Education policy endorsed

Press, 28 May 1984, Page 2

Education policy endorsed

By

KAREN BEANLAND

Speaakers and delegates at the National Party’s divisional conference in Nelson at the week-end put their weight behind the Government’s education policies. The Minister of Education, Mr Wellington, came in for particular praise both from the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Muldoon, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr McLay. Their comments were greeted with applause from the delegates. Sir Robert said that the Government had antagonised teachers and every education pressure group — and there were more pressure groups in education than in any other form of activity. This had come about because the Government was “on the side of the kids and parents.” They wanted a “good, middle of the road, basic, old style education so that the kids can go out of the schools ready to face the world,” he said.

He was pleased that Mr Wellington had been interviewed on television recently, because the public could see “the Minister that we know.” Mr Wellington was in touch with every aspect of his portfolio and he was an honest, sincere and straightforward man. Yet he had suffered more from pressure groups than any other Minister in the Cabinet, said Sir Robert. x Earlier in the conference, both Mr McLay and the party president, Mrs Sue Wood, expressed support for Mr Wellington. Mr McLay said that the teachers’ unions were responsible for the controversy in the profession, not rank and file teachers. He defended Mr Wellington’s record and spoke in support of the core curriculum review. He also said that shifting the University Entrance examination from the sixth form would do nothing to improve education standards.

Mrs Wood said that basic subjects held the key to New Zealand’s education future. “It’s not back to, but forward to a new understanding of the importance of mathematics, English, science and social studies,” she said. Greater emphasis on “literacy and numeracy in schools” was needed if there was to be a skilled workforce, she said. The core curriculum review was one of the most important advances in education. “Our fine achievements in education in New Zealand will only be continued if we all recognise the importance of mathmatics, science, English and social studies to the future jobs and well-being of the young,” she said. The fast-emerging Pacific nations with which New Zealand was trading and competing — South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore — put education of

their workforce as the top priority. Delegates at the conference later voted against a remit proposing that a task force be set up to examine the University Entrance examination. They also voted against a suggestion that entrance to university should be based on an external examination at the end of the seventh form year. The candidate for Nelson, Mr Bob Straight, supported the remits because they were “a step in the right direction,” but Mr,Neville Young, of Lyttelton, said it was a back-door method of keeping students at school for a further year. The conference supported remits suggesting that tertiary bursaries be changed to a system of interest-free education loans, that teacher-student ratios in infant classes be reduced and that surplus teachers should be used in specialist fields. It also called for passenger loading limits on school bus services to be enforced.