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Government Class Size Policy in Tatters
Government Class Size Policy in
Tatters
The Government’s announcement
that it will cap teacher cuts at a maximum of two per school
is an admission that its policy of increasing class sizes is
in tatters, says NZEI Te Riu Roa National President Ian
Leckie.
“Does the Government really believe it
can paper over a policy as wrong as this by announcing that
the maximum teacher loss in any school will be two? Given
the strength of parent concern it should stand back and
reverse this policy altogether,” he
says.
“Any parent whose child is at a school
which has to shave two teachers off its staff will be
rightly worried. Everybody knows that bigger class sizes
mean less individual time teachers will have with
students. Quite simply, that will affect the quality of
teaching that any school can provide."
“There is
no way around that fact,” says Mr Leckie.
“To
take an arbitrary number, like two, and then develop policy
around it just beggars belief.”
“What this is
showing is that the Government has no clear vision for
improving the quality of public education. It is simply
playing a numbers game.”
“This is one of the
worst examples of poor, badly thought-through policy being
made on the hoof. And unfortunately, those children who are
already struggling in our school system will be the big
losers.”
“It is also very concerning that the
Ministry continues to use misleading information to justify
its bigger class size policy. "
The Prime
Minister today talked about a “massive increase” in the
number of teachers in the past decade and the Minister of
Education claims student achievement has “plateaued and
declined” in the same period.
Neither of those
is true.
“The number of teachers grew from 46585
to 52460, about 12 %, while the student roll increased by
2%, and New Zealand students now achieve significantly
better at both NCEA Level 1 and 2.”
Teacher
numbers were increased in primary schools in the past decade
because of the introduction of 1:15 ratios in new entrant
classes and classroom release time for planning and
assessment - both moves to increase the quality of teaching
and learning.
“This is the first time in living
memory that any Government has moved to increase class sizes
in our schools. It is vital that it reconsiders this poor
policy advice before it is too late to reverse the damage to
our public education
system.”
ENDS
NZEI Te Riu Roa
New Zealand Educational Institute
NZEI Te Riu Roa members work in every community in New Zealand, leading and advocating for quality public education.
We are the 50,000 principals, teachers and support staff who work in primary, area and secondary schools as well as early childhood centres, special education and school advisory services. We come together as NZEI Te Riu Roa - New Zealand's largest education union, a Treaty based organisation and a powerful advocate for quality public education.
We have the most important job in New Zealand - educating for the future.
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