Headline: Government gets F for failure on education
It’s time for the Government to put its money where its mouth is, and to stop robbing the early childhood sector to pay for charter schools and expensive roads which will do more harm than good.
The Government’s own report card on education shows it deserves a resounding F, for failing to address the needs of underachieving children while diverting precious resources away from programmes and teachers who could make a real difference, the Green Party says.
The Government has today released its league table of individual school national standards results, along with statistics on NCEA achievement and early childhood participation.
According to the National Government’s own data, a further 3000 children would need to attend ECE each year to meet its attendance targets.
Its report reveals that while 98% of Pakeha attend early childhood education before attending school, only 88% of Pacifika children do and 92 per cent of Maori.
“The National Government is failing miserably to meet the needs of Maōri and Pacifika kids whose parents want access to good quality, culturally appropriate ECE,” Green Party early childhood education spokesperson Catherine Delahunty said.
“Making ECE compulsory for the children of beneficiaries is not the answer to improved attendance, especially if there are no centres for those kids to go to.
“The Ministry of Education has told the Government that the main reason parents don’t send their kids to ECE is the availability of an appropriate service, but John Key keeps pretending its about slack parents.
“With a quarter of all centres reporting that there are large waiting lists for 3 year olds, the Government needs to build more centres, and make ECE more attractive by employing trained teachers and restoring the funding that it has axed from the sector.
“It’s time for the Government to put its money where its mouth is, and to stop robbing the early childhood sector to pay for charter schools and expensive roads which will do more harm than good.
“If it really cared about meeting its own targets it would restore funding for 100% qualified teachers and keep up with growing operational costs in the sector,” Ms Delahunty said.
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