Literacy scheme an admission of failure

new-zealand-national-party

Tue Mar 23 2004 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Literacy scheme an admission of failure

Tuesday, 23 March 2004, 3:47 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Hon Bill English MP National Spokesman

23 March 2004

The Government's extension of a professional literacy programme for schools is a belated admission of failure, says National's Education spokesman Bill English.

"Far too many children are leaving primary school without basic literacy knowledge.

"National brought in nationwide testing of nine-year olds to measure literacy and combat underachievement. Labour scrapped that scheme at the insistence of the teacher's unions. Adding a limited number of schools to a new teaching programme does not make up for that.

"Teaching literacy should be the fundamental job of every primary school. Professional literacy support should be available to every school that needs it, not just those on a special project.

"Every child should leave school knowing how to read and write, no matter where they live or what their parents income is.

"Today's announcement will benefit some secondary school students whose literacy is not up to scratch, but for too many New Zealand children, it's too little, too late," said Mr English.

Ends

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from New Zealand National Party on InfoPages.