Good schools

Michael Wood’s comment that every community can and should have an excellent school should be the driving mission of the Government’s (and the Opposition’s) response to the Tomorrow’s Schools Review Report. That every school is a good school has been the cornerstone of education policy in Finland for many years, irrespective of which political party is in power. It has the support of teachers, parents, communities and business leaders. It is strongly based on the principle of equity, that regardless of a child’s gender, background or social welfare status, they should have an equal chance to a quality learning environment and to achieve their potential. As a result, not only does Finland do well on the international educational tests, which attract so much attention, it also scores highly across a range of international social and economic indicators. As Krista Kiuru, Minister of Education, commented in 2014, “We believe in our schools because we consider all schools equal. We don’t school shop in Finland and we don’t have to think about which area to live in to go to a good school.” What a contrast to what we have allowed to develop here in New Zealand over the past 30 years.

David Hood, Hamilton