Standards for literacy excellent

Media statement Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007

Standards for literacy excellent

It's not acceptable for one school student in five to leave the compulsory education system still deficient to a greater or lesser extent in an aspect of reading, writing or maths, the Employers & Manufacturers Association (Northern) says.

"Its unfortunate the Principals Federation and the NZEI reject John Keys proposals seeking to establish national standards for basic skills," said EMA's chief executive Alasdair Thompson.

"They seem unconcerned about those most directly affected, the students, their parents and the student's prospective employers.

"The highest proportion of the 20 per cent leaving school deficient in reading, writing and maths are young Polynesians. We need to adopt new ways to deal with this from polynesian perspectives.

"Education is far too important to be left just to teachers, philosophers of education or politicians.

"Business certainly wants to see schools taking steps to assess basic skills from a young age to ensure those not reaching the required standards are provided with appropriate opportunities to catch up.

"We don't want the 'tail' coming into the workforce ill prepared after 11 years of schooling.

"Illiteracy in the workplace carries a heavy cost to the person and the country; the time to address it is as soon as a deficiency can be measured."

ENDS

© Scoop Media