The Panel with Heather Roy and James Nokise (Part 1)

Media were ushered out of a room during a meeting between Malaysia and New Zelaand at the East Asia Summit after Malaysia's Prime Minister starting talking about the South China Sea. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad appeared to warn Jacinda Ardern over China's actions in the South China Sea. Our Prime Minister has brushed off the comments but we ask the panelists whether New Zealand can continue to not take sides in the dispute. Auckland primary school, Silverdale, has cancelled its prizegiving to move away from ranking students against each other. The Principal says studies show rewards undermine motivation. We ask the panelists what they think of the move and Dr Jenny Poskitt, Head of Massey's Institute of Education, joins The Panel to dicuss what she has found in her research into giving students prizing. It seems Auckland Council will provide funding for future Santa Parades but it won't be through the event organisation of the council, ATEED. However many have taken issue with ATEED seemingly not finding value in the annual tradition, despite it supporting other festivals, and the fact that ATEED executive salaries went up 89% in two years. The panelists give their view on whether ATEED has the right prorities. Students have launched a petition after being confused by the word "trivial" in a history exam. Some Year 13 students are worried they might fail the exam because they didn't knwo what it meant. 2000 have signed the peition asking for essay to be marked on students' own definition of it. Meanwhile the panelists discuss more listener feedback on the topic of the teachers' rolling strikes. Many have brought up the cost for ex-teachers to retrain, and are questioning why the Government doesn't make that less expensive instead of spending money hiring from overseas.