New curriculum sets right direction

The new school curriculum released today sets the right goals for young New Zealanders, says Business NZ.

The curriculum’s key objectives include that young New Zealanders should be literate and numerate, resilient, critical thinkers, reliable, enterprising and entrepreneurial.

“These are exactly the attributes that employers are looking for in young people”, says Business NZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly.

“We applaud the prominent place given to enterprise and entrepreneurship in the curriculum.

“Including these subjects provides exciting opportunities for students to learn new and valuable skills, and will better enable schools to partner will business.

“The new curriculum’s emphasis on second languages and financial capability is also welcome and should help prepare young people for global careers and independent lives.

“The challenge now will be making the new curriculum’s goals a reality. Schools, teachers, parents and communities will need support to understand the curriculum’s potential and to put it into practice.

“For our part, we hope that the Ministry will continue to work on ensuring that there are strong technology and technical education options available to all young New Zealanders.

“Having strong technical education pathways will be important for keeping learning relevant and engaging for all young people.”