Anne Tolley

Minister of Education Anne Tolley's resolve on her Government's controversial national standards was under fire last night at a testy public meeting of 150 in Dunedin.

Vehement and vocal opposition in the Otago region to the Government's National Standards in primary and intermediate schools has prompted the New Zealand Educational Institute to organise a second public meeting in Dunedin to discuss the topic.

As primary schools return this week, National Standards are being introduced to the classroom. Darrell Latham looks at the performance of Education Minister Anne Tolley and suggests she may have bitten off more than she can chew.

Education Minister Anne Tolley is preparing her own political offensive to sell the national standards policy to counter a campaign beginning next week by the primary teachers union, the New Zealand Educational Institute.

"They are throwing the information at us and hoping we can swim in it. But if Mrs Tolley's not careful, some schools will sink and drown, and the issue of under-achievement will not be addressed."

Education Minister Anne Tolley is satisfied Otepopo School should close.

Macandrew Intermediate in Dunedin has taken a stand against the Government's National Standards by refusing to open a box containing information about the initiative.

There will not be any delays or trial periods for the new national standards in schools, Prime Minister John Key says.

It is untenable that the democratically-elected Government of the country be held to ransom by elements in the education system intent of sabotaging a well-flagged national standards policy.

A hunt for profits could erode the quality of new schools, if a government proposal for public private partnerships (PPP) in the education system is pursued, the Otago branch of the New Zealand School Trustees Association says.

Education Minister Anne Tolley says she will sack the boards of primary schools which allow teachers to boycott the new national standards regime.

Anne Tolley explains why her Government is determined to push ahead with implementing National Standards.

The necessity of our schoolchildren being taught to read, write and add-up to a good standard is a "no-brainer" from which we should not be diverted by self-interested educationists, reckons Garth George.