School leaders discuss Government's education plans

School leaders discuss Government's education plans

9 June 2014

Primary School leaders are meeting in Wellington tomorrow to discuss the Government’s $359m education initiative.

The forum is being jointly convened by NZEI Te Riu Roa and the NZ Principals’ Federation to discuss what is proposed to be the biggest change in the way schools are managed in the past 25 years.

“This is a fundamental system change that needs further discussion and consultation with school communities including Boards of Trustees and parents,” said NZEI National President Judith Nowotarski.

“We need to unpick the details to ensure that our school communities can make an informed choice about the plans,” she said.

The Government sprung this concept on the education sector back in January when the Prime Minister announced plans to establish new executive principal and leader teacher roles operating within “communities of schools".

NZPF President Philip Harding says that tension and concern amongst teachers and principals has been exacerbated by the way the initiative was announced and the secrecy surrounding the process since then.

“The details of the plan have only been released in the last week so the sector as a whole is only now able to analyse the proposal.”

“There is a lot that needs to be looked at closely and we need to assess whether the proposal, in its current form, will be workable and meet the objectives of supporting high quality teaching and learning,” he said.

It’s expected that 80 principal and teacher leaders from around the country will attend the day-long forum.

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