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.

“If a child is falling through the cracks, then they’re missing out on all the opportunities a good education provides.

“We need a standardised measure of progress to identify those students who might need additional help and to make sure they get that help.

“Education Minister Chris Hipkins has previously insisted the curriculum provides these clear measures, but advice from his own officials doesn’t back that up.

“Labour abolished National Standards with no alternative or plan to measure student progress. We’re now in situation where we don’t know ‘when to worry’ about a student’s achievement.

“A ‘refreshed’ curriculum won’t be available until 2025 which means we’re at risk of a generation of students going through our school system missing out on the additional support or help they need and could’ve had if we had an adequate way to measure progress.

“It’s important parents know what goes on in the classroom. They deserve to know how well their child is doing and any areas they need to improve on to succeed.

“A good education can see children overcome some of the challenges they face purely because of the circumstances into which they were born.

“Our kids need to be able to foot it with the best in the world and that means being in the classroom regularly and being taught a world class curriculum. The Government just isn’t focused on these basics.”

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