The leadership of the country’s largest education union have voted today to formally oppose streaming in schools.
The NZEI Te Riu Roa National Executive and Te Reo Areare, its Miro Māori Council, adopted the position at the
organisation’s meeting in Wellington this morning.
NZEI Te Riu Roa National President, Liam Rutherford, says there was eager support for the motion.
“We know streaming is an outdated practice. Decades of evidence have shown that for our tamariki, and for Māori and
Pasifika children especially, streaming has long had negative impacts on their educational achievement and their
participation at school.
“We believe it is past time to recognise this and transition our teaching and learning practices toward more inclusive,
supportive approaches that support our children’s learning and success.
NZEI Te Riu Roa Matua Takawaenga Laures Park agrees.
“Landmark research last year showed yet again that streaming stands in the way of what tamariki Māori need to achieve
well: they need to feel culturally safe, and academically challenged. The Minister himself has agreed that streaming is
‘incompatible and inconsistent’ with achieving equitable outcomes for Māori students – given that, there’s really no
excuse for it to continue any longer.”
Mr Rutherford says many schools have found alternatives to streaming already. “Our schools need to be equipped to
transition away from streaming and toward mana-enhancing models of teaching and learning”, he says. “But we’re not
starting from scratch. We can look to those many schools that have started this journey already, doing some incredible,
world-leading things in this area, as we begin to make these changes across our education system.”