Education is important to every New Zealander. Most of us have a view about how education should or shouldn't be delivered. We all have a stake in the quality of education, be it personally or through our children, our relatives, or our businesses and organisations.
As such, we are all interested in the performance of our education providers – how well they do affects the well-being of our society in the immediate future and in the longer term.
Last year, our reporting on education was included with our reporting on central government. This year, I have decided to publish three reports about the results of our audits of central government entities. This report focuses on the education sector.
The education sector, like other central government sectors, is subject to changes in auditing standards and other auditing requirements. For information about, and our views on, those changes and requirements, readers might find it useful to refer to our other reports about the 2010/11 audit results for central government.
In all three reports, I note the ongoing importance for public entities of continuing to improve their performance reporting. This is essential to improve the outcomes that we need in education and is relevant to all education providers and public entities.
Given the size of the education sector and the importance of education for all New Zealanders, I will continue to take a close interest in this sector.
Lyn Provost
Controller and Auditor-General
13 December 2011