Kirk appointed Amos Minister of Education in the Third Labour Government from 1972 to 1975, and also served as the last Minister of Island Affairs from 1972 to 1974. As Minister of Education, he passed the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act which drove the integration of Catholic and private schools with a system which provided them with state funding and worked towards the reduction of class sizes. Allowing private schools to voluntarily integrate with the state system without sacrificing their particular character was seen as outside the traditional Labour Party policy sphere.