Signal Timeframe On Standards Will Be Pushed Out

3rd July 2009
For Immediate Release

NZEI Has Clear Signal That Timeframe On National Standards Will Be Pushed Out

There are strong signals that calls by the education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa to push out the timeframe for the implementation of the national standards, have been listened to.

Schools were expected to have the standards in place by the beginning of next year and Ministry of Education consultation meetings on the draft standards have now finished. The overwhelming message from principals and teachers who attended the meetings was that the implementation timeframe was too tight and that there would be active opposition to any centralised collection of standards data.

NZEI says in terms of the timeframe, it appears the voice of teachers and principals has been heard.

In a letter to an NZEI principal member, the Ministry of Education has said that while the national standards will still be published later this year, they will not become officially legislated or fully implemented until 2011.

NZEI President Frances Nelson says that appears to be saying that schools are now being given an extra year before they're expected to have the standards fully up and running.

"That is very welcome news and represents a big victory for the sector. Principals and teachers knew that they were going to be under huge pressure to introduce the standards and the revised curriculum at the same time. The result would have been that neither would have been done properly."

The change will also push out the deadline for the official collection of standards data. NZEI has had extensive feedback that schools are firmly against any centralised collection of the data and would actively oppose it.

Frances Nelson says having more time to work through the issues on data collection will be beneficial.

"Hopefully it means we will be able to get a commitment from the government that standards data will not be available to draw simplistic comparisons between schools in the form of league tables. That is something which is, and will continue to be non-negotiable," she says.

ENDS

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