NZ Centre for Political Research

*Definitely not. As an adult trainee teacher I see at least one or two teachers at each school I attend, often more, suffering from stress or burnout, and who have no family life as a result of the heavy workload. I can't see adding more to an already 'FULL' curriculum will help this situation. The govt. is out of touch and needs to 'get real' with not only children's needs but the needs of those who do such a remarkable job teaching. Karilyn

*The two main areas of change, climate change and the treaty of Waitangi, are vague and open to interpritation. I am of the age where I was one of the poor sods who had to sit through 40 minutes of political lecture on the subject of the Springbok tour as seen through the eyes of one of my socialist left leaning secondary school teachers......in my geography class!!! There is a time and a place! Mike

*Very serious corruption of power Clive

*Just one more stepin this Goverments desire to see a communist style dictatorship imposed on all New Zealanders David

*If these questions receive overwhelming positive responses, why is it not making any difference to outcomes? Ed

*it places excessive burdens on teachers and schools and it takes New Zealand in the opposite direction to countries with strong traditions of excellence in education June

*socialist bunkum Ian

*State Involvment should end With Mandatory 3 Rs.Parents with the help of private advisors should direct their children to Schools of their choice. Jim

*Why do we go down the road that has already proven unsuccessful in USA? This happened with open plan classrooms in the 1970's. We introduced it when it had already been abandoned in USA. It failed our 3 children, 2 we moved to convential schools and our daughter to a private school as by Std 3 she still could not read properly, the school claiming she had'slipped thru a hole in the net'. The reason being there were only 20% getting attention in the 100 plus class room. 10% that were exceptionally bright and the 10% that were exceptionally naughty. The other 80% effectively were just numbers! Here we go again! What is the matter with those driving the education system. Perhaps they were never educated satisfactorally themselves Peter

*It is more than alarming, horrible, and very very frightening. Yvonne

*Politics and political correctness have no place in childrens education. grahame

*To enjoy a reasonably successful life in todays hi-tech world children need to be able to read,write, spell correctly and perform numericy skills. At present a large number leave school without these basic skills and have no hope in todays world Peter

*Poorly worded question. Should be in the best interest of New Zealand. There is no question that this government is using all avenues to exploit its social engineering philosophy. Ross

*Keep Helen out of our schools! The treaty is a useless old rag, time we threw it out. When I went to school I knew that life was filled with winners and losers and also rans. SO WHAT. That's life and it will not change. Why lie to our children and pretend that they can all be winners all the time, they can't. Neil

*we are educating for the 21st century - not what we know but how we know it - understanding not facts - teacher of those who didnot survive in the days of School C - motivating appreciation not competition & blame Ngaire

*Labour shamelessly inserting its ideology into the school curriculum Roy

*'Leading edge and progressive', sounds like over the edge & degenerative. What do Labour want, back to the Dark Ages,s orry make that stoneage tribal culture? Mumbo jumbo. Monica

Excellent article from Vaclav Klaus, Pres of Czech Republic, on Global Warming topic. He says 'the climate change debate is basically not about science; it is about ideology. It is not about global temperature;it is about the concept of human society. It is not about scientific ecology;it is about environmentalism.' That will one person Helen Clark will not be inviting over here, of course he has been through communism. All this Maori mumbo jumbo, makutu and paraMilitarism is taking us back to the Dark Ages, sorry stoneage tribal culture age. Wake up New Zealand, let's have 21st century education not this pc drivel.

*I also give the present educational system the thumbs down, it is appalling! Pierre

*Hopefully the resounding silence that greeted this latest feat of social engineering is a collective drawing-in of breath in readiness to blow this sickly white liberal Labour administration out of power. Mike

*I am not at all satisfied with the direction of the new school curriculum. I am not satisfied with the present standard of primary education but I fear it will worsen. What is wrong with teaching the basic three "R's". The teaching of "values", and group work in classrooms is not new as I have been retired for 11 years but those practices came into the high schools while I was still teaching. It seems to me that unless we have a high achiever in primary school today, they have to be taught at home. (This is my experience with my youngest grandchild.) Do all schools make great effort to make it fun to be at school - at the expense of teaching the essential reading, writing and arithmetic? Dorothy

*I'm disgusted, to think my son will be brainwashed with ideals and values that I find disgraceful. How about teaching our children to read, write and do arithmetic. Brent

*My daughter & son-in-law, who have 5 children are home educating,
thankfully! Brenda

*The "No Fail" policy is telling the kids not to worry if they don't want to study hard. Why not put those slow learners in a special class so that those who wants to excel in their life will be not affected/influenced by the slow learners. And this is fair for everybody. Allan

*Education should be skill based Learn the stuff pass the test Paul

*We used to have a much more formal way of teaching and this delivered a large majority of students who could read write and do maths. You could also gain the same type of results at whatever school you attended. Now schools vary greatly in the standard of education they provide and this is not good. Helen

