The National Party has unveiled its proposed education policy in New Zealand, which includes refocusing teacher training, revising the curriculum, and scrapping teacher registration fees. The policy, “Teaching the Basics Brilliantly,” aims to improve the underperforming education system in the country. The National Party believes that the curriculum’s woolliness means teachers are spending their weekends and evenings trying to figure out what they are supposed to be teaching, and it should be clear. National’s policy aims to create a better education system for Kiwi children and ensure that the curriculum is not a political football. The government is currently working on refreshing the curriculum, which replaces year levels and achievement objectives with five phases of learning. However, the National Party believes that the government should be more ambitious than it is through the current curriculum refresh. Consultation is currently underway on a draft framework for the refreshed curriculum.
National Party Announces New Education Policy
The National Party in New Zealand has revealed its new education policy, “Teaching the Basics Brilliantly”, which proposes several changes to the country’s education system. The policy aims to improve the underperforming education system by making sure students are achieving their potential and being extended.
One of the significant changes proposed in the policy is the introduction of new assessments to check on children’s progress before they reach high school. National is also suggesting new requirements for the amount of time schools allocate to reading, writing, and maths, while teacher training and professional development will be refocused onto the “basics.”
National leader Christopher Luxon announced the policy on Thursday, stating that the education curriculum will be re-written if the party forms government after the October election. Luxon highlighted recent statistics around school attendance and the underperformance of students, such as two-thirds of students not meeting minimum writing standards.
Under the policy, National aims to have 80 percent of Year 8 students at or above the expected curriculum level for their age in reading, writing, maths, and science by 2030. The party also aims to have Kiwi students in the top 10 in maths, reading, and science, as measured by the international PISA rankings, by 2033.
To achieve these targets, National would require all primary and intermediate schools to provide at least an hour of reading, an hour of writing, and an hour of maths, on average, every day. However, Luxon clarified that this doesn’t mean children will be sitting doing spelling tests or repetitive math exercises for an hour a day.
“Our teachers are committed, innovative, and creative professionals who know their own classes and will teach in the way that works best for our children,” Luxon said.
Another significant change proposed in the policy is the removal of teacher registration fees. National believes that the cost of registering as a teacher is a barrier to entry into the profession and that removing it will encourage more people to become teachers.
National’s policy aims to create a better education system for Kiwi children, stating, “We will not accept mediocrity in the school system. The social cost and the economic cost of failure are simply too high.”
National Party’s New Education Policy: More Assessments, Time for Basics, and Resource Bank
The National Party has revealed a new education policy, “Teaching the Basics Brilliantly,” which aims to improve the underperforming education system in New Zealand. The policy proposes several changes to the country’s education system, including more assessments, time for basics, and a resource bank.
The policy document says that many great schools already achieve excellent outcomes for their students, and National will ensure timetabling practices from the best schools are shared across the system so that every child is given that opportunity. The party plans to share best-practice guidance with schools on timetabling to support them in meeting the minimum class time requirements.
National will re-write the curriculum to create clear expectations of what is expected across reading, writing, maths, and science at every year group, rather than in bands of year levels. The party aims to get rid of the three-year bands, replacing them with explicit expectations of achievement and knowledge dissemination for each year group.
To test how Kiwi kids are going, National proposes to require standardized robust assessments at least twice a year in reading, writing, and maths from Year 3 to Year 8, to check on each child’s progress. Detailed results will be reported to parents. National would also introduce an age-appropriate skills check-in towards the end of Year 2 to assess basic skills such as counting, phonics, and letter formation.
Christopher Luxon, the National leader, said that currently, there is no assurance that schools objectively know the learning progress of every child. He said that the additional assessments will provide a reliable, national picture of how New Zealand children are progressing at primary and intermediate school. It will also provide data to principals, teachers, and parents about how their kids are doing.
National plans to reduce teacher workload by developing a high-quality, free, online resource bank that includes a variety of teaching materials such as lesson plans aligned with the new curriculum. Luxon said that National is not asking teachers to do more and doesn’t want teachers “spending your weekends re-inventing the curriculum and devising teaching materials.” He said that National wants to support teachers because what children learn in their class this year, and what they learn next year, and right through school, will play a big role in determining their life outcomes.
Luxon said that National would ensure that “teachers and teacher trainees spend more time learning how to teach the basics, and we’ll provide them with more classroom tools to help them teach reading, writing, and maths brilliantly.”
National expects that 80% of Year 8 students are at or above the expected curriculum level for their age in reading, writing, maths, and science by 2030, and that Kiwi students are in the top 10 in maths, reading, and science, as measured by the international PISA rankings, by 2033. The party believes that the education system is underperforming and that too many kids are failing to achieve their potential or being extended.
National’s policy is a response to these concerns and aims to create a better education system for Kiwi children. Luxon said, “We will not accept mediocrity in the school system. The social cost and the economic cost of failure are simply too high.”
The National Party plans to make changes to the education system in New Zealand by focusing on teacher training and revising the curriculum. The party’s new education policy, “Teaching the Basics Brilliantly,” aims to improve the education system’s underperformance in the country.
The National Party aims to refocus teacher training so that all new teachers are confident in the subjects they are teaching, making it a requirement for registration. For existing teachers, the party plans to change professional development priorities to focus on teaching the basics. As a sweetener for teachers, the National Party plans to scrap registration fees, which is expected to cost $10 million per annum to be funded from the operating allowance through the annual Budget process.
The current government is working on refreshing the curriculum, which replaces year levels and achievement objectives with five phases of learning. However, the National Party believes the government should be more ambitious than it is through the current curriculum refresh. The party’s policy proposes to revise the curriculum to create clear expectations of what is expected across reading, writing, maths, and science at every year group, rather than in bands of year levels. National aims to get rid of the three-year bands, replacing them with explicit expectations of achievement and knowledge dissemination for each year group.
Consultation is currently underway on a draft framework for the refreshed curriculum. The National Party’s policy proposes to share best-practice guidance with schools on timetabling to support them in meeting the minimum class time requirements, ensuring that every child is given the opportunity to achieve excellent outcomes.
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