More grim reading for the Nats in The Herald this morning:
NZ says no to larger schoolrooms
A nationwide survey has given a strong indication that New Zealanders don’t want larger class sizes. The street survey conducted by APN newspapers from Whangarei to Dunedin showed most people stood alongside education groups in their opposition to controversial ratio changes announced as part of the Budget.
Savings from class size changes are to be used to develop an appraisal system to help lift and reward teacher performance, with the aim of lifting student achievement. Some of the more than 70 people questioned in the national snapshot slammed the measure as “rubbish” and “bloody ridiculous”. Only a handful supported the move. …
The street poll comes after a One News-Colmar Brunton poll on Monday showed overwhelming opposition to the Goverrnment’s education reforms, with 79 per cent against and only 17 per cent in favour of the plan.
Ian Leckie, of the NZ Educational Alliance Institute, which has united with several other groups to fight the plan, was not surprised by the results. “What we are saying – and this survey backs it up – is that there is a very high level of support for the stand that the sector group has taken,” he said. “The message for the Government is that this does not have broad public support and doesn’t have any sector support.”
Actual quotes from the 70 participants in the vox pop are here – some interesting reading. Another related column in The Herald chimes in, concluding:
Arguing that class size won’t affect teaching quality is ‘utter rot’
…To argue black is white, that large class sizes won’t impact the quality of education children receive, is utter rot. The constant tinkering and messing with our current system is a disgrace, and will do nothing to improve the “tail” of underachievement, which probably needs more, better-focused resourcing. Again, one has to wonder when education will ever get a minister with better ideas than ‘break union’ and ‘slash budget’. Certainly not for the next few years, anyhow.
When 50,000 people marched down Queen St the Nats dropped plans to mine conservation land. Time for another show of people power. Set a date, and let’s march.
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