10. Question No. 10—EducationHon JAN TINETTI (Labour) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 10—Education10. Hon JAN TINETTI (Labour) to the Minister of Education: Mālō e lelei Mr Speaker. Does she agree with President of the New Zealand Principals' Federation Leanne Otene's statement that The draft curriculum is still being written and no child tested on it had ever been taught it. The basis for the maths achievement 'crisis' was disinformation"; if not why not?Hon ERICA STANFORD (Minister of Education): Do I agree that the draft curriculum is still being written? No I'm proud to confirm that in the last nine months under this Government we have rewritten and completed the draft maths curriculum which was sent out for consultation last week and has had overwhelmingly positive feedback. Do I agree that no child tested has ever been taught it? Well given that 22 percent of students met the curriculum benchmark clearly some of them had been taught it. But herein lies the problem: with a high-level vague curriculum and multi-year bands there was too much variation and inconsistency and the result was that 78 percent of kids weren't where they needed to be to experience success at high school. Do I agree that the basis for maths achievement is a crisis and disinformation? Either 42 percent or 22 percent—both of these numbers are equally terrible and I am not interested in quibbling over how bad the crisis is. I'm focused on delivering change because I want parents to know that their kids are succeeding because it's a priority for this Government.Hon Jan Tinetti: Does the figure that says only 22 percent of year 8 students were reaching acceptable standards in maths come from testing year 8 students against the curriculum they haven't been taught yet?Hon ERICA STANFORD: I answered that exact question in my primary if the member was listening. But the fact that the member has even asked this question indicates exactly why her Government struggled to make any progress. They missed all of the warning signs they failed to address any of the problems and they utterly let down a generation of Kiwi kids and they deprioritised maths from the regionally allocated professional learning and development (PLD) fund. If that member wants to know why she's sitting on that side of the House this is a perfect example.Hon Jan Tinetti: Why does she expect year 8 students to be able to pass tests based on a curriculum that they haven't been taught yet?Hon ERICA STANFORD: As I said in my primary answer to the first question clearly some kids had been taught the curriculum material but a vast majority of them needed to know that curriculum material in order to experience success at high school. [Interruption]SPEAKER: Just a minute—just a minute. Calm it down. Ask a question and listen to the answer rather than giving it yourself.Hon ERICA STANFORD: Thank you. The vague high-level multi-year curriculum meant that the material that our year 8s needed to know to experience success at high school they didn't have. We expected them to have it but that curriculum meant that they weren't reaching that level that they needed to be to experience success at high school. There was no consistency across the board which is why we have moved to implement this curriculum at pace next year.Hon Jan Tinetti: Is it the Minister's position that by year 8 students should be capable of knowing content they haven't been taught yet?Hon ERICA STANFORD: The Minister continues to ask these ridiculous questions. The real question is how do we move forward with a plan to make sure that our kids experience success at high school? We have implemented $20 million worth of PLD—all of the resources teacher guides and workbooks that our kids are going to need to succeed. We've made sure that our teachers are going to be having level 2 maths by the time they enter initial teacher education. It is a full plan that we are bringing forward to make sure that our kids are experiencing success at high school.Katie Nimon: What feedback has the Minister received from principals and teachers about the Make It Count action plan?Hon ERICA STANFORD: Well I don't actually know where to start; there's so much of it. Let me quote from a principal who said "I applaud your attention to the dire level of mathematics knowledge and achievement in primary schools. As a once mathematics teacher I now spend a lot of time coaching my grandchildren." From another principal: "This is a great step forward in maths education in New Zealand. Thank you for ignoring the unions and thank you for being brave and getting stuff done." From a principal: "Thank you Erica for your vision and leadership. Be encouraged to dismiss the naysayers and press on."Hon Jan Tinetti: Is the Minister concerned that 0 percent of year 8 students are at a passable level for postgraduate biomechanical engineering studies because it's a curriculum that they haven't been taught yet?Hon ERICA STANFORD: Once again at least 22 percent of our year 8s had been taught the curriculum. But we expected—[Interruption] SPEAKER: Once again if someone asks a question at least be polite enough to listen to the answer even if you don't like it. Start again.Hon ERICA STANFORD: The member asks the same question over and over again. The point is that if our children are to experience success at high school we expected that they were being taught the content that they needed. Some of them were—22 percent—but a vast majority were not because of our vague high-level broad multi-year curriculum. Next year the public of this country can expect a year-by-year structured curriculum that will implement structured maths so that all children will experience success at high school."