Wednesday, 8 September 1999, 4:32 pm Press Release: ACT New Zealand
ACT Education spokesperson Donna Awatere Huata today
said she supported Education Minister Nick Smith's plans to
develop a comprehensive Adult Literacy Strategy.
Speaking
on International Literacy Day, Mrs Huata said adult
literacy in New Zealand remained a serious issue.
"New
Zealand's poor performance in the last worldwide survey on
adult literacy revealed that nearly half of New Zealand
adults could only handle the simplest printed material.
This has to be New Zealand's darkest, best kept
secret."
"The results also showed that state education
has not worked for the poorer members of our society."
Mrs
Huata said the results highlighted the lack of a
national assessment programme in schools during the past 20
years.
"The poor reading ability of these adults was not
identified early enough. We must ensure that monitoring
these basic skills becomes a top priority in New Zealand's
education system," said Mrs Huata.
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