National Standards Rollout in a Shambles

National Standards Rollout in a Shambles

The education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa says parents, schools and communities know that far from going well, the implementation of National Standards is in a shambles.

The government continues to push the rollout of the Standards in the face of a groundswell of public and education sector support for the Standards to be trialled.

NZEI President Frances Nelson says community awareness about the Standards is growing.

“Schools are realising they are ill-equipped to introduce the Standards and are increasingly asking why they are being forced to implement a system which is completely untried and untested. How can we know what impact the Standards will have on teaching and learning if they are not piloted and evaluated first?”

The government and the Education Minister still cannot effectively articulate how spending tens of millions of dollars on a system of National Standards will raise student achievement.

“When you’re a parent, a board member, a teacher or a school leader, you need the confidence to know that what you’re doing for children is right and educationally sound. At the moment we’re seeing schools and communities up and down the country saying they don’t have that confidence,” says Ms Nelson.

NZEI says if the government had followed the accepted processes for introducing such a major piece of educational policy, it would not have this shambolic situation. It would welcome an opportunity to work with the government to find a solution and map a way forward.

ENDS

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