Tracey Martin MP
Spokesperson for Education
9 August 2012
No Standard for National Standards
New Zealand First has accused the government of wasting $15 million of taxpayers’ money on an unreliable and unproven
reporting system for data on national standards in schools.
Education spokesperson Tracey Martin says even the minister accepts that the reporting information cannot be relied on
due to the different ways schools have reported because they have not been given clear instructions.
“Spending millions of dollars on a system that not one child has directly benefited from is absurd.
“The money would have been better spent on better learning equipment for struggling students, teacher aides and keeping
special needs schools open.
“Parents should demand that this money should be spent directly on their children’s education rather than on some
testing system and the government should listen to them.
“This is a waste of education dollars at a time when every dollar counts,” says Tracey Martin.
ENDS