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Archive for the 'Education' Category

Government Department Performance

June 8th, 2010

This morning’s Dom Post has an interesting piece previewing the Trans-Tasman ranking of government agencies.

I am somewhat sceptical of these kinds of rankings. An awful lot depends on who the panelists were who picked them. But it is interesting nonetheless.

Some of it certainly correlates with my experiences. I would lay a fair bet that Peter Hughes from MSD may well be awarded their best Chief Executive. He is a class act, who is responsive and innovative. Another agency that I think is in fact underrated is DOC. I think Al Morrison has had them running pretty well lately.

On the downside I think Education’s position reflects a Ministry really struggling with a Minister who confounds them at every turn. When I was in the PMs office we used to award a Ministry each week who put forward the most impenetrable language in a Cabinet paper. Education, ironically, often took out the award. But that was before Karen Sewell took over, and I think she has been good.

Health is definitely facing challenging times. The placement of the National Health Board inside the Ministry with Tony Ryall’s hand-p[icked guy Murray Horn running it is definitely causing confusion and unclear lines of accountability. Whoever takes over from Stephen McKernan has to accept an interfering Minister and a “fox in the hen-house.”

In any case good on TransTasman for being interested in how Ministries and Departments are being run. Its important for all of the public services we use every day.

Posted in GOvernment Departments, Health and Education. | 0 Comments

I reckon this is why National don’t want question time

February 24th, 2010

Trevor is too modest to answer his own question directly, but Jane Clifton has captured it perfectly in the Dominion Post this morning.

It’s becoming like a rerun of A Dog’s Show in Parliament these days, with Labour’s Trevor Mallard the purposefully stalking collie, and Education Minister Anne Tolley the heedless sheep that stamps its foot a lot and refuses to go into the pen.

That is certainly how it has felt in the House recently. Trevor’s questions have been factual, and go to the heart of the purpose of the national standards policy. Minister Tolley’s answers have been confusing, vague and often utterly irrelevant. Jane Clifton goes on

Like any good sheep, Mrs Tolley’s purposes are maddeningly opaque, and run to no set pattern. Two things are are becoming clear from their daily stoushes: one, that Mrs Tolley either cannot or would rather not explain the technicalities of the system, and two, that she cannot understand why her answers are regarded as unsatisfactory. This makes her haughty, and redoubles Mr Mallard’s roundup efforts.

The whole article is worth reading, hilarious and accurate. Question Time has not been great for National this year, and now they are wanting to avoid it all together.

Posted in Jane Clifton, Anne Tolley, National Standards and Education. | 0 Comments

Just who is misleading on national standards?

February 6th, 2010

As we know John Key made a great deal this week of what he called “misinformation” from those who oppose the National Standards policy. But it seems he might want to look in the mirror for misinfomation. In the Dominion Post today is a letter from Ivan Snook, Emeritus Professor of Education at Massey University. He takes the PM to task about his claims about an Education Review Office report into reading and writing in Years 1 and 2. He takes each of Key’s claims in turn. Over to Ivan;

“1. Two-thirds of teachers were not properly managing assessment. Not correct. It found that some leaders trusted their junior school teacher or leader who knew the pupils well, a perfectly reasonsable thing to do.
2. 30 per cent of teachers were not doing a good job of teaching reading and writing. Not correct. It found that 10 per cent of teachers were less than adequate.
3. Many principals aren’t adequately sharing their school’s achevement information with their communities. Not correct it found that they reported to the school community about their own school, but did not always give data comparing it to other schools”.

Its quite clear that the Government went into furious damage control last week around National Standards. They must have put out the word for some “evidence” to back their claims, and it seems they might have got a bit over-excited.

Posted in National Standards and Education. | 0 Comments

“Catching up With Australia”

January 14th, 2010

I am not sure about the title of the series of articles that the NZ Herald is running in response to the Brash Taskforce, but the first from Auckland University Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon is a good one. I don’t agree with McCutcheon in terms of his comments re interest free student loans and student support, but his overall view that we must increase funding for research and education is undoubtedly true, and the real lack of doing this is one of the great shames of New Zealand’s response to the recession. The full article is worth a read, but this paragraph probably sums it up

I would invest in education, valuing our teachers – from pre-school to professors – as the professionals they truly are. I would focus on supporting our most able students to continue on to postgraduate study and research careers, rather than terminating the very scholarships that keep our best doctoral students in New Zealand, as the government has recently done.

Posted in Economy, Science and Education. | 0 Comments

Special Education: this one is for George.

December 17th, 2009

Let me tell you about my friend George. He is 7 years old and he has autism. He has done really well in his couple of years at school. He has made lots of progress both in terms of his class work and his social interaction. Today George’s parents have been told there will be no ORRS (Ongoing and Reviewable Resourcing Scheme) funding for next year. They are used to knockbacks in trying to get the education that is George’s right, but this is not the Christmas present they were after.

As of this week I am now officially Labour’s Spokesperson on Special Education. I am rapt, and very happy that Trevor as lead Education Spokesperson has found room for me in the Labour education tent. I look forward to working with him and Lynne Pillay our Disabilities Spokesperson in this area, for all the Georges out there.

To make it clear for those who don’t follow this area closely, this is how the Ministry of Education define Special Education

Special education is the provision of extra help, adapted programmes, learning environments, or specialised equipment or materials to support children and young people with their learning and help them participate in education. Many children and young people have special education needs. This can include learners with learning difficulties, communication, emotional or behaviour difficulties, or intellectual, sensory or physical impairments.

I mentioned Special Education in my maiden speech as an area where I thought there was a need for a thorough re-think of the whole process including from how funding is allocated, applied for, how assessments are done, allocation between funds, follow up etc. This is a difficult area and a lot of money has been allocated in recent years, but many issues remain. I should note that the current government does have a review of Special Education underway, the public consultation part of which was meant to start this year, but will now commence in 2010.

My interest in Special Education goes back to working with students with disabilities as NZUSA President (and acutally getting some wins out of Wyatt Creech on those issues). But more recentlly it has its basis in watching two families who are my friends go through all kinds of hoops and drama just to get the education for their children that is their right under law. In both cases the parents are educated professionals and they have struggled mightily with the system. That was all before I was an MP. As an MP I have dealt with a number of cases where parents and teachers alike have had to battle and battle just to keep their kids in school.

I could go on and on, but for those with an interest feel free to get in touch. I will be in contact with individuals and groups in the New Year to begin a discussion about where people think we should be going with our policy. I want to use some new methods of policy development, including in the virtual world. In the meantime, have a read of Hilary Stace’s comments on the possible impact on the national standards on children with autism. Interesting and worrying stuff.

Posted in Education. | 0 Comments