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Story: Primary and secondary education

Squeezing education into shape

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Squeezing education into shape

As minister of education between 1987 and 1990, David Lange radically reformed the education system. Two of the influential reviews he acted on were the Picot Report and the Hawke Report, which proposed a business model for administering education. In this cartoon criticising the reforms, Lange is shown trying to fit dollar-shaped blocks into a box that is not made for them.

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Nancy Swarbrick, Primary and secondary education – Education from the 1920s to 2000s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/cartoon/36637/squeezing-education-into-shape (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 29 May 2012.