Photo by Taylor Flowe on Unsplash
<h2><span data-contrast="auto">Erica Stanford, the new Education Minister, has set a goal that by 2030, 80 percent of students leaving intermediate school will be at their curriculum learning level. </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></h2>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">The goal was announced on Friday 1 December, just before Stanford and newly appointed Prime Minister Christopher Luxon visited Manurewa Intermediate School. </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">“I&#8217;ve set a target of making sure that 80 percent of our children who exit intermediate are at curriculum,” Stanford said on AM. </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/latest-print-issue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Read the Term 4 edition of <em>School News</em> HERE</strong></a> </p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Stanford admits it’s an “ambitious target”, especially by 2030, less than seven years away. </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">She claims current achievement is “less than 50 percent for almost every area. Mathematics is 41 percent for goodness sake. It&#8217;s absolutely shocking.&#8221;</span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<figure id="attachment_29295" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-29295" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img class="size-medium wp-image-29295" src="https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/AdobeStock_1071028-300x200.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-29295" class="wp-caption-text">Currently, many students aren&#8217;t meeting the curriculum level at the end of Year 8. Photo: AdobeStock by Philippe Minisini</figcaption></figure>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">But education leaders aren’t convinced. </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">President of the Auckland Primary Principals’ Association Kyle Brewerton agrees: “I’ve been a principal for 20 years, and I’ve heard this goal espoused many times, and no-one&#8217;s yet achieved it.”</span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Manurewa Intermediate School principal Iain Taylor says the goal isn’t realistic. </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">“The reality is there are ESOL kids, there are kids with special needs. There are kids who haven’t necessarily been at school for a long time.” </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">However, he would like to see “an ambitious goal – we&#8217;ve got to aim for something. But how it’s going to be achieved, I don’t know.” </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">Past NZEI Te Riu Roa President Liam Rutherford agreed the “how” of the plan was missing, and said setting a target was the easy part. </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">“This is a government that in the lead-up to the election was absolutely silent on class sizes and on how we&#8217;re going to resource the education sector to meet the needs of diverse students these days,&#8221; said Rutherford. </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="auto">“Coming up with a plan to address those things – that&#8217;s how we’re going to actually lift educational outcomes in this country.” </span><span data-ccp-props="{";201341983";:0,";335559739";:160,";335559740";:259}"> </span></p>

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