ACT Education spokesperson Donna Awatere Huata today said she supported Education Minister Nick Smith's plans to develop a comprehensive Adult Literacy Strategy.

Speaking on International Literacy Day, Mrs Huata said adult literacy in New Zealand remained a serious issue.

"New Zealand's poor performance in the last worldwide survey on adult literacy revealed that nearly half of New Zealand adults could only handle the simplest printed material. This has to be New Zealand's darkest, best kept secret."

"The results also showed that state education has not worked for the poorer members of our society."

Mrs Huata said the results highlighted the lack of a national assessment programme in schools during the past 20 years.

"The poor reading ability of these adults was not identified early enough. We must ensure that monitoring these basic skills becomes a top priority in New Zealand's education system," said Mrs Huata.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>