The investigation into the Education Review Office has forced Trevor Mallard to listen to common-sense over the status of the agency, National's Education spokesperson Gerry Brownlee said today.

"Pre-election Mr Mallard said that he favoured merging the ERO into the Ministry of Education. It seemed Mr Mallard had already made up his mind when he announced a review of ERO in August last year. But now Mr Mallard has had to put the facts ahead of his bias and take the advice of the review team.

"The Education Review Office is the independent bearer of standards in the education sector. Parents throughout New Zealand will be relieved that the Government has not silenced ERO.

"In addition to recommending that ERO remain a standalone agency, the report provides some good recommendations about how ERO could be made more effective.

"I welcome the recommendation that ERO should focus more on the quality of education provided by each school and agree that teachers should spend less time doing administration work so they can focus on teaching. Any moves to get ERO and the Ministry of Education working together to assist schools in fixing problems are a step in the right direction," Mr Brownlee said.

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