spoke about the application of well-being models.

To find out more got to;

@tutukakakaupapa on Instagram

Whanganui Youth Council members have recently publicly spoken about the potential axeing of their youth council, as well as similar proposals in other regions.

Wire Host Caeden speaks to Whanganui Youth Council leader Lola Fisher about the importance of Youth Councils and why they’re at risk.