Hon Hekia Parata

Minister of Education

7 October 2013       Media Statement       

Minister welcomes New Zealand Initiative Report

Education Minister Hekia Parata welcomes the New Zealand Initiative's Report 'World Class Education? - Why NZ must strengthen its teaching profession' as a further contribution to the Quality Teaching Agenda she has established.

While the New Zealand education system performs well, with four out of five young people leaving with the qualifications they need, it is not performing for all. And there have been worrying signs for some time that it is becoming less and less competitive when benchmarked against other comparative international systems. 

"Raising achievement for five out of five of our children and young people is the over-riding goal of our education system, with our Better Public Service targets for participation in early childhood education and success in NCEA2 at our senior secondary, marking our progress," says Ms Parata.

"Quality teaching and quality leadership are the two biggest in-school contributors to raising achievement, and we are investing in both."

“We have a teaching workforce of around 89,000 teachers which accounts for nearly 40 per cent of Vote Education's $9.7 billion spend at $3.63 billion for schooling alone this year.  In addition, we have invested over $300 million in professional learning and development over four years, and in Budget 2013 made a new provision of $37.5 million in the Quality Teaching Agenda.

"We are investing at every stage in the teaching career, from introducing a new teaching qualification at post-graduate level from 2014 focused on the latest in teaching theory and practice, reviewing how we better target the professional learning and development funding, developing a more comprehensive and consistent system of appraisal, and proposing to transform the New Zealand Teachers Council into a stronger professional body fit for 21st century teaching and leadership."

New Zealand will host the International Summit on the Teaching Profession in Wellington in March 2014, which involves the top performing education systems as measured by the OECD, providing an opportunity to celebrate what NZ does very well, while learning from other systems what can be done better to deal with the challenges that confront us.

"We have some excellent teachers and leaders in our system, and they compare with the best in the world.  One of our challenges is to achieve that same quality across our profession, and support them to do so," says Ms Parata.

"I am committed to raising the status of the profession, and valuing those who choose education as their career. They are at the core of building our nation through the knowledge, competencies, and skills they impart to our youngest New Zealanders.  How well they do this contributes directly to strength of our economy and society - it is powerful and prestigious work, and we must support the profession to better define quality and demand it of themselves and each other."

The Ministerial Cross Sector Forum on Raising Achievement reflects the diversity of our education system, and brings together professional leaders, union heads, Iwi and Pacific educators, academics, and government agencies, all focused on how to raise achievement through raising the quality of our education system.  

"I know that every member of the Forum cares passionately about creating opportunities for every young New Zealander and works hard in different areas of the sector to make a difference.  They are able to come together, sometimes from very different perspectives, to focus on what matters - and one of the areas they have focused on and given me great insights into is the quality of teaching and leadership," says Ms Parata. 

“I am interested in the analysis and observations that the NZ Initiative report has made, and I expect the delegation I have asked the Secretary of Education, Peter Hughes, to lead to Hong Kong and Singapore next week, to focus specifically on some of the very issues the report cites. We can learn from our Asian neighbours' own quality initiatives, and I am keen to do so."

ENDS

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