A few days ago the Minister of Education announced a $100 million package to improve results in mathematics:
“Next week’s Budget will allocate $100 million over four years for expert maths teachers and maths tests at primary and intermediate schools.
In a pre-Budget announcement this afternoon, Education Minister Erica Stanford said most of the money, $56m, would pay for the equivalent of 143 full-time maths intervention teachers to help primary school children who were struggling with the subject.
She said $40m would be spent on small group maths tutoring for up to 34,000 children in Year 7-8 each year.
Stanford said the government would spend $4m to develop and introduce a tests schools could use to check children’s maths ability.
“From next year, every child will have their maths ability checked in their first two years of schooling. The check will identify students who would benefit from additional support, early on in their schooling journey,” Stanford said.”
Having been out of the education system for years, I’m hesitant to critique this plan, but my skepticism persists, shaped by the current government’s Atlas Network-influenced policies. Past National-led governments pushed technocratic education reforms, like the now-discredited National Standards under John Key, which prioritised “tick-the-box” outcomes over meaningful learning.
For a more qualified perspective, I turn to Dr. Sarah Aiono, an education expert known for her innovative, play-based, and holistic approaches. In her article, “The Problem with Copy-Paste Solutions in Education,” she critiques the $100 million package:
The Problem with Copy-Paste Solutions in Education
“No clear evidence has been provided to show that this structured intervention approach in maths will have the intended impact, especially when scaled up nationally. No details have been offered about how this model will cater to the diverse cultural, linguistic, neurodevelopmental, and socioeconomic contexts of New Zealand schools.
We’re not just trialling an idea. We’re bankrolling an unproven one.”
Dr. Aiono argues that focusing on students dragging down national averages misses the point:
“If our goal is to lift national achievement averages, the real question becomes: where are the students who are pulling those averages down?
We already know who they are. They are the tamariki who are navigating poverty, trauma, transience, neurodiversity, and under-resourcing. They are the students who don’t just need intervention in the curriculum—they need wraparound care. They need well-supported teachers. They need kai. They need secure attachment and safe classrooms before learning can even begin.
Children cannot accelerate to curriculum level in maths if they are three years behind developmentally, if they haven’t had stable access to school, or if they’re operating in a state of chronic stress. No amount of assessment or instructional “dose” will change that. And yet, we persist in pretending it might.
This isn’t a deficit view of children—it’s a realistic view of the systems they are in.”
Also:
“We Don’t Need Checklists—We Need Care
To be clear, this is not an attack on intervention. There are teachers across the country doing extraordinary work to support learners in small groups, to re-engage disengaged students, and to rebuild mathematical confidence. But those teachers are also crying out for time, space, and support to do that work well. Many of them are teaching without specialist backup, without trained assistants, and with inadequate PLD.
If we truly want to see progress in maths achievement, then we need to begin with wellbeing. With readiness to learn. With responsive pedagogies, not reactive policy.
What we’re being offered in this budget line is a checklist approach—screen, identify, intervene. But learning doesn’t happen on a checklist. It happens in relationship.”
I could go on pasting quotes from the article, however it would be far better for you to read it yourself.
The Problem with Copy-Paste Solutions in Education
Perhaps one day, we’ll have a Minister of Education who consults experts like Dr. Sarah Aiono, instead of relying on an academic affiliated to the Atlas Network. Then, and only then, New Zealand’s education policies might start to make sense again.
In a nut shell fix all of our poverty situations ,housing ,employment ,pay rates ,health care ,to name a few and kids will achieve in the class room of life .
Agree totally Gordon.
Likewise spend a few hundred million on Police and Border protection and the cost of our drug addiction costs will be reduced dramatically.
You are a lot more optimistic than I am regarding the quality of our law enforcement services. I suspect that spending more on them will just increase the incentive for corruption. If GW’s suggestions are followed I would expect some reduction in demand as people have a genuine purpose for life and can see their future continuing to get better.
if kids are healthy and educated, they have choices. addiction is the choice when you have no others. advocating scarcity is uncivilised navel gazing barbarity, it will just up the gain, the game and the harm. you need to pick out the lint and look at the evidence.
Gordon you are right, but these issues are never going to be fixed. Probably best faced.
You could fix all that but if the kids aren’t taught the math they are still undereducated.
When NZ was a poorer country kids were taught rote learned math’s and school inspectors put the fear of God or discipline or being down the roading into teachers.
Apparently the standard of math’s achievement has fallen since then.
This is being funded by cutting school lunches which should be feeding the brains of these same kids that are hungry .
Who is that girl in the image? She looks just out of uni – is she an intern?
Maths when we have AMI – education for people lost between google and social media, TV and religion of prosperity churches; the old stalwart churches lost to monetarism and sexism also lost their ground-breaking Sunday schools. We haven’t carried forward their start to great things, only how to run an economic scam that dazzles people with the words freedom and market.
People taking up trades using their education to learn a skill but not how to be an aware citizen in a democracy without royal input – as the people are fairer and better…pffffttt! Just learn philosophy and music and leave the maths – beyond 10 is not necessary for the ordinary poor post-neolib. Note that net is ten turned round, turn it the other way and get more tens.
Also learn to read and discuss what read, and write with a pencil a short summary and plan for the next day, Think for yourself and find good teachers who can lead discussions and enlighten pupils.