National Standards Let Parents and Children Down

National Standards Let Parents and Children Down

The education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa says the government is letting parents and children down in its haste to implement National Standards.

The Education Minister Anne Tolley commented today that schools are still learning to work with the Standards and their first reports may not be 100% right. She also said parents should not be alarmed if their child is not meeting the Standard as some are set higher than their age group.

NZEI believes that is unfair to parents and children. It is also unfair on teachers and principals who are under pressure to implement a system they are struggling to understand and have no confidence in.

NZEI President Frances Nelson says “we’ve got parents of children who are reading at Stanine 7 - which is in the top 23% of students - being told their child is below the National Standard. How can the Minister tell them not to be alarmed?”

“Not only are parents being let down but so are children. Children aren’t going to understand that their school is struggling to rush in an untried and untested policy. They will just see that they are failing.”

NZEI along with thousands of school communities and academics had called on the government to trial the Standards before implementing them.

“The government needs to do some plain English reporting of its own and engage with principals, teachers and school communities to restore confidence and achieve positive changes for teaching and learning,” says Ms Nelson.

ENDS

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