Anne Tolley MP National Party Education Spokeswoman

27 October 2008

All talk, no action from Labour over failing kids

Labour's latest plan to identify at-risk kids is simply more bureaucracy and fast talk, says National's Education spokeswoman, Anne Tolley.

"The Ministry of Education has already spent $700,000 on the behaviour screening tool which has been slammed by experts as a waste of money.

"The scheme, which aims to screen all Kiwi toddlers to identify future violent offenders, is simply counting the numbers and provides no real solutions to helping our at-risk kids.

"Teachers, social workers, and parents up and down the country are crying out for real solutions to help them identify at-risk children.

"Yet all that Labour can do is throw hundreds of thousands of dollars at an initiative that even its own expert panel has told it to 'forget about'.

"More bureaucracy, endless talk and number crunching will do nothing to identify and address at-risk young people like the 11-year-old Gisborne boy recently reported to be running his own gang.

"After nine long years Labour has failed Kiwi families and schools.

"Teachers need resources and real solutions to deal with troubled young people.

"National will deliver these, not the bureaucracy and talk that have become Labour's hallmark."

ENDS

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