Plea for fresh angle on education

Press, 13 July 1989, Page 1

Plea for fresh angle on education

PA Tauranga Education should concentrate on the development of people rather than subject, matter, the head of the Ministry of Education said here yesterday. The chief executive officerdesignate for the Ministry, Dr Maris O’Rourke, said the growth of people was more important than content, subject matter, or the maintenance learning of present knowledge.

New Zealand needed a population educated in dealing with < such issues as racial conflict, nuclear war survival and personal problems, she said. I Dr O’Rourke told secondary school principals at their annual conference in Tauranga it fcas the first time she had spoked in public in her new capacity.l “My basic philosophy towards life is I’m working towards a just, equitable society. I want a beautiful safe place for people

to live in and that’s the bottom line about the way I operate,” she said. “I see education as a key part of that process and that’s why rm in it. This is my chosen place to be,” she said. In New Zealand’s Increasingly unpredictable future, people would need basic skills so thev could acquire further knowledge, she said. They would also need to learn

how to acquire and use information; to quickly, effectively solve problems; listen; evaluate issues; and understand political processes. “They are skills all people need to be able to operate in our society. They go beyond the basics,” said Dr O’Rourke. Her aim was to create an education system that would recognise existing skills and experience, and provide opportunities to learn new skills.