Peachey Allan: Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Peachey Allan: Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:651;Page:567] 
ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tamaki) 
: 
 I listened with some interest to Mr Chris Carter’s speech and I was thinking that I could have written it—it was so predictable. I suspect that for the Labour members who will follow I could do exactly the same sort of thing. That will be the tragedy of this debate. 
I observe that Mr Carter did not indicate to the House whether the Labour Party will be supporting the bill or voting against it. If Labour members are going to vote against it let me say what they are going to vote against. No child growing up in New Zealand at the moment who does not learn to read to write and to do maths has a place in the social and economic structure of a modern country. No child who is going to school and who is not being taught to read to write and to do maths and no child who because of his or her particular learning styles that do not fit in with established ideologies and methodologies does not learn to read to write and to do maths has a future in a country like New Zealand. That is what this bill the Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill is all about. Finally at long last a Government is making an effort to deal to a problem that has undermined the New Zealand schooling system for far too long. We know and the Opposition knows that too many of our children are failing at school. 
You know one of the things that the National Certificate of Educational Achievement finally told us is that the percentage of our children who are not reaching minimum standards is far too high. The Opposition members who are going to take calls later need to be very very careful that they do not advance the argument that really says “Let’s continue to deny a fifth of our children the chance to learn. Let’s continue to deny them the expectation that they can and will learn.” It is absolutely beyond me how any member elected to this Parliament would want anything but to make every effort to ensure that more of our children learn. It is simple. It is not about ideology. It is not about methodology. It is not about the old arguments that relate to decile rating family background ethnic background or all that sort of stuff. It is not about all the old reasons that have been advanced to justify why some children are not learning. It is about a standard and an expectation that many more of our children than currently reach that standard can reach it and should reach it. 
It would be very wise for the members opposite to remember one thing: our national qualification system which I guarantee they all support—and when in Government they defended it and worked hard to develop and improve it—is a standards-based system. This bill is bringing the notion of an education system based on standards as to what children need to know and be able to do down into the primary sector so that there is a natural continuum in the way that children are learning how they have to learn and what they have to learn and so that we can be sure they are reaching those standards. 
Hon Chris Carter 
: That’s happened already. 
ALLAN PEACHEY 
: I do not want to hear from the Opposition a whole pile of stuff about what is happening in America or what is happening in Britain. I do not want to hear badly quoted research. I know a lot of those researchers; I have spoken on platforms with some of them. The Opposition members should be very very careful about what they claim is happening in the United Kingdom and the United States in particular. 
I repeat that the most important thing about this legislation is that for the first time it will establish an expectation of what we expect and need our children to do. It is a statement of faith and confidence in the next generation of New Zealanders.