If the education system in New Zealand is a means of preserving the privileged position of the elite, the owners of capital and their managers, then schools and universities are operated to a large extent on the taxes of those whom they discriminate against. How do schools discriminate against the oppressed and preserve the elite's privileges?

School is not based on the experiences of the pupils which is the first requirement for a liberating education for the unacademic majority. School is academic and based on book learning. It is not surprising that pupils who have a home background where books and education are highly valued should succeed at school. If university attendance is taken as an indication of success in the school system, then the inequalities made in our schools can be demonstrated. Table one shows that it is children with parents who have achieved academic success who are more likely to go to university.