“What problem are they trying to solve? That has never been really articulated to us.”
Here are some of the problems with the NZ education system at present:
- We have over 10,000 students not enrolled at all.
- In term 3 of 2023 only 47% of students were regularly attending school (40% for Years 9 – 13).
- For maori and Pasifika it was 34%.
- We have the greatest disparities in the OECD across socio-economic levels.
- The top 30 high schools have their leavers graduating with University Entrance at 87%.
- The bottom 30 schools have their leavers graduating with University Entrance at 3%.
- Principals are frequently in the media bemoaning that lack of quality teachers and also made that clear in the PISA surveys.
- Today we find out that: “Provisional NCEA results show pass rates drop for third year in a row.”
Never-the-less Cognition Education reported that:
“In summary we find and conclude that in both schools [SAMS & MSWA], the management and staff are actively involved in continuous development, and the delivery, of a unique programme of teaching and learning which is based on a comprehensive ‘local' curriculum that is aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum, and which provides for the personalised needs of priority learners ‘many of whom have been failed by the current education system.
Based on our findings and conclusions, and our experiences in a wide range of New Zealand State schools, Cognition has assessed the local curriculum, teaching and learning within both SAMS and MSWA as being unique and of a ‘special character' when compared to that provided at ordinary state schools.”
Even the Ministry (most certainly not a friend of Partnership Schools) has had to acknowledge:
“In 2018 the ministry worked with Villa Education Trust and found accelerated learning was happening.”
The PPTA claims that the NZ education system provides choice for NZ children and families. They are right with regards to school choice in epsom and affluent areas of Wellington and Christchurch. The choice in other areas is that a few succeed and everyone else fails but teachers get paid as if they are all equal. They also deny bulk funding and providing incentives in low socio-economic areas.
Two years ago I resigned for the Villa Education Trust. I am very much open to options with new individuals and groups to establish schools as remarkable as South Auckland Middle School and Middle School West Auckland were in their Partnership School years. NZ children/families need great people to step-up!
Alwyn Poole, a well-known figure in the New Zealand education system, he founded and was the head of Mt Hobson Middle School in Auckland for 18 years. This article was published HERE
6 comments:
i understand you are not a man of the uniform, but i hope it is okay for me to say 'thank you for your service' :)
PPTA do know. They just do not care enough to admit it as they want to reward poor educators.
Endless resources get dded, yet the outcomes are worse.
There can be only one!
If the PPTA do not know then they really should be sent to the corner with the dunce cap. - thats is sent packing for ever.
If they do know (and yes they really do) they are being deliberate in their complicity to destroy childrens education. This is of course extremist dogma from people who are meant to be educationalists....
The SS PPTA is sinking and the rats need to stay on board and drown so that any new vessel that takes their place cannot be reinfested by people who care more for their ideology , salary and politics than childrens educational values.
Simple.
Just another example of the obstruction and push-back that the new coalition government are going to have to confront to get any sort of sanity back into the country. At least it would appear that there are a few grown-ups in evidence at last.
I agree with Alwyn and the contributors. Being in the reading wars for 40 years I believe the MoE are way past redemption.
I think parents need to face the truth that they are on their own. Unfortunately most in the teaching so-called profession care little about your child's education. Their aim rather is to use schools as an agent for social change. They are saturated in ideology that includes blaming everybody and everything else for your child's failure to learn and achieve. Much of sociological literature helps reinforces this stance.
It is not just rotten institutions that are the problem but a crazy ideology has seeped into all parts of our society including child rearing espoused by many ignorant parents. This child -centered philosophy ensures children are not to be disciplined nor pressured in any way. Hard work is also bad to these ideologues.
Further school work is not to be corrected ,nor completed nor tidily organized nor revised since this is repression and could damage a child's self esteem.and creativity. A child apparently always knows best what they should do just naturally. Much of this nonsense evolved in the Romantic Era. Why are we still enslaved to this sort of stuff from centuries ago.? The Romantics wrote lovely poetry but their ideas should be kept out of education.
They just don't work. Our broken education system illustrate this.
By any measure, our education system is failing and it seems the first move now is to make it very clear that the NZ public have HAD ENOUGH and will not tolerate such appalling failure for a moment longer.
With over seven years at the helm of the ever-growing and underperforming MoE behemoth, and with a patent failure at achieving anything like what any rational semblance of KPI's for the role should look like, it's long overdue for Iona Holsted to be gone.
Surely it's now time for the Govt to make it so, or do we need yet another year of failing our young, who are our future?
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