New Zealand National Party

Attendance strategy more spin than action

June 09, 2022 Share

Erica Stanford

Labour’s strategy for dealing with truancy is more spin, without clear actions to turn around New Zealand’s truancy epidemic, National’s Education spokesperson Erica Stanford says.

10,000 more children absent from school

May 27, 2022 Share

Erica Stanford

A staggering 10,000 more children across New Zealand were chronically absent from school in Term Four of 2021, National’s Education spokesperson Erica Stanford says.

Literacy and numeracy are still declining

May 06, 2022 Share

Erica Stanford

The 2021 NCEA results confirm that literacy and numeracy achievement is going backwards under Labour, National’s Education spokesperson Erica Stanford says.

Govt’s literacy and numeracy strategy gets an F

March 26, 2022 Share

Erica Stanford

Desperate parents who were hoping for bold action to urgently improve education outcomes for their children continue to be let down by the Government, National’s Education spokesperson Erica Stanford says.

No amount of spin will deliver RATs to schools

February 23, 2022 Share

Erica Stanford

Schools across the country are on the verge of shutting due to staff being forced to self-isolate yet the Government remains more focused on spin over delivery of rapid antigen tests, National’s Education spokesperson Erica Stanford says.

Children and teachers shut out of RAT scheme

February 17, 2022 Share

Chris Bishop

The Government’s failure to order enough rapid antigen tests is causing chaos for New Zealand’s children and schools, National’s Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop and Education spokesperson Erica Stanford say.

Where’s the education urgency?

November 17, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Re-opening schools today in Auckland and Waikato has been great for some, but too many are still missing out, National’s Education Spokesperson Paul Goldsmith said today.

National releases plan to get school students back on track

November 10, 2021 Share

Judith Collins

Leader of the Opposition Judith Collins and National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith have today released National’s education plan to get school students back on track and make up for lost class time.

Auckland’s education funk hurting students

November 05, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Ongoing uncertainty about schools reopening in Auckland has put much of the education system there into a funk, with students missing out, says National’s education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith.

Non-education farce in Auckland must end

November 01, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The Government must today announce a swift reopening of Auckland and Waikato schools to arrest the decline in students’ education and mental health after more than two months out of the classroom, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Government too slow to re-open schools

October 27, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The Government is wrong to keep most children out of school in Auckland until 15 November at the earliest, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Schools decision wrong and misguided

October 20, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The Government is wrong to keep most children out of school in Auckland, possibly for the rest of the year, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith said today.

Where’s the plan to help Auckland’s students?

October 18, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The Government must provide a date and plan for Auckland schools to reopen now, says National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith.

What’s the plan to reopen Auckland schools?

October 12, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

After seven weeks of lost school time, Aucklanders need a plan to get their children back to school, says National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith.

Government negligence keeps kids locked out of school

October 11, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The Government’s lack of preparedness is the reason students are missing out on even more critical school time, says National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith.

Reopening schools absolute priority

October 07, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The Government should move heaven and earth to make sure schools reopen in Auckland on October 18, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Muddled priorities behind education strike

October 04, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The Government’s confused spending priorities in education have created the conditions for the planned strike by Ministry of Education psychologists, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Government must heed advice on maths

October 03, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

All our talk of succeeding in a knowledge economy is empty so long as our maths education remains a goddamn mess, says National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith.

Clearer expectations of home learning required

September 17, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Confirmation today that Auckland students will spend another two weeks trying to learn from home underscores the need for better guidelines to make sure kids are actually engaged in education, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Labour should listen to the education experts

September 13, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The Government should listen to the strong message from accounting and economics teachers that its proposed curriculum changes are misplaced and go back to the drawing board, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Quit the education complacency

September 09, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Education Minister Chris Hipkins is mythmaking about the impact of school closures on learning, no doubt to downplay the impact of his Government’s failures over Covid, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Government vague on lockdown education

August 25, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

As kids and parents face weeks away from school, the Government remains vague on the reality of education under lockdown, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

National backs commerce teachers’ petition

August 05, 2021 Share

Todd McClay

The proposed removal of specialised commerce subjects at NCEA Level 1 is going to leave Kiwis without strong financial and economic literacy, National MPs Todd McClay and Paul Goldsmith say.

