Youth MP Wants Bus Routes Extended In North Canterbury
Article – David Hill – Local Democracy Reporter
Waimakariri Youth MP Simone Bisschoff is keen to advocate for young people.
A North Canterbury youth MP wants buses to go beyond Rangiora, including adding Oxford to a bus route.
Rangiora High School year 13 student Simone Bisschoff has been selected as a youth MP by Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey.
Simone said she is keen to engage with young people as she develops a project to work on during her term as a youth MP.
She has narrowed it down to three options, advocating for bus services, more opportunities for driving lessons for young people and satellite campuses for Ara and the University of Canterbury in North Canterbury.
''I will be going to schools through May and engaging with young people to see which one they see as a priority.''
The Waimakariri Youth Council co-chair said the bus services had been discussed at youth council meetings.
''Young people have expressed concerns about the times the bus runs,'' Simone said.
''It takes one to 1.5 hours to get from Rangiora into the central city.
''And I want to see more bus routes added, because they don't go much further than Rangiora.''
Environment Canterbury (ECan) has plans to add more buses to the number one, Rangiora to Cashmere, bus route to increase the frequency, if it can get the funding from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.
Submissions made to the Canterbury Regional Public Transport Plan, which is due to be adopted by ECan this month, also called for bus services to be extended to Amberley and Ashburton.
Simone was born in South Africa, with her family later moving to Rangiora.
She plans to study law at the University of Canterbury and said she is interested in ''doing something along the lines of politics''.
Mr Doocey said he received a number of applicants for the youth MP role from Kaiapoi, Oxford and Rangiora, but Simone stood out.
''She is a self-starter. She has some clear ideas of what she wants to do and is keen to hear from young people.
''When I think about my own experience as an MP those are some of the key skills and attributes.''
Simone will attend the Youth Parliament in July, where she will get to sit in Mr Doocey's seat.
''She will have a front row seat close to the Speaker's chair and she will engage in a lot of Parliamentary activities,'' Mr Doocey said.
While the Youth Parliament did not exist when Mr Doocey was younger, he said several of his Caucus colleagues had been been Youth MPs.
''You never know, it could be the start of a political career.''
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
4 days ago
- RNZ News
Orange ballot boxes to be placed around Canterbury district to make postal voting easier
Voting papers from any neighbouring district would be accepted in Waimakariri ballot boxes. Photo: NZ ELECTORAL COMMISSION Orange ballot boxes are expected to pop up around North Canterbury later this year. Waimakariri District Council deputy electoral officer Sarah Nichols said orange ballot boxes would be deployed around the district in September and October to make it easier for people to vote in this year's local government elections . ''We are still finalising the locations, but we are intending to have more than we did last time. ''With less post boxes around, we want to make sure people are able to have their say.'' She said voting papers from any neighbouring district would be accepted in Waimakariri ballot boxes ''as they all end up in the same place''. Christchurch-based runs the elections for several councils around the country, including the Waimakariri, Hurunui and Kaikōura districts. Nominations open on Friday July 4, with 35 positions up for grabs in Waimakariri - including mayor, 10 councillors and 24 community board members. In Hurunui, nominations will be accepted for mayor, 10 councillors and community board members in Hanmer Springs, south ward (including Amberley) and the Cheviot Licensing Trust. Nominations will also be accepted for two councillors in Environment Canterbury's North Canterbury constituency. Nichols said there were more than 80 candidates in the Waimakariri district in 2022, with contests required for all positions. ''It will be interesting how many come forward. We are certainly encouraging people from all walks of life and ages to stand for their community.'' She said she hoped recent publicity about online abuse of female politicians would not deter too many people from standing. ''It is certainly a factor for people to consider. Abuse can range from texts or emails, it can be keyboard warriors and in-person and none of it is acceptable behaviour. ''We hope it is a clean campaign with issues being debated, rather than personal traits.'' Nichols said there had not been too many issues with candidate nominations not complying with the rules in the past. Candidates need to submit a passport sized photo with their 150 word profile. The photo need to be of your head and shoulders, with no sunglasses, no hat and not accompanied by whānau, pets, friends or kissing a baby. Candidates must be a New Zealand citizen. You do not need to reside in the district(s) you choose to stand in - but your two nominees do. If you or your partner hold a contract of more than $25,000 for your local council you cannot stand, unless you have prior approval from the Auditor-General. Nominations close at 12pm on Friday August 1, and no late nominations are accepted. Once nominations close, you were on the ballot paper, Nichols said. Voting papers are posted out from September 9, with voting closing at 12pm on Saturday October 11. A telephone dictation service is available from the Electoral Commission to assist those who are unable to read the voting papers. In the event a candidate passes away after nominations close, as in the Port Waikato electorate in the 2023 general election, a by-election will need to be held. - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
NZ Herald
22-05-2025
- NZ Herald
US government revokes Harvard's right to enrol foreign students
