Auckland Grammar headmaster Tim O’Connor blasts NZ’s education system, says it’s in disarray

Auckland Grammar headmaster Tim O'Connor talks to Bruce Cotterill about what is needed to improve New Zealand's education system. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Tim O’Connor doesn’t hold back when asked to describe the current state of New Zealand’s education system.

“In disarray, colloquially buggered, we’re heading towards rock bottom,” the Auckland Grammar headmaster told Bruce Cotterill on the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast this week.

“I think it’s evident by people not wanting to enter the profession and the fact that schools can’t get ready access to specialist teachers because they go into the private sector.

“The profession, from my point of view, isn’t as valued as it was and we’re not doing ourselves any favours by the lowering standards that are occurring within our national qualification framework.

“And nor are we with the way the curriculum has headed in the last few years ... in fact, the last time we actually had a New Zealand curriculum or a formal New Zealand curriculum was in 2007.”

O’Connor, whose career in education has taken him through some of New Zealand’s best-known schools for boys including Nelson College and Palmerston North Boys High, before joining Auckland Grammar in 2012, said he has met with new Education Minister Erica Stanford and outlined three urgent priorities to get the system back on the right track.

Listen to the full chat between Bruce and Tim above, covering topics like the suitability of NCEA, the current curriculum, whether teacher training is fit for purpose and the needs of the primary school sector.

Leaders Getting Coffee is a podcast produced by Bruce Cotterill with the NZ Herald. You can follow it on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.