Hipkins seeks National backing
Education Minister Chris Hipkins says he hopes to gain cross-party support for the ‘‘underlying vision’’ of his education overhaul to achieve continuity when the government inevitably changes.
Hipkins announced the wholesale stocktake of the education portfolio yesterday.
How students are taught from early childhood to post-secondary school will be overhauled under the biggest educational reform New Zealand has seen in almost three decades.
Tomorrow’s Schools will be reviewed, along with early childhood education, school property, polytechs and vocational training, NCEA, and achievement for Maōri and Pasifika learners.
The three-year programme details extensive changes as part of a coalition agreement between Labour and NZ First to develop an ‘‘enduring 30-year approach to education’’.
The Government had an ‘‘open mind’’ on the outcomes of the review – it was a chance to look at the 30-year-old programme to assess whether it was fit-for-purpose, Hipkins said.
National has criticised the plan, saying it was ‘‘disruptive and unfair’’ for parents, teachers and students if every new government made significant changes in the education sector.
But Hipkins said he had met with National education spokeswoman Nikki Kaye and they were willing to work together where they could gain consensus.
‘‘If we can get some of the structure right, and we can get some of the underlying policy agenda right, then it won’t hopefully fluctuate so much from government to government.’’
The three-year programme was ‘‘action-focused’’, it wasn’t just a round of reviews, as the Opposition claimed, Hipkins said.
Kaye and tertiary education spokesman Paul Goldsmith said it was yet another announcement of another review, but thus far the overhaul plan lacked detail. ‘‘We know there are areas that need improvement but we shouldn’t make change for change’s sake,’’ Kaye said. ‘‘The Government must recognise that there are areas of education that are working very well.
‘‘We have already said we would be keen to work with the Government on areas where we can get cross-party agreement, such as the 30-year plan. However, the process matters and it needs to involve collaborative decision-making rather than tick-box consultations with the Opposition and other stakeholders.’’
National supported a review of New Zealand’s vocational training and polytech systems. But Goldsmith said he did not believe there would be the money left ‘‘to make any real investment to improve the quality of education’’.
Goldsmith criticised the Government’s approach of promising costly policies before carrying out reviews.