Education Minister fails comprehension

new-zealand-national-party

Wed Oct 01 2008 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Education Minister fails comprehension

Wednesday, 1 October 2008, 5:24 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Anne Tolley MP
National Party Education Spokeswoman

1 October 2008

National Party Education spokeswoman Anne Tolley says Education Minister Chris Carter has either failed a basic test of comprehension, or is trying to deliberately misrepresent National’s policy to raise educational standards.

“Clearly I want to give the Minister the benefit of the doubt, and will assume it’s a simple case of Mr Carter failing to understand.

“As John Key clearly stated when he announced National’s plan to raise educational standards ‘this is not School C for six year olds’ as some people put it.

“There will be no national exams for primary school kids. That is not our policy, never has been, and it is not on our agenda.

National's policy is to introduce three key requirements for all primary and intermediate schools:

Clear National Standards: Set national standards in reading, writing and numeracy. The standards will describe all the things children should be able to do by a particular age or year at school. They will be defined by benchmarks in a range of tests.

Effective Assessment: Require primary schools to use assessment programmes that compare the progress of their students with other students across the country. Schools will choose from a range of tests, but there won't be national exams.

Upfront Reporting: Give parents the right to see all assessment information, and to get regular reports about their child's progress towards national standards. Schools will also have to report each year on the whole school's performance against national standards.

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“Currently, around one in five leave without NCEA Level 1, and many don't achieve even basic reading, writing and maths skills.

“National’s policy will lift education standards to ensure our children are better equipped for the future.

“Should Chris Carter like to acquaint himself with what John Key actually said in April 2007 the National Party Leader’s speech is available at: http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?articleId=9817.”

ENDS

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