No consultation on IES scheme, NZEI says

Documents just released by the Ministry of Education provide further evidence that the Government embarked on its controversial $359m Investing in Educational Success scheme without seeking advice or proper consultation, NZEI says.

The papers show that the framework of the scheme with its top-down management approach was set in stone before any discussion took place with education professionals, NZEI national secretary Paul Goulter says.

The documents also reveal the lack of evidence about how the scheme would help the government achieve its goal of improving educational outcomes, he says.

“We are still no clearer as to where the idea of the new teacher and principal roles came from and what evidence was used.

“Teachers want to see a scheme that will be more focused on the child’s individual learning pathway and ensure that the funding is directly focused on the needs of children through successful collaborative practices and successful transition management,” Mr Goulter says.

“We hope that our Joint Initiative work with the government will ensure that we can work better and have the funding to roll out and expand on initiatives that we know work.”