Education sector groups collaborate to lead change

Representatives from national education organisations including parents, teachers and principals’ groups have formalised an educational alliance, the National Education Leaders Partnership (NELP).

Two major reviews of school resourcing and the Education Act, which have been announced by the Minister of Education, prompted the organisations to develop a shared response, to ensure that change is coherent, evidence based and collaborative.

Lorraine Kerr of the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) says: “All of us want the same thing, and so do the Minister and Ministry.

We want a high-quality education system for all learners, and our biggest challenge is to improve equity of achievement. This should be a solid basis for us to begin working together from.

“We all agree that there are barriers to achieving those goals for our students with the way that schools are currently resourced and that’s why we welcome the review that the Minister has announced.”

The National Education Leaders Partnership has developed a set of principles that should underpin any changes to school resourcing, she says.

“One of the crucial things we are saying is that we are hoping for genuine engagement all through the process of change – from setting the terms of reference to evaluating and monitoring the outcomes. We’ve welcomed the new Ministry of Education approach of empowering the sector more and taking a less directive role. Here is a chance for them to really demonstrate that they are working to develop and implement the changes that are desperately needed in our resourcing model.”

The NELP has written to the Secretary of Education seeking involvement in the review of resourcing and the Education Act.

The National Education Leaders Partnership includes: NZSTA (New Zealand School Trustees Association) NZPTA (parents), NZPF (Primary and intermediate school principals), NZSPC (secondary and area school principals), SPANZ (secondary and area school principals), SEPANZ (Special Education), NZEI (primary teachers and support staff), PPTA (secondary teachers and principals), NZAIMS (Intermediate and middle school principals), NZASA (area schools), NZCEO (Catholic Integrated Schools).