Bid to restrict reporting of school results

The Government's bid to introduce national standards in primary schools has met with opposition. File photo / Greg Bowker

School results could be made illegal to publish or locked in a warehouse, to prevent an Official Information request from the media, according to reports.

The Government's controversial bid to introduce national standards in primary schools has met strong opposition from the New Zealand Educational Institute, Principals Federation and national School Trustees association.

NZEI president Frances Nelson told nzherald.co.nz the national standards, which would measure numeracy and literacy rates, would narrow the curriculum if reported.

Ms Nelson said the national standards could inspire teachers to limit their teaching to topics that they know will be tested.

"What we are all focused on is that the information does not get used to produce simplistic tables in the media," Ms Nelson said.

She said the associations would meet with the ministry to map out which options would best suppress the information.

Education Minister Anne Tolley said that a deal had been done to make it difficult for media to report of national standards, the Dominion Post reported.

Ms Tolley told the Dominion Post that the deal was a "a momentous occasion".

"I can't stress enough that it took my breath away that we have all for the first time sat round the table and said, 'Yes, we are going to make this work together.' That is fantastic," Ms Tolley told the Dominion Post.

But Ms Nelson said there is no such deal, despite a meeting between the groups and the Government yesterday.

"What did happen is that the Minister, the Ministry and representatives from sector groups including NZEI, the Principals Federation and the School Trustees Association, agreed to work together to nut out some of the issues around National Standards. That is very different from formal deals being negotiated," she said.

She said there is still a lot of work and discussion ahead to ensure that the government continues to listen to the sector's concerns about how National Standards will actually fit into schools and to work out exactly how the assessment data can be protected.

- NZHERALD STAFF