The Ministry of Education and the primary teachers and principals' union have reached an agreement on collective contracts.

Three-quarters of teachers are feeling unprepared and rushed as they work to implement national standards, a survey has found.

The Govt's approach to national standards has shifted from benchmarks to help students to performance measures for teachers, the NZ Principals' Federation says.

John Key and Anne Tolley justified a $200,000 taxpayer-funded public relations campaign to sell national standards.

Education Minister Anne Tolley has been accused of manufacturing a crisis for political gain over a damning report into basic teaching skills.

Anne Tolley says she will sack the boards of primary schools which allow teachers to boycott national standards, saying they would be refusing to obey the law.

A system of new national educational standards to assess primary school students is doomed to fail, academics across New Zealand say.

The Government has released new education standards to be introduced next year, tracking a student's progress and reporting it to their parents.

John Key laid down a challenge to teachers yesterday - sacrifice part of a pay rise so school support staff can have one.