*children must learn to achieve or fail builds strenght Louise

*Educations Round About!! Back to making flax skirts again! THOMAS

*This government now has no clothes, can't people see this. David

*definitely not Chris

*The new curriculumn will make our students even less competitive in the international educational field. PRimary school and secondary school are the places to build up a strong and firm foundation of knowledge and skills. Yang

*I retired early its just not worth working Tony

*This curriculum should be given the same fate as the Electoral Finance Bill: the local bonfire. Matthew

*All NZ's need to be extremely concerned with the direction of this disgraceful race oriented change to the curriculum.Labouor are wasting their time if they think they can curry favour with he Maori electorate enough to stop the slide towards the Maori Party. Can we ever do away with the Maori seats as recommended by the Royal Commission ? I doubt that we shall ever be "one people" now. Bill

*Just another means of government control of the populace by using propaganda and now by directing the minds of the next generation. Bruce

*The 3 R's are the foundation of a true education. All else is periferal. Peter

*There is no comment because any debate is seen as divisive and judgemental. We can't discuss issues anymore, now any different comment is seen as personal attack. Rae

*The continuing political kowtowing to the mixed race element in this country is a pure example of how corrupt politics have become. Regretably we have a population of 3.5million 2 legged dumb sheep with only a few humans who care about the direction of society. Christopher

*as you say this is ' blatant politicisation of the curriculum. ' Mary /Terry

*There is too much Maori and too much pc bullshit and not enough readig writing arithmatic respect being taught and the bigest problem no dicipline Murray

*you can't be serious graeme

*DON'T GO THERE, IT'S THE BEGINNING OF THE END! Johann

*No! this is on attempt to create the new man and women, now where have we heard that before. Norman

*Not by a long shot. Once again the socio-fascist Labour party are SHOVING their queer beliefs down the throats of New Zealanders who do not, in the main, want a bar of it. I'm a Dad of 3 and strive every day to UN-learn what the schools ""teach"" them. Most especially this applies to the enforced ""tolerance"" education that is shoved at them without a thought for tolerating a different point of view. The concept that queers are normal (by definition, a minority who comprise much less than 1% of the population are not normal - rather they are ""strange or unusual"" which is the dictionary definition of ""queer"") is just wrong. The concept that a religion that is also a political system whose (un)""holy"" book requires that followers ""rid the Earth of the infidel (you and me)"" is not only wrong it is downright dangerous. And ""teaching"" children that they must ""tolerate"" this sort of religion is simply another example of the government failing to meet their central tenet: preservation of life and property. That the schools have the gall to tell my children that their Christian beliefs are intolerant and, by inference, wrong is another crime. All in all, this new curriculum is just another ploy in the Anti-Clark's political march towards a global Marxist state. The only issue with this path is that she and her queer mates have emasculated New Zealand and we are no longer able to adequately defend ourselves when Islam or similar move to take us over - lock, stock and two smoking barrels. Bring on The Great Darkness! Mark

*WHY is the govt. bending over backwards to to the maori, seems to me they are scared of the maori!I learned Maori at school-how to pronounce the NZ town names. One law, One People, for all NZ'ers. NO extra privilages for certain Groups or colours. Why should all school Kids have Moari culture stuffed down their throats! Rennie

*The dreamers who come up with this rubbish prove the case for massive tax cuts to go hand in hand with huge cut backs in taxpayer funded fools Hugh

*Back to the three R's and remove calculators! Max

*Should go back to the old fashioned way where children were taught properly Bev

*I am appalled that our grandchildren will be so disadvantaged in their careers and the world at large. They deserve better than this. Henry

*The whole point of education is the teaching of knowledge - principally of language, mathematics, the history of where we came from (not just the Maori, but all of us) and our place in the world and how it realtes to NZ.
Given inspiring, knowledgable teaching, the motivation and curiosity should follow. But that's one of the main problems, the new generation of teachers just do not have the knowlkedge to impart it to their charges. Brian

*Politics entering into education is appalling. I cannot understand why the parents don,t protest. The opposition should get at the Govt. We should all write to Mr.Key and ask him why he is not broadcasting this fact in Parliament. Barbara

*This is absolutely hideous and is just going to result in more good, decent NZ'ers leaving en masse for Australia, that is if this new liberal guy who's probably going to win the Oz elections doesn't ruin that country too. Janie

*The so called under class will increase hugely. Pamela

*The children are being 'force-fed' the labour parti's blurb. Alison

*The Labour party is trying to 'force-feed' the children into their(the labour parties way of thinking, -- ONLY to undermine, and influence the kids into thinking they- the labour party are doing the right thing, -- and getting votes!! Ruthless! Alison

*Come on Kiwis, don't let this dictatorship get you down. It's their plan, and is working pretty well, to wear us down by constantly ignore us. The only way that things are going to change is if we stand together against this oppression. Andy

