Back the standards or quit, MP says

Karoline Tuckey | 9th February 2010

Any teacher who will not work with national standards should resign, Wairarapa MP John Hayes says.

The new assessment and reporting programme for reading, writing and maths was introduced around the country this week with the start of the primary school year.

But teachers' unions and Wairarapa principals have been vocally critical of it, saying the programme is not tested, there had been little support from the Ministry of Education for it and the timing is bad - coinciding with the introduction of the New Zealand curriculum.

Mr Hayes said opponents of the new policy were simply parroting the union line.

<PARASTYLE:Body Text>"This is about us paying teachers to produce results for our kids to stop 20 per cent of them leaving school without core reading, writing or maths skills," he said.

"If any teacher does not feel like getting in behind the national standards then they should look for jobs elsewhere. Please move out and let someone come in that will deliver what the government wants."

"This is not a huge issue, it's simply about identifying those kids who are not up to speed with reading, writing and arithmatic. That has to be addressed at primary school."

<PARASTYLE:Body Text>Mr Hayes said the urgency of the problems in New Zealand schools meant teachers would have to find a way to balance the introduction of national standards with the new curriculum.

"It's not about teachers or principals, it's about the kids. It's really important that we get all our kids up to speed in maths, English and writing because if we don't we relegate them to history's dustbin and those kids are going to live a very frustrating life because they cannot reach their potential," he said.

"They are going to be lined up outside the WINZ office... it's not in the communities interest and it's not in their interest."

Mr Hayes said national standards would give parents a clear indication if their child's core skills were not up to the expected level, and if that was the case they would be expected to find extra help for their child.

<PARASTYLE:Body Text>He said claims the assessment system was untested were not true, as trials in the United States and United Kingdom had shown very positive results.

Carterton's Dalefield School Principal Kevin Jephson said on Wednesday teachers had no time for national standards and would simply give the programme lip service.