2012 Report Card – Hekia must try harder

As the school year winds to a close, Labour’s acting Education spokesperson, Chris Hipkins presents Hekia Parata’s 2012 Report Card, where she is assessed against National’s Standards.

CLASS SIZES: Hekia Parata promised so much with her project to increase class sizes, but delivered so little.  Hekia assured us she could save money and improve teacher quality by jamming more kids into each class.  But she had not done her homework and was forced to abandon the entire premise.  An embarrassing effort.

CHARTER SCHOOLS: This is a group project, and Hekia has been hamstrung by having to work with little Johnny Banks.  There was no mandate for this experiment in privatised, profit-driven schooling, and no-one is convinced by the idea of allowing unregistered teachers in front of the classroom.  Poorly thought through and going nowhere.

SALISBURY SCHOOL: Definitely not achieved.  Planning to close Salisbury School was a clear breech of the rules.  Hekia completely over-reached and got shot down in the Courts.  Another embarrassing failure.

SCIENCE AND MATHS: The latest international TIMSS report shows New Zealand school students’ performance in maths and science is slipping.  The data shows that National Standards has done nothing to lift educational achievement.  The results cover Anne Tolley’s time as Minister, but there are no fresh ideas and no sense of urgency from Hekia Parata.  She has been distracted from what really matters in education – children’s learning.  More work needed in this area.

CHRISTCHURCH SCHOOLS: Deciding on the future of schools post quake in Canterbury was always going to be a tough assignment.  But by failing to do proper preparation and using incorrect data, Hekia set herself up to fail.  Compounded initial errors by setting unrealistic deadlines for “consultation.”  Already had to back away from merger plans for several secondary schools.  A major challenge for the start of 2013 if she is to continue as Minister.

NOVOPAY: This should have been easy.  All she had to do was pay teachers on time and in full.  Epic fail.

CONCLUDING REMARKS: Hekia is a bright, presentable Minister but is sadly out of her depth.  May be better suited to a future outside the Cabinet.  Must try harder.