Hon Bill English
National Party Education Spokesman

14 July 2006

35,000 students miss out on numeracy

Parents will be alarmed to find out that more than one thousand registered primary teachers are not effective at mathematics, says National Party Education spokesman Bill English.

He is commenting on the release today of a report from the Education Review Office which shows that one in 10 primary teachers struggle with ‘good quality of teaching of mathematics’.

The teachers’ registration board says it will not let a teacher in the classroom without the right qualification and only after they have obtained registration.

But according to ERO, one in 10 teachers can't do the job when it comes to maths.

Mr English says these teachers will be responsible for fundamental development of numeracy skills of about 35,000 children.

“Who’s right - ERO or the teachers’registration board?

“If 35,000 children are missing out, parents deserve an explanation.

“Whoever's fault it is, the Ministry of Education should identify and retrain these teachers. Current efforts lack urgency and aren't targeted at ineffective teachers.

“Government policy is to wait and hope but if they wait another year, another 35,000 will suffer the consequences of low standards in the classroom,” says Mr English.

ENDS

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