Kids missing out because progress isn’t measured

August 02, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The Government must implement a standardised way to measure progress to make sure no children fall through the cracks, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Government must urgently prioritise truancy crisis

July 30, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

New Zealand’s truancy crisis is only going to get worse if schools aren’t required to submit their attendance data, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

What is Western Science?

July 26, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Proposals for NCEA science risk taking our curriculum down a rabbit hole at a time when the Government should be focused on turning around our declining achievement in science, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Alarm bells should be ringing in education

June 29, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The Education Review Office warning of a ‘slippage of expectations’ in mathematics teaching must be the catalyst to turnaround declining achievement in foundational subjects, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Quit the ideological warfare, Minister

June 21, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Rather than keep fighting ideological battles, the Government should be focusing its on energy on making sure our kids are at school in the first place, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Labour kills second language bill

June 03, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Labour’s move to kill a National Member’s Bill to give primary and intermediate schools the tools to teach a second language is narrow-minded and misses a golden opportunity to equip our kids with greater language skills, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

National submits on New Zealand history curriculum

June 01, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The National Party agrees that teaching New Zealand history to our kids should be a core part of the curriculum, but we have serious concerns around elements of the current proposal, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Govt prioritises ‘white privilege’ training over falling grades

May 27, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

It is right to have important conversations around inequities, but it is wrong to peddle crude, simplistic, stereotypes imported from America which are more divisive than constructive, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Time to enforce social obligations for truancy

May 24, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Rather than abandoning social obligations on beneficiaries to send their children to school we should be enforcing those requirements especially at a time when New Zealand is facing a truancy crisis, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Thin rations to turn around truancy crisis

May 22, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Parents and teachers will be disappointed that in a Budget with about $15 billion worth of new spending, so little was devoted to pressing challenges in education, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Warped education priorities short-changing kids

May 17, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The Government should be focusing on making sure our kids are at school and learning, rather than have them discuss their white privilege, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

New Zealand is in a truancy crisis

May 06, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

New Zealand has a truancy crisis as new figures show almost 40 per cent of students did not attend school regularly in term four of 2020, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Labour wrong to limit where kids can go to school

April 22, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Proposed changes to the Education and Training Act 2020 are part of an ongoing attack on school choice by Labour, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

17 schools have fewer than 20 per cent of kids regularly at school

April 15, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Today’s revelation by the Government that there are 17 schools where fewer than 20 per cent of students are attending school regularly is just another illustration of the magnitude of New Zealand’s attendance crisis, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

New figures show New Zealand’s attendance crisis

March 30, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Newly released attendance data National has been calling for for months shows an alarming number of students don’t attend school regularly, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Government hiding our student attendance crisis

March 19, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The only way we can fix New Zealand’s appalling school attendance levels is by first knowing the full extent of the problem, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Lockdown’s impact on student learning dire

March 03, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

NZQA’s assessment that the University Entrance pass rates for 2020 would have ‘fallen off a cliff’ without free credits shows the huge impact lockdown disruption is having on learning, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Words alone mean nothing, Minister

February 24, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Words and good intentions will not solve New Zealand’s truancy crisis, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Labour sending mixed messages on education

February 11, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Labour’s messaging on New Zealand’s curriculum is confused and misses what is important to improve student achievement, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Proposed history curriculum lacks balance

February 03, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

The proposed new history curriculum for schools is lacking in balance and needs revision, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith said today.

Measuring progress key to raising student achievement

February 02, 2021 Share

Paul Goldsmith

Making sure students actually attend school and have their progress measured are the big issues the Education Minister needs to tackle to lift performance, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Failing education standards won’t help wellbeing

December 09, 2020 Share

Paul Goldsmith

News that New Zealand’s 13 year olds have recorded their worst-ever results in the latest international comparison study (TIMMS) should be ringing alarm bells across the education sector, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

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