Learning our sums from Stanford: $30m (for maths teaching) minus $30m (from te reo training) equals a new education initiative
Associate Education Minister David Seymour – committed to toughening up on the truancy that burgeoned when Labour was running the country – was encouraged by data released today which show increased school attendance in Term 2 of 2024. The numbers he highlighted show 53.2 per cent of students regularly attending school, an increase of 6.1 percentage points compared to the same term last year.
But at least it’s an improvement.
Regular attendance across primary students increased by 7 percentage points, to 56.8 per cent, and by 4.5 percentage points for secondary students to 46.7 per cent. Rates also rose across all ethnicity groups, year levels, and school equity index groups.
More significantly, Seymour was set to make a truancy policy announcement this morning.
“Today I am announcing new initiatives that form Phase 2 of the Attendance Action Plan to ensure that schools, the Ministry of Education, wider government, family, and caregivers are doing everything they can to get students back to school.”
The announcement was being made while this article was being written. It deals with subjecting the parents of truants to court action.
Let’s see if it attracts as much media attention as Education Minister Erica Stanford attracted with her announcement that the government is supercharging schools to teach maths.
That was the headline on her press statement.
The opening paragraph elaborated on this.
The coalition Government is supercharging schools to lift maths achievement by delivering new resources and more support for teachers and students for Term 1 next year.
New resources? That’s got to be a good thing.
The Minister explained the importance of investing those resources in the teaching of maths:
“Just 22% of Year 8 students are at the expected standard for maths, that needs to change. That is why the Government has worked at pace to implement a new curriculum beginning in Term 1 next year. We have fantastic teachers, and we need to make sure they are equipped and feel supported to hit the ground running.”
As to the cost of supercharging, $30 million will fund resources including workbooks, teacher guidance and lesson plans for the 2025 school year. Resources will be available in English and te reo Māori, curriculum aligned and reflect best-practice around the OECD.
But the $30 million comes at the expense of another programme and the emphasis in the New Zealand Herald’s report was very different from the minister’s.
The Herald headline tells us: Education Minister Erica Stanford reveals $30m cut to te reo Māori funding to boost maths curriculum
These points were highlighted beneath the revelation:
Regular attendance across primary students increased by 7 percentage points, to 56.8 per cent, and by 4.5 percentage points for secondary students to 46.7 per cent. Rates also rose across all ethnicity groups, year levels, and school equity index groups.
More significantly, Seymour was set to make a truancy policy announcement this morning.
“Today I am announcing new initiatives that form Phase 2 of the Attendance Action Plan to ensure that schools, the Ministry of Education, wider government, family, and caregivers are doing everything they can to get students back to school.”
The announcement was being made while this article was being written. It deals with subjecting the parents of truants to court action.
Let’s see if it attracts as much media attention as Education Minister Erica Stanford attracted with her announcement that the government is supercharging schools to teach maths.
That was the headline on her press statement.
The opening paragraph elaborated on this.
The coalition Government is supercharging schools to lift maths achievement by delivering new resources and more support for teachers and students for Term 1 next year.
New resources? That’s got to be a good thing.
The Minister explained the importance of investing those resources in the teaching of maths:
“Just 22% of Year 8 students are at the expected standard for maths, that needs to change. That is why the Government has worked at pace to implement a new curriculum beginning in Term 1 next year. We have fantastic teachers, and we need to make sure they are equipped and feel supported to hit the ground running.”
As to the cost of supercharging, $30 million will fund resources including workbooks, teacher guidance and lesson plans for the 2025 school year. Resources will be available in English and te reo Māori, curriculum aligned and reflect best-practice around the OECD.
But the $30 million comes at the expense of another programme and the emphasis in the New Zealand Herald’s report was very different from the minister’s.
The Herald headline tells us: Education Minister Erica Stanford reveals $30m cut to te reo Māori funding to boost maths curriculum
These points were highlighted beneath the revelation:
- $30 million is being cut from te reo Māori teacher training to refresh the maths curriculum.
- Education Minister Erica Stanford said the te reo Māori initiative lacked accreditation and was costly.
- Although Stanford said te reo Māori was still a commitment, maths was more of a priority.
$30 million is being stripped from a programme funding teachers learning te reo Māori in order to supercharge the maths curriculum.
The education portfolio wasn’t the only source of Beehive announcements. Tougher sentences for criminals, a better deal for same-sex parents, and the welcoming of the United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Trade are vying for media attention too.
Latest from the Beehive
26 September 2024
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says data released today shows increased school attendance in Term 2 of 2024 with 53.2 per cent of students regularly attending, an increase of 6.1 percentage points compared to the same term last year.
The coalition Government is supercharging schools to lift maths achievement by delivering new resources and more support for teachers and students for Term 1 next year.
