Labour is promising to put greater distance between politicians and what children are taught, announcing an independent council to oversee New Zealand’s curriculum and assessment system.
Education spokesperson Ginny Andersen says a Labour Government would establish an Independent Council for Curriculum and Assessment, or ICCA, in legislation, with educators and assessment specialists providing expert leadership over detailed curriculum and assessment design.
Governments would continue setting the broad goals and expectations for education, but Labour says individual ministers should no longer be able to repeatedly rewrite detailed curriculum settings according to political priorities.
Within its first three months, Labour would establish an interim expert group and pause curriculum changes that have not yet been implemented for one year. Work already underway in maths and English would continue.
The current NCEA system would remain unchanged until 2029 while the new council considers future reforms and how they should be introduced.
Labour estimates the council would cost around $500,000 a year, funded by reprioritising existing education spending.
Andersen says the policy is intended to give teachers, schools and parents greater certainty after repeated changes to curriculum and assessment settings.
Education Minister Erica Stanford this week completed the release of the Government’s updated Years 0–10 curriculum, which provides a more detailed year-by-year approach. The Government says it was informed by almost 3,900 submissions from teachers, school leaders, experts, whānau and communities.
Labour is inviting National to support a bipartisan approach to curriculum and assessment, arguing education should have greater long-term stability regardless of which party holds government.
The policy puts another major education choice into Election 2026 — how much control over what tamariki learn should sit with politicians, and how much should sit with independent education experts?
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