Otago primary principals say a meeting with education leaders in Wellington tomorrow to discuss the new national standards in education is not only poorly timed, it is a waste of time.
Teachers, principals, educationists, academics and other sector groups will meet at a forum organised by the New Zealand Educational Institute to discuss new education standards in reading, writing and maths which come into force next year.
Education Minister Anne Tolley introduced the standards, which were a National Party campaign promise.
It is hoped the initiative will give parents clearer reports on how their children are performing against national benchmarks.
Teaching and principals' unions have raised concern about the standards.
Otago Primary Principals Association president and Green Island School principal Steve Hayward said the meeting was poorly timed, and made it difficult for teachers and principals to attend.
"We're busy with preparations for school camp, athletic sports, readying senior students for graduation to intermediate and secondary school, and we're busy testing children prior to writing individual pupil reports so that parents can be given a clear picture of how their children are performing at school."
Mr Hayward was also upset at the speed with which the Government was forcing thTe initiative on to schools.
"It's been thrust on us with indecent haste. The standards haven't even been written yet, and they are asking us to form a view on it."
New Zealand Principals Federation immediate-past president and Balclutha School principal Paddy Ford was blunt about the meeting, saying it and national standards were a waste of time.
"These standards are rushed and unprofessional. They are not going to make a jot of difference to the improvement of education of young people.
"The Government has rushed the process and they haven't consulted us [principals and teachers] at all."
North East Valley Normal School principal John McKenzie said he would attend the meeting in Wellington and keep an open mind about the discussion.
He said most schools did not have concerns about benchmarks for pupil education because many already had testing regimes in place to keep tabs on pupil performance.
"The big fear is that the Ministry of Education and the Education Review Office will use the politically-designed standards to rank the schools for other purposes - one of which could be to create evidence to justify closing a school."
NZEI president Frances Nelson agreed the sector had "no input" into the development of the standards.
However, she said the forum was designed to give educators a chance to come together and take "a really hard look at the standards and weigh them up in terms of what they're actually going to mean for schools and for the future of teaching and learning".
Mrs Tolley denied the education sector was not consulted about the standards.
She said 5000 parents and 6000 teachers and principals had been consulted, and several changes were made to the proposal as a result.
Mrs Tolley hoped tomorrow's meeting would dispel some of the myths circulating around the issue.
She said there was no intention of using the results from the national standards testing to rank schools or publish league tables.
"We want to use the information to work out what resources schools need so we can best support them.
It is certainly not to be used to close schools."
