The Wire with Caeden

For their weekly catch up with the Green Party, Oto spoke to Ricardo Menendez March about the 4th government investigation into school lunches, The proposal to cut Te Reo Māori resource teachers and the Greens call to the government to rule out joining AUKUS.

He spoke to Esmé Hulbert-Putt from Aotearoa Christians for Peace in Palestine about the open letter from Christian leaders calling for humanitarian visas for Palestinians, as well as the Gaza ceasefire pilgrimages that will be happening across the motu later today.

And he spoke to Shiva Gounden from Greenpeace Aotearoa about Greenpeace’s call for reparations from the United States to the Marshall Islands for the impacts of the Castle Bravo nuclear bomb’s detonation in the Bikini Atoll in the 1950s.

Sasha spoke with Professor Bruce Glavovic from Massey University about Urban Fire planning and Global Warming.

And he also spoke to Professor Robert Patman, from the University of Otago about recent global political developments.

Roughly 50 principals from low-income schools have banded together to express their concerns regarding new online NCEA reading, writing, and maths tests.

Over half of NCEA students at low-income schools last year failed reading and writing tests, with three quarters of those failing numeracy testing. 

Students will not be able to receive their NCEA qualifications without passing these tests

The alternative option to this, which is only available until the end of 2027, is to complete up to 20 additional credits in numeracy and literacy.

These principals also say that these online tests will result in a generation of students without qualifications, and will disproportionately affect Māori and Pacific students.

News and Editorial Director, Joel, spoke to the Principal of Papakura High School, Simon Craggs; one of the principals criticising these tests, about these concerns, and what he suggests as an alternative to this testing method.

They started off by asking him what are the barriers that students in low-income schools are facing regarding these new tests, and what he has been seeing at his own school.

Last week the government announced a new citizen’s arrest policy that would allow members of the public to detain those who commit a crime. The policy has been met with criticism for its potential impact on retail workers and marginalised communities. While the government has asserted that citizen’s arrest should only be conducted when it is safe to do so, some are still worried about safety, especially with employer/employee power dynamics. 

Others are concerned that the law will encourage members of the public to conduct citizens arrests on anyone they suspect of committing a crime, even if their suspicions are false. This would predominantly affect marginalised groups already affected by harmful stereotypes

In our weekly catchup with the National Party’s Tom Rutherford, Tuesday Wire Host Castor asked about how the new Citizens Arrest policy will work in Aotearoa. 

The government’s new school lunch program, spearheaded by ACT party leader David Seymour, has come under fire for a raft of problems related to its implementation.

With rollout issues continuing since the first week alongside quality and quantity concerns, many are questioning whether the program change was necessary. 

School lunches often support struggling families and students to maintain a healthy and balanced diet.

Tuesday Wire Host, Castor, speaks to Co-Chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa, Professor Lisa Te Morenga, about why a school lunch program is necessary and how the new program stacks up.