Education

Almost every aspect of a person’s adult life will be defined by the education they receive as a child. If we want better social outcomes, we can’t keep ignoring the truancy crisis.

We have some of the highest-performing schools and students in the world, but we also have a long tail of underachievement in disadvantaged communities. Our education system is a slow moving disaster. ACT has a plan for a world-class education system.

“The Education Minister needs to front and take responsibility for a third of the country’s students being needlessly and offensively messed around,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

ACT Leader David Seymour and Education spokesperson Chris Baillie have today proposed a range of solutions to deal with New Zealand’s truancy crisis, including consequences for parents and schools.

“New Zealand’s truancy crisis continues to get worse, with another report showing that Kiwi kids are falling behind the rest of the world in school attendance,” says ACT’s Education spokesperson Chris Baillie.

“Many lower earning families and sole parents miss out entirely under Labour’s lucky dip childcare policy, while those that it does apply to will find it doesn’t even cover inflation,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“When even the PPTA disagrees with Labour’s changes to NCEA, you know it can’t be a good idea,” says ACT’s Education spokespersons and former high school teacher Chris Baillie.

“The number of international students coming to New Zealand is just 4.5 per cent of pre-COVID levels, versus 38 per cent in Australia. No wonder Kiwi Universities are planning to dump staff by the hundred,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“The Government needs to front up and tell the people of New Zealand the truth on a very simple question: do they want to make speaking Māori compulsory for holding a practicing certificate as a teacher, or not?” says ACT Leader David Seymour.