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Download AudioThe Prime Minister has brought forward by a year changes to how maths is taught in New Zealand schools.
Christopher Luxton told National’s annual conference in Auckland yesterday the latest Curriculum Insights and Progress Study showed total system failure, with just 22 per cent of Year 8 students at the expected curriculum benchmark for mathematics.
Just 12 per cent of Māori students are where they should be and that 63 per cent of the overall Year 8 cohort are more than a year behind.
The new structured maths curriculum for year 0-8 students will start in term one next year.
He says it will bring New Zealand in line with OECD countries like Singapore and Australia.
“The expectations for what children must learn each and every year will be clearly laid out. We will roll out student workbooks, detailed teacher guides and other top quality resources aligned to the new curriculum, available for every school, available for every teacher and every child in every classroom in New Zealand,” Mr Luxon says.
He says $20 million in professional development funds will be diverted to training teachers for the new system, and the Teaching Council has also reviewed the entry requirements so any new teacher must have passed NCEA level 2 maths.
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