According to local sources, the New Zealand Education Ministry is studying a potential public private partnership for a NZ$41 million super school for Christchurch. The proposed school would be built on the Aranui High School campus.

The school would be the second PPP deal in the education sector in New Zealand after the Hobsonville Point primary school in Auckland.

The Education Minister, Ms Parata, announced the PPP studies in an interim decision on May 22. The schools have until July 3 to give feedback on the plans, and a final decision will be made in September.

The Ministry of Education's deputy secretary for regional operations Katrina Casey said a business case for a public-private partnership would be developed later this year. She said the business case would analyse the PPP cost against the ministry's standard procurement model.

"A business case will be developed later this year to determine whether a PPP for Aranui and other Christchurch schools provides better value for money than a more traditional contracting method."