Harvard, which has sued the US government over the raft of other punitive measures it has taken against it, quickly fired back, calling the move 'unlawful'. 'We are fully committed to maintaining Harvard's ability to host our international students and scholars,' it said in a statement. 'We are working quickly to provide guidance and support to members of our community. This retaliatory action threatens serious harm to the Harvard community and our country, and undermines Harvard's academic and research mission.' Karl Molden, an international student from Austria, said he had applied to study at Oxford in Britain because he feared such measures. 'It's scary and it's saddening,' the 21-year-old government and classics student said. 'I love Harvard, and getting into the school has been the greatest privilege of my life. 'It's definitely going to change the perception of ... students who (might) consider studying there – the US is getting less of an attractive spot for higher education.' 'Everyone's panicking' Last month, Trump threatened to stop Harvard from enrolling foreign students if it did not agree to government demands that would put the private institution under outside political supervision. 'As I explained to you in my April letter, it is a privilege to enrol foreign students,' Noem wrote. 'All universities must comply with Department of Homeland Security requirements, including reporting requirements under the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme regulations, to maintain this privilege,' she said. 'As a result of your refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' policies, you have lost this privilege.' More than 27% of Harvard's enrolment was made up of foreign students in the 2024-25 academic year, according to university data. Fourth-year US student Alice Goyer said 'no one knows' what the development would mean for international students already enrolled. 'We just got the news, so I've been getting texts from a lot of international friends, and I think everyone's just – no one knows,' she said. 'Everyone's panicking a bit.' On whether students would willingly transfer to other institutions, as suggested by Noem in the letter, Goyer said 'I doubt people would do that.' 'I would hope maybe there's going to be a legal battle that'll take place.'
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- RNZ News
'We're testing for testing's sake' - new maths tests fail to make the grade for principals
The government has announced a "maths check" for children in their first two years of schooling Photo: 123RF The government is "testing children to death" with the announcement of a new maths test for the youngest children, says the head of the Principals Federation. Next week's Budget will include $4 million to develop and introduce a "maths check" for children in their first two years of schooling. It also announced $56m over four years to employ the equivalent of 143 full-time maths intervention teachers to help primary school children who were struggling with the subject, and $40m over four years for small group maths tutoring for up to 34,000 children in Year 7-8 each year. Principals Federation president Leane Otene told RNZ the maths test would be on top of a phonics check for young children that it had already introduced. She said another test was not needed and she wanted to see evidence that the phonics test was making a difference. "We're testing for testing's sake. We know where the needs are. We know what supports that we need," she said. "Yes, it gives us information, but teachers will be able to tell you that they already know which children need that extra support. They don't need a test to tell them that so what is this test for, who is this test for, is what I will be asking. We've now got a phonics test for literacy in Year 1. We've now got a numeracy test in Year 2. We're testing our kids to death here." University of Canterbury mathematics education senior lecturer David Pomeroy said it was positive the government wants to prioritise the learning of young children in mathematics, however, he agreed the "biggest red flag" was the additional maths test. When government's have introduced compulsory testing in primary school, overseas statistics show there have been negative unintended consequences, Pomeroy told Morning Report. "Where it can go wrong is when a test becomes a part of a child's identity. So, this policy identifies children who are falling behind, or who are seen as having a gap in their learning really early on in the schooling. Children can internalise that label and it then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy." Education Minister Erica Stanford said on the new maths test would identify students who would benefit from additional support, early on in their schooling journey. "We are flying completely blind. There is no nation-wide, consistent assessment," Stanford told Morning Report . She said the skills test will be similar to the phonics test - which she said teachers are really enjoying. "We're not going to put kids in rows and have timed tests and it be very high stakes," Stanford said. "... More importantly, on a nation-wide level, it gives me a snapshot of 'woah we need more intervention teachers' or 'actually, since we've introduced structures maths, look at our results of our nation-wide consistent assessment at year two... every years its improving'." Otene said principals would welcome the funding for expert teachers, provided they targeted the children who were furthest behind in maths - those classed as "tier three" meaning they needed support from externally-sourced specialists. "We need that intervention support. But I'm really hoping that that's not just for tier two students... we need desperately learning support for those children who are 'well below'," she said. Otene said the funding for tutoring at intermediate schools was premature because it extended a pilot scheme that had not yet been assessed. "I'm a bit concerned that the minister does not have evidence to support the extending of that," she said. "It's another two weeks before they do the assessment of their Year 7 and 8 pilot. So, I think this is the cart before the horse to be quite frank." Otene said schools in the pilot could provide the tutoring themselves if they had an expert maths teacher, or they could use an online provider, or a hybrid model. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