*God save NZ from these socialist fools. Mike

*To imply that the new curriculum and method of education sells our students short is a gross misrepresentation of the effect this will have, it will set the entire nation on a backward track that may take generations, if ever, to correct. By way of comparison the current welfare scenario and in particular the DPB, currently with some 120,000 paid for members, has already affected generations, with the current second generation of beneficiaries coming of age and taking their dependant skills out to the market place to be supported by an ever dwindling supply of subservient taxpayers. Whilst, overall, this represents a fairly small, though significant and growing portion of our total population the engineering of our education base will affect one entire generation immediately and will be carried across to the next if we allow it. If any are unconvinced of the damage that can be caused just try and visualize a teacher trying to teach a class of 30 plus students who are all doing their own thing, are all at totally different levels and in all likelihood are all heading off in different directions and who have little or no discipline, no respect for authority, these being the result of previous social engineering experiments, and you perhaps might just see where this is all going. It should be fairly obvious that the new curriculum is yet another method of political indoctrination targeted at a group of people who have no life skills to discriminate between what is beneficial and what is not. Many parents of our new school going age children are of a generation who never really had to fight for the freedom that they currently think they have, are to busy making a living to take time to educate their children on what really counts, rather leaving this to the state to do and appear more interested in adopting more liberal methods of child rearing, after all, they themselves are a product of the very engineering that is gaining ground. To give some idea as to the magnitude of the problem the following site: http://www.educationcounts.edcentre.gov ... tats_nz_06 gives details of our school going population. Enrolment figures of nearly 1,3 million students as of July 2006 should put it into perspective. Communism of the old world, enforced through the barrel of the gun has been replaced by the new socialism which aims at indoctrination and absolute control, absolutely, the time line for success is much longer but the end result will be the same. Ian

*It is another step in Labour's march towards a totalitarian socialits state. Somehow it has to be stopped. Jim

*The budding citizens of our country actually need facts and figures to then be able to become useful citizens in later life. How they will get to 'know' under the new system is beyond me. Seems like a soft option, creating more work for teachers taking them away from thier focus which I thought was teaching! I thought we sent our children to school to learn but obiviously not.Home schooling is becoming a more atractive option. Kaye

*The 3 Rs are still the most important in spite of new ideas and technology. Mary

*Another ego driven change that is inherently politicised. Our education system appears to lurch from idealogy to idealogy. Anne

*Here we go again - more political posturing and this time at the expense of our children. Sandra

*Year 13 biology is blatantly pro GM and blatantly trying to teach our children what to think, not how. Outcomes based education is a waste of time, but will help produce more labour voters! naomi

*typical pc tripe Arthur

*But then what do we expect given 80% of teachers and others in the system are Socialist supporters. They will think its wonderful that they dont have to do any real teaching and be held to account for their lack of abilities. They can just fill the kids heads with a load of left wing drivel and tell them how the poor Maori were so badly treated Mind you the kids are really going to be equipped to face the world being experts in the principles of the treaty Grant

*No ccomment required . What are they thinking? phil

*Socialism marches on with a frightening apparent inevitability. The Fabians plot and scheme so successfully. They are largely in control of the media and it's hard to find a state school teacher who isn't a leftist. This new curriculum is a recipe for disaster. The way classes are run forces pupils to pick and poke around for pieces of knowledge, trying to cobble together the basic facts which ought to be presented to them in a systematic and understandable way. Without these facts they are incapable of making judgements, (which is also discouraged) discerning truths and making intelligent decisions. But facts and truths are the enemy of socialism - it is those which expose their deceits and failures. Actually there is some sense in calling those given charge of our children facilitators rather than teachers. Teachers actually have knowledge of their subject which they are able to impart to the students. But knowledge of the subject in question is not a pre-requisite for a facilitator - they only need to point to a book or a website and say, ""Go seek!""
And then they have the gall to try to teach entrepreneurial skills as a subject. They do, then, realise that an entrepreneur is a desirable ""asset to the state"" - it's just a pity that, when he makes money he will be vilified and castigated as being greedy. Entrepreneurism is not a ""subject"" or a ""science"". It is a product of intelligence, knowledge, observance, integration and imagination and the courage to back ones judgement, take a risk, and go for it. The trouble is that the best of ""the right"" is too busy making a living, creating both wealth and jobs (for the parasites as well as themselves) to take notice of the machinations of Clerk's mob. It seems that those leading the fight against socialism have neither the understanding of the principles of the right nor the guts to stand up and proclaim and defend them. Ron

*Is it just a coincidence that the Prime Minister shares the same first initial as that guy who took Germany into the 2nd world war? Graeme
I see this as an ideal situation for some to opt out and screw things up for everyone else in the class. H

*One of the biggest problems in our schools today is the concentration on things Maori. I attended my grandsons school prizegiving recently and was astonished that 50% