READING,WRITING AND MATHS UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

  • Tau Henare
Associate Minister of Education (Early Childhood Education and Maori Education)

The Prime Minister, Minister of Education and Associate Minister of Education will release details of a significant literacy and numeracy package at 2pm Wednesday 21 October 1998.

"We want to make certain that every child can read, write and do maths to help them succeed in the new century.

"We have come up with a forward looking package that will help all young children have the skills to set them up for the future.

"This is a good, quality policy that is about children. It is not about political game-playing. More detail will be released tomorrow at the announcement."

The Ministers said the decision had been the result of intensive policy work and analysis.

"The details will not come as a surprise to anyone. We have talked to a wide range of people about what needs to be done to lift reading, writing and maths skills.

"It is not a "back to basics" campaign or re-inventing the wheel. It is a forward looking sensible programme about getting children the skills they need to get ahead in the 21st Century," the Ministers concluded.