Schools are keen to move on from open-plan classrooms due to the negative impacts on learning.
The Government's announced it will give funding to schools for the classrooms to get fixed up.
They will be able to get the money from a contestable fund based on need to put walls in the barn-style classrooms.
Christchurch's Avonside Girls' High School Principal Catherine Law told Mike Hosking a few things worked in them, but overall, the experiment was a disaster.
She says there are some defenders, but the majority of people in education believe they were a mistake.
Law says they were implemented at a time when inquiry and student-based learning was a focus.
She says it was a perfect storm, but having 70 students in a classroom meant the importance of teacher-student relationships and routine was lost.
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The Mike Hosking Breakfast