After five years of a Labour Government that promised to ‘revolutionise education’, achievement has never been lower, National’s Education spokesperson Erica Stanford says.

“A recent report saying that only a third of students could do the basic requirements needed to pass NCEA shows that Labour is failing our children and robbing them of the opportunity to be successful in life.

“A quality education is supposed to open doors for young people to be the authors of their own destiny, regardless of where they come from. But after five years of Labour, the data shows that the most disadvantaged students are going backwards the fastest.

“Among students from decile one schools, just 2 per cent could pass a foundational writing test. That is heartbreaking.

“A key part of the problem is the explosion of absenteeism that Labour has presided over. Research shows attendance is the most important indicator of academic success, but just 46 per cent of students attended school regularly in term one of this year.

"Worse still, 100,000 students are chronically absent, and Labour has no plan to turn this around. Getting kids to school should be the number one priority for the Ministry of Education.

“Without urgent change, our literacy and numeracy standards will continue to decline, and our children will continue to fall behind the rest of the world. This is not just a social failure but a future economic crisis.

“Labour’s lack of delivery in education is failing an entire generation of children.”