Government Coats ERO Report With Political Gloss

Government Coats ERO Report With Political Gloss And Ignores Reality

Just 19 percent of schools are well prepared for National Standards, according to an ERO report released today.

The report says 61% of schools had some preparation underway sparking claims from the Education Minister Anne Tolley that 80% of primary and intermediate schools are "already making good progress with implementing National Standards".

The education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa says that is political gloss, not reality.

NZEI President Frances Nelson says the report is based on school reviews carried out in Terms 1 and 2 and the landscape has changed significantly.

"Many schools undertook professional training and struggled to get towards minimal compliance with the Standards in Terms 1 and 2. But that picture is changing as more and more schools see the flawed reality of implementing Standards that are not tested, have major design flaws and have been implemented with haste and without support from the sector,” she says.

The New Zealand Principals’ Federation and half a dozen regional principals' associations have called the Standards fundamentally flawed and unworkable and have backed a boycott of further training.

NZEI believes the Government should also take a closer look at parts of the report. It shows that more than a quarter of teachers had limited or no understanding of the Standards, half of all principals had only "some" understanding of them, and more than half of the school Boards of Trustees had limited or no understanding.

“That is hardly a ringing endorsement for the Standards,” says Ms Nelson.

ERO says it will continue to focus on how schools are using the Standards in Terms 3 and 4.

Frances Nelson says “the next report could paint a very different picture as the shambles of National Standards becomes increasingly evident.”

ENDS

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