Trustees welcome the Secondary Futures Project
The New Zealand School Trustees Association welcomes the announcement today of the joint secondary schooling project
“The Secondary Futures - Hoenga Auaha Taiohi”.
NZSTA President Chris France says the project provides a unique opportunity for the education community to work with the
government in ensuring all students are equipped with the skills necessary in the 21st Century, and that all students
are provided with the opportunity to reach their full potential.
He says this is an exciting opportunity to take a long term strategic look at secondary schooling in New Zealand.
“NZSTA is proud to be part of the Touchstone group through which the education community, along with the government,
will take a leading role.
“The Secondary Futures Project represents a unique approach to looking at the future of secondary schooling in New
Zealand, being a joint government/education sector project, operating on equal terms.”
Chris France says NZSTA also extends a very warm welcome to the guardians of the Secondary Futures Project.
“Professor Mason Durie, Bernice Mene, Ian Taylor, and Gillian Heald, are highly respected people in their respective
fields and will play an important role in guiding and leading the debate and associated work as the project proceeds.”
The Secondary Futures Project is a long term project to stimulate a broad range of discussion about what secondary
schools should be like in 20 years time, with a focus on developing ways of improving teaching and learning.
Chris France says NZSTA congratulates the Government and other stakeholder groups in the way they have worked together.
“They’ve created a process where the Government and education sector will work together in an exciting, flexible and
innovative environment. And school trustees, including student representatives, can collectively work to improve
learning outcomes for our students well into the future,” he says.
“We see this initiative as part of the development of long term strategies across the whole of the compulsory education
sector.”