Shearer explains Labour's new education policy

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Shearer explains new education policy

3News NZ

David Shearer

David Shearer

Labour is calling the Government's education track record abysmal and appalling, and party leader David Shearer says his party can do better.

He wants to extend free food to all decile one-to-three schools, and roll out Reading Recovery to all schools.

But his proposals come at a cost.

Mr Shearer spoke to Firstline's Rachel Smalley about the proposals this morning – watch the video.

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Comments

15/09/2012 11:52:57 a.m.

Denise wrote:

As a qualified teacher I have used both systems, of testing to National Standards and working with internal assessments. Internal assessments work well with only a few honest schools who are genuine in their outcome reporting and using good teaching techniques while others slip behind the eight ball. Also, in many schools when funding is involved, there is a lot of fudging going on. Only National Standards used properly compare results between children Nationwide and measure both school and child achievement and teacher outcomes. It strikes me the most vociferous anti National Standard people are teachers themselves or school advocates who are afraid of being judged by their own poor results and their low outcome capabilities questioned.

11/09/2012 9:55:25 a.m.

Paul wrote:

DAVID. What happened at Moerewa school is just one example where insular internal assessments don't work and the school was even able to fudge their own results. Only measuring progress on a National scale to a National standard will sort out those who need help and target resources to where they are needed rather than using the failed Decile ratings system that only measures a percentage of the socioeconomic wealth of an area and does not reflect genuine need of all the pupils individually at any particular school.

10/09/2012 4:53:51 p.m.

David wrote:

@Paul National Standards is a bad idea and even John Key refers to their rating system as eirie faerie lol so the point of that excercise was a waste of time now wasnt it?. National traditionally make the school systems international rating fall... Charter schools will be a big help in making that happen as they have been proven over and over again internationally to predominantly be monumental failures.

10/09/2012 2:57:36 p.m.

Paul wrote:

Interesting cart before the horse stuff and some dangerously expensive ideas and all pie in the sky without guidelines or something more concrete to support helping things happen. With reading for example, without National Standards in place, which Labour doesn't support, it is not easy to measure who needs or does not need help in one school compared to another and using decile rating as a 'guide for need' is a nonsense. Giving free food may be good for the children but most parents who don't presently shirk their responsibility of feeding their kids will be encouraged to join in if free food is ever introduced through the tax payer paying for it. Better a Marae type concept where the local people support their own schools with a food kitchen roster using donated and sponsored goods or something so people re-learn how to take some responsibility for their own children and improve the community atmosphere among each other in the process.

10/09/2012 2:50:10 p.m.

David wrote:

@National Party fanboys. In 2005 our school system was ranked second best in the world... its international rating as well as when the rating was done are available online. Poverty in itself was worsened by National in 1991, with massive benefit cuts... international economists and academics all agree, as does New Zealands own group of academics who make up the poverty action group. The school system is due to be ranked again next year... these figures are taken over a 4 year period.. and will judge New Zelands school performance from 2009-2013. What do you want to bet that that rating falls dramatically?. There isnt many placs to go from being second best in the world.. increased class sizes, charter schools, National Standards... these policies are all National Party duds. Feeding starving children instead of pretending they dont exist is one of the best ideas I have ever heard. National will have alot of explaining to do next year I think when our new international school system rating comes out. Just remember though Key has said NZ has the second best school system in the entire world, and did this in an interview on TV3... what he didnt say was that was because of Labour. OH NO!!!

10/09/2012 2:19:42 p.m.

Wiseacre wrote:

The callous apathy of the heartless bourgeois who prefer to deny poverty-stricken children, seeking instead to blame the parents for a country and economic system that has failed them, is loathsome. These cold-hearted, self-serving philistines would prefer not to be confronted with childhood deprivation on the news each night as they sit down with their hot dinner. But rather than do something constructive about it, they instead point fingers and apportion blame - parents, welfare, teachers, Labour, Unions. But never do they question an economic system that has failed the majority of their fellow citizens. An economic system that marginalises the many while rewarding the few. An economic system that requires a vast pool of desperate unemployed to compete with each other to drive wages & conditions ever lower. A failed economic system that is bringing the world down around them. No, they unquestioningly validate it. Meanwhile, children go hungry. They should be ashamed of themselves. Their odious self-centeredness is a major part of the problem.

10/09/2012 2:18:42 p.m.

Mike wrote:

Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

Labour believes that the bigger failure you are, the more you deserve to be funded to your next failure. If your a problem gambler, the solution isn't to cut back on gambling, its to be paid by NZ to gamble even more!

The policies haven't done a thing to improve our education system. If we will provide free food to low decile schools, why not all schools? Because they want to reward failure and encourage parents to starve their kids!

The idea that if you can't live within your means the government will always be there to pay doesn't work and NZ can't afford it. We need something to work towards educating parents and children (for the next generation) to learn how to budget, and live within a budget, and live healily on a budget.

Is rent cost too high? Well anyone else in NZ faced with the same problem moves to a lower rent cost. Thats typical of renting, you face change because you avoided the responsibility of ownership, and the possibility of needing to move. Labours RMA helped strangle housing development and create a housing shortage which has pushed up prices where the shortage is - like Auckland through growth, and Christchurch through the quake. On the plus side we have the highest numbers of permits in 5 years, so those prices are probably near a peak as new housing comes onstream.

Businesses/Parents still want an education system that gives them feedback - hence Labour against national standards as it could give that feedback.

Many of the educational changes by national have been shown to work in Christchurch, but since they worked they must be gimmicks? Tell that to the kids in Christchurch who benefited by the make-do they achieved with as they just didn't have any other option. According to Labour it couldn't work, so why does the stats suggest the opposite? They used much less resources without a huge drop in standards which Labour claims woud happen.

10/09/2012 1:52:19 p.m.

Dan wrote:

@ERM - The education industry has had no choice but to turn political after the constant attacks the National party have made against them. Keep voting Nat and we'll see 100+ student classes with forced drop outs when they can't meet quotas.

10/09/2012 1:22:59 p.m.

please reality wrote:

Labour was in for nine years the education system didnt supposedly go the dogs overnight??? As for giving kids lunch etc I agree with that as long as the money comes out of the cash payments given to parents. As a country we have to start encouraging people to look after their own kids, not encourage them to have kids they cant afford and then the kids suffer. Handouts are for those who do their best and stuff happens, not for those who think the rest of the country owes them.

10/09/2012 1:00:29 p.m.

alan wrote:

Another nanny state idea from Labour which would enable irresponsible parents to spend their entire benefit on alcohol, cigarettes and gambling. Those parents who do care for their kids would look at this as a 'slap in the face ' and wonder why should they bother.