School driving lessons proposed

School children could be taught to drive on class time and instructed in the language of computer coding under radical new proposals the Labour Party is considering.

The party's finance spokesman Grant Robertson told TV3's The Nation today the curriculum could be in for an overhaul if Labour were in power.

"We want every school leaver to have in their toolkit a driver's licence, understanding financial literacy, understanding digital literacy, understanding their responsibilities as citizens."

Mr Robertson said teaching kids coding was also being looked at.

"Coding is like a language. It's going to be as important in the future as understanding maths, understanding English.

"Understanding how computers work, which will be part of almost every job in the future, is just as important as other basic skills," Mr Robertson said.

"Education needs to change to keep up with the changing nature of work."