Govt Panicking With National Standards "Marketing"

February 3 2010

Government Hits Panic Button With National Standards “Marketing” Campaign

The education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa says the government has launched what amounts to a National Standards marketing campaign, showing it is clearly on the back foot over the rollout of the policy.

The Prime Minister and the Education Minister have announced the government is spending $200,000 on an information and direct mail campaign to explain its National Standards policy. It’s also appointing an expert advisory committee to give advice on the implementation.

NZEI which represents 90% of primary teachers and 97% of primary principals says the government knows opposition to National Standards is growing and it is hitting the panic button.

“It is clear that New Zealanders are confused about National Standards and have no confidence they will raise educational achievement levels as the government claims. This information campaign is a kneejerk reaction to that,” says NZEI President Frances Nelson.

NZEI has launched its own National Standards school bus tour campaign which is travelling the country receiving overwhelming school, parent and community support for a trial of National Standards.

Ms Nelson says the government’s haphazard rollout of National Standards reinforces the fact that they are untried and untested and could end up being a costly political experiment at the expense of children’s learning. “The government needs to trial the Standards, not the teachers who are expected to implement them,” she says.

Frances Nelson believes there is little point in setting up an expert advisory committee to oversee the implementation of National Standards.

“Taxpayer’s money would be better spent and would better serve the interests of students if a National Standards trial was set up and independently reviewed, rather than a system-wide evaluation of the policy rollout.”

ENDS

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