Labour to scrap game-changing education policy
In tonight’s TVNZ Leaders’ Debate, Chris Hipkins committed to scrapping the mandated hour of reading, writing and maths in schools, putting at risk the significant progress being made in New Zealand’s education system, National’s Education spokesperson Erica Stanford says.
“After decades of declining achievement, we are finally seeing early signs that the tide is turning.
“Chris Hipkins has now confirmed he would put that progress at risk by scrapping the requirement for schools to dedicate an hour a day to reading, writing and maths.
“Mr Hipkins was the Education Minister when the 2021 Royal Society expert report on mathematics and statistics was commissioned. That report made clear that New Zealand needed significant changes to improve maths achievement.
“One of its recommendations was crystal clear. Every child from Years 0 to 10 should have the opportunity to learn maths and statistics for at least an hour every day. Chris Hipkins had that report and did not implement that recommendation or any of the 14 other recommendations.
“National listened to the experts, and in our first 100 days, we introduced an hour a day of reading, writing and maths.
“We are now seeing the first signs of improvement. The latest national data shows the proportion of Year 6 students meeting curriculum expectations in maths increased from 30 per cent to 36 per cent, while writing increased from 33 per cent to 38 per cent. Both were statistically significant improvements.
“Yet in tonight’s debate, Chris Hipkins has made clear he would scrap a policy that is helping drive this change.
“Chris Hipkins spent years as Education Minister while achievement went backwards. Now he wants to unwind the back-to-basics reforms that are starting to turn that around.
“Parents are starting to see the results of a system that is getting back to basics. We are not going backwards.
“National is focused on raising achievement and will keep an hour a day of reading, writing and maths. We will keep driving greater consistency and best practice across New Zealand because every child deserves to master the basics and have the best opportunity to succeed.”
