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Source: ONE News -
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The government is mobilising its MPs and writing to 350,000 households in a campaign to explain national standards in schools and take on opponents of the flagship policy.
As children went to school on the first day of the new term, Prime Minister John Key vowed there will be no backdown in the face of strident criticism from teacher unions and says the government will no longer tolerate one in five students leaving school without the skills they need to succeed in life.
"We simply do not accept the assertion by some that all is well in New Zealand schools," he said at a press conference with Education Minister Anne Tolley.
"New Zealand cannot afford a future where so many of our future workforce do not have the skills for modern jobs, nor should New Zealand parents have to put up with declining education standards, being kept in the dark about their children's progress, or creeping political correctness in our schools."
National standards are benchmarks for reading, writing and maths against which children in years one to eight will be assessed, with regular "plain English" reports sent to parents.
Teacher unions oppose the policy and are demanding at least a trial period for the new system, but the government has rejected that.
Some members of the union, which represents 90% of primary school teachers, have launched a national bus tour against the introduction of the new standards.
"The standards themselves are untested, untrialled, anywhere in our country. We have no evidence to say they will actually work," Says Brendon Morrissey, Kaitaia Primary principal.
However Key says there has been a lot of misinformation about national standards, so he has asked National's MPs to hold public meetings around the country to explain what they are and why they are needed.
He also released a personal letter he is sending to 350,000 households, along with a brochure , which is costing about $200,000.
Key told reporters criticism of the policy should be seen in context.
"National standards will demand a significant step up in performance from some of New Zealand's teachers and schools," he says.
"Around 30% of teachers aren't doing a good job of teaching reading and writing, and many principals aren't adequately sharing their school's achievement information with their communities. That is simply not good enough."
Key says the government will work alongside the education sector and will appoint an independent advisory panel which will make sure the policy is implemented properly.
Serious problems
Tolley says there is clear evidence of serious problems in schools.
International surveys are showing that the gap between the brightest and the lowest-performing students is wider than in most countries, and is increasing.
"And we have a quite unique situation where that gap is within schools, not between schools," she says.
Between 2001 and 2006 there was no progress in student achievement in reading.
"We have fallen from number one in the world to 24," she says.
Tolley says she has been discussing Maori Party concerns about the policy with co-leader Pita Sharples, an Associate Education Minister.
Sharples said on Monday he had "grave concerns" about national standards and was worried out the impact that "league tables" could have on some schools.
From 2012, the media will be able to use assessment information to compare the performance of schools.
Tolley says the ministry is working to ensure the information is properly used, and implementation of national standards in Maori language schools will be carefully handled.
Labour Party leader Phil Goff says the information campaign shows implementation of the policy is a shambles.
"Anne Tolley is simply not up to the job," he says.
"She has managed to get offside with everyone in the sector ... she has refused to listen to advice from parents, teachers or education experts."
Goff says the $200,000 taxpayer-funded "propaganda campaign" shows Key has now realised how badly the process has been run.
Key made a point at his press conference of saying he has absolute confidence in Tolley.
What do you think of the new national standards? Share your thoughts on the messageboard below.
Add a Comment:
Post new commentExpat1 said on 2010-02-03 @ 02:08 NZDT: Report abusive post
Watch for narrowing of the curriculum, watch for losing time for the stuff that is inherently part of NZ schools - sports, art, music, assemblies, anything that takes time away from instruction for benchmarks. Might not be right away, but progressively chipped away at. Look to the U.S. for lessons on how not to do it!
tahifu said on 2010-02-03 @ 01:01 NZDT: Report abusive post
Does National really know what it's doing? They look at statistics and data and make a judgement from that. It's obvious that National are being PC and not discussing the real underlying problem; children of specific ethnicities being the majority of the illiterate that contribute to the findings of Key's Stat's. Leave the primary school system alone and fix the real problem, NCEA
jamm said on 2010-02-02 @ 23:01 NZDT: Report abusive post
Surprisingly education here is not as good as what I expected. I teach my child at home anything under the sun as he hasn't got any homework to do, in short I find NZ's education low quality compared to others. Change is what NZ needs.
jamm said on 2010-02-02 @ 22:50 NZDT: Report abusive post
I came from a country where education is far better than what NZ has. At gradeschool students have about 7-10 class a day and each class got a homework that you need to work on at home. All students cannot proceed to secondary school without passing an assesment. They say good education will take you to a better palce and probably that's what took me to live in a first world country like NZ.
mistarex said on 2010-02-02 @ 19:44 NZDT: Report abusive post
Now we know why there is a shortage of quality teachers. Who would stay and cope with this cr.... More banal politically driven mumbo jumbo, not even trialled and threats of removing principals/ Board of trustees if not implemented...is this NZ or some third world dictatorship. More smarmy Key rhetoric, he is more boring than Helen. Same old, same old we know best......... who will profit from this I wonder..