The Government spent $3 million on two education summits, with 1400 people attending the events to discuss making the NZ "education system fit for the future and for the needs of all", said Education Minister Chris Hipkins.
A paper was released today on the findings of the summits , which included the identification of values in the education system, finding a shared vision and to enable the Minister to be provided with "well-founded and challenging reccommendations" through a broad engagement approach.
The Tomorrow's Schools Review, the Early Learning Strategic Plan and the NCEA Review were "drawing on those ideas and suggestions to inform their work on the changes".
"The summits put special emphasis on inviting the voices and communities not usually heard in the education debate, ensuring they could attend. The events were specifically designed for a different style of engagement which enabled an open-ended and genuine exchange of ideas," Mr Hipkins said.
The two summits were held in May, with about 1400 people in total attending. The Christchurch summit cost $1.41m and Auckland cost $1.26m, with $440,000 spent to design and develop the summits.
It comes after the Government faced criticism over the cost of its Justice Summit held last month, aimed at overhauling the country's prison system, which cost $1.5 million - more than twice the amount budgeted.
The summit aimed at overhauling what Labour says is a "broken" system blew is budget.
National's education spokesperson Nikki Kaye told 1 NEWS that "most New Zealanders would be very supportive of ensuring the education sector are involved in policy discussions about the future of our education system".
"However, this needs to be done in a fiscally responsible way and I am concerned that there are anywhere between 13 to 20 reviews at the moment in education and the summits have been expensive.
"I think the Minister needs to demonstrate in the future that he can provide some efficiencies in the way that we are having these conversations, because quite rightly there will be teachers and principals out there saying that should be spent on front line education rather than just on consultation."
SHARE ME