The National Party has outlined a plan to increase the educational needs of New Zealand children.

Two-thirds of secondary school students failed to meet the minimum standard in reading, writing and maths, while 98 per cent of Decile One Year 10 students failed a basic writing test.

Leader Christopher Luxon said that was “utterly unacceptable.”

He said National’s plan ‘Teaching the Basics Brilliantly’, which will ensure every child has the skills they need in reading, writing, maths and science to set them up for further success.

The plan requires all primary and intermediate schools to teach an hour of reading, an hour of writing and an hour of maths, on average, every day.

National wants to re-write the curriculum so it says what must be taught each year in reading, writing, maths and science to every year group in primary and intermediate schools.

 It also ensures teachers and teacher trainees spend more time learning how to teach the basics.

“We’ll also provide them with more classroom tools and lesson plans to help them teach reading, writing, maths and science.”

 Luxon said National will set a target of 80 per cent of Year 8 students being at or above the expected curriculum level for their age in reading, writing, maths and science by 2030.  

 “We’ll aim to return New Zealand students to the top 10 in the world in maths, reading and science, measured by the OECD’s PISA rankings, by 2033.”

He said Labour had spent $5 billion more on education and hired 1400 more public servants, yet children were going backwards.

“After nearly six years of a Labour government, there’s been no improvement in Year 8’s results. Only 45 per cent of Year 8 kids are at the level they should be in maths and only 35 per cent are at curriculum level in writing.

This just cannot continue. We won’t lift education achievement in New Zealand by continuing to do the same things that are taking us backwards. National wants every child to have the chance to lead the life they want, and education is a key part of that.”