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Meanwhile, Education Minister Hekia Parata has told principals she wants to see a system shift in the way Māori and Pacific Island students are taught.
She told the secondary school principals’ annual symposium in Queenstown that while New Zealand was ranked seventh for reading and literacy in PISA, the Programme for International Student Assessment, Māori were 34th equal and Pacific students 44th.
The Government wants 85 percent of children to attain or exceed national standards in reading, writing and maths by 2017.
It also wants the number of children in early childhood education increased by 12,000 by 2016, including 1750 Māori.
Ms Parata says families and schools need to work together, with children at school consistently, having had breakfast and with a packed lunch.
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