Educators’ key concerns in education funding review

Educators’ key concerns in education funding review

12 May 2016

NZEI Te Riu Roa President Louise Green is one of 18 members of an Advisory Group announced today, tasked with reviewing the funding of New Zealand’s education system.

The review being undertaken by the Ministry of Education will have major implications for how our education system is funded, and includes early childhood education and schooling through to age 18.

Ms Green said the group had a big job ahead of it.

She said NZEI’s fundamental commitment on behalf of its members was to maintain and enhance free and equitable access to education for all children regardless of their personal circumstances.

“There are a number of points that are priorities for NZEI in ensuring a quality public education for every child,” she said.

Those points are:

• Whatever changes are proposed, NZEI believes more funding is needed if children's learning needs are to be met successfully. Redirecting resources to one area would mean a loss of funding to another if the overall funding and resourcing is not increased.

• Boosting quality teaching in ECE through 100% qualified teachers.

• Ensuring teacher aides, office administrators and other support staff essential to schools receive fair pay and more secure jobs.

• Meeting our obligations to the Treaty of Waitangi to support learning in and through Te Reo Māori.

• Resourcing children with additional learning needs so we have a fully inclusive education system.

• We oppose performance-based/outcomes-based or "value added"/progress based funding, either for schools or individuals, where funding is linked to student progress or achievement data, because this fundamentally distorts teaching and learning. The international evidence shows it is unfair, unreliable and inaccurate.

ENDS

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