Key must sort out 'flagship' shambles now

new-zealand-labour-party

Wed Apr 20 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Key must sort out 'flagship' shambles now

Wednesday, 20 April 2011, 10:22 am
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party

Prime Minister John Key must sort out the shambles of his flagship national standards education policy following a survey that shows less than half of our primary schools are willing to go along with his plans, says Labour's Education spokesperson Sue Moroney.

Sue Moroney says 1000 schools have responded to a survey sent out by the Principals Federation on behalf of the Boards Taking Action Coalition.

"Just 44 per cent of the schools said they will comply with the legal requirement to set achievement targets against John Key's national standards. Thirty per cent won't use the national standards to set targets, and another 26 per cent say they will only do the minimum to comply with the standards.
"John Key's insistence on forcing the discredited national standards approach on primary schools is distracting schools from delivering quality education, and children's education will suffer as a result," Sue Moroney said.

"He should have intervened well before it got to the stage recently where 750 school principals took a vote of 'no confidence' in the standards and Education Minister Anne Tolley. He certainly has no excuse for not acting now as a result of this survey.

"Schools tell me they are complying with the Government's instructions because they feel they have to, but would rather be spending time and money on lifting student achievements," Sue Moroney said.

"National is risking our children's education by insisting on implementing a system that most schools don't agree with.

"There's no way a system promoting so much non-compliance could even remotely be labelled as a 'national' system'," Sue Moroney said.

"If it wasn't so tragic from the point of view of our children, it would be a sick joke. A report card assessing the Government's implementation of national standards would have to say 'did not achieve'."

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