“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

Those words from Malcolm X ring true in every community across New Zealand. Nothing is more important to the future of our country than giving our children the best possible start to life through education.

As a father, I think a lot about the kind of education my son will have when he goes to school. Like every parent, I want him to have the best start in life, with a strong foundation in literacy and numeracy, the right support when he needs it and opportunities to discover his potential.

For too long, our education system has not delivered. Too many young Kiwis were leaving school without the basics in literacy and numeracy. That’s why this Government has gone back to basics – we are making the biggest set of changes in decades to uplift education outcomes.

This includes:

• structured literacy and structured mathematics;
• banning mobile phones in classrooms;
• banning new open-plan classrooms to ensure focused learning;
• adding new learning support coordinators in every primary and intermediate school;
• overhauling Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) funding to ensure that every student with high and complex needs receives the support they need.

When your child finishes school, we want them to leave with a qualification that means something. That’s why we’re making big changes to NCEA:

• All students will sit foundation tests in Year 11 in reading, writing and maths;
• At Year 12 and Year 13, students will earn new certificates that are easier for parents and employers to understand;
• We’re working with employers and industry to create better vocational pathways, so students leave school with skills that lead to jobs;
• More assessments will be online or submitted directly to NZQA, making the process faster and more straightforward.

These reforms will ensure students leave school not only with a qualification, but with the skills to succeed in whatever path they choose. Even if they want to reach for the stars!

See you out in our community sometime soon!