25 September 2024
Sentencing reforms that will ensure criminals face tougher consequences and victims are prioritised have passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says.
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government is delivering better flexibility for same-sex parents in New Zealand by making changes to the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Regulations.
In April this year, I committed this Government to taking meaningful, tangible action to address FASD in New Zealand. Today, I am announcing three more initiatives to promote better understanding and prevention of FASD.
United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Trade Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi will visit New Zealand this week, Trade Minister Todd McClay has today announced.
The coalition Government is supercharging schools to lift maths achievement by delivering new resources and more support for teachers and students for Term 1 next year.
Erica Stanford had a great deal to say about the supercharging of schools to lift school kids’ achievement in mathematics before mentioning how she had secured the $30 million to fund workbooks, teacher guidance and lesson plans for the 2025 school year.
From October 21, primary schools will be able to choose the maths resources and supports from a range of approved suppliers that best suit them and their learners. Resources will be sent to schools for the start of Term 1 next year
“More than half a million Year 0-8 students and their teachers will benefit from high-quality, curriculum-aligned mathematics resources in their classrooms. This alongside a new knowledge-rich curriculum will support teachers, reduce workload, and lift student achievement.”
And then we learn how Stanford has conjured the cash:
To deliver this, funding has been reprioritised from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, a programme available for teachers to learn te reo Māori.
She explained:
Since 2019, $100 million has funded this initiative which isn’t accredited and more than double the cost of similar courses available. An evaluation of the programme found no evidence it directly impacted progress and achievement for students. The review also couldn’t quantify what impact the programme had on te reo Māori use in the classroom.”
But the government is committed to the revitalisation of te reo Māori and recognises the importance of the language in our schools, Stanford insisted.
“We will work with the Wānanga, tertiary providers and private training establishments to continue to make similar courses available free of charge. Funding for te reo Māori courses in Māori medium schools and kura will also remain.
“Just 45 percent of high school students are passing foundational maths. I am not prepared to look parents in the eye and allow the 60,000 kids starting school next year to be on a similar trajectory. Maths achievement needs to be prioritised.
“This funding shift will support high-quality instructional mathematics resources for students and teachers in te reo Māori so there is equitable access across our education system.
“This is just another part of our Make it Count Action Plan to transform maths education in New Zealand. This Government has clarity, determination and purpose to deliver an education system that sets up our children for success,” Ms Stanford says.
The Herald report noted that Stanford had told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking there is plenty of money in education to “reprioritise”.
She said the money specifically will be going to “high-quality workbooks” that some schools can not afford right now.
Stanford said it was a “huge effort” to be across all the curricular areas.
She said the Government is remaining steadfast in its commitment to the revitalisation of te reo Māori but maths achievements are more of a priority.
She said the funding shift will ensure support for “high-quality instructional mathematics resources”.
David Seymour – of course – is focussed on increasing school attendance rates. Getting more of the week rascals to turn up to learn their maths, in other words.
“Attending school is the first step towards achieving positive education outcomes. Positive education outcomes can lead to better health, higher incomes, better job stability and greater participation within communities. These are opportunities that every student deserves,” says Mr Seymour.
Discussing the latest truancy data, he said every single education region showed increases in regular attendance, with South and South-West Auckland, and Tai Tokerau demonstrating the largest increases compared to Term 2 2023, with increases of 10.3 and 9.4 percentage points respectively.
Students are regularly attending school when they are present for more than 90 per cent of the term. The Government target for student attendance is 80 per cent of students present for more than 90 per cent of the term by 2030.
“Missing a week or more of school in a term may not seem like a lot but actually equates to missing one year of schooling by the time the student is 16. Regular attendance is so important for giving students the best opportunities and setting them up for success,” says Mr Seymour.
Winter illnesses played a significant role and attendance numbers were still behind the same period in 2019, when almost 58 per cent of students were regularly attending school, he said.
Although school attendance is on the rise, the government is working hard to raise it further.
“Today I am announcing new initiatives that form Phase 2 of the Attendance Action Plan to ensure that schools, the Ministry of Education, wider government, family, and caregivers are doing everything they can to get students back to school.
“If the truancy crisis isn’t addressed there will be an 80-year long shadow of people who missed out on education when they were young, are less able to work, less able to participate in society, more likely to be on benefits. That’s how serious this is.”
Attendance data can be found here Attendance | Education Counts
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
1 comment:
To deliver this boost to maths, funding has been re-prioritised from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori: Well, halle-bloomin'-lulla.
So, since 2019, $100 million has been poured down the plughole funding an initiative which had no accreditation, cost over twice that of similar courses with no evidence that it helped improve the outcomes for students.
This is truly par for the course of our previous administration and those public servants who willingly facilitated this abomination of a policy.
As it failed on all counts, can we please have a refund?
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