Hon Hekia Parata

Minister of Education
19 September 2016 Media Statement

Minister Parata to visit the US and Israel

Education Minister Hekia Parata will today travel to the United States to examine one of that country’s most successful education systems and to discuss training with leading academics.

Ms Parata will meet with a number of education experts in Massachusetts and New York.

“The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education manages one million pupils in 2000 public schools, and yet just two per cent of its high school students leave school prior to graduation. In addition, its students’ maths and reading scores are among the highest in the country,” says Ms Parata.

“I want to understand from the Department’s Commissioner how Massachusetts is able to achieve these outstanding outcomes and what might be relevant to our education system.”

Ms Parata will also meet with senior faculty members at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to discuss its innovative programmes for teacher training and development. One of the top schools of education in the United States, it is also the first to establish a Doctorate of Education.

In New York she will take part in a series of discussions at the Asia Society Center for Global Education. Ms Parata has been appointed to its new advisory council alongside education leaders such as UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

“The Center is dedicated to building education systems that produce young people with the skills to thrive in the 21st century economy. This is a rare opportunity to highlight New Zealand’s efforts on the world stage.”

This is a topic Ms Parata will further explore when she leads a session onThe teachers in the innovative world at the Global Education Industry Summit in Jerusalem, Israel. While there she will also meet with a number of Ministers of Education and experts on digital technologies in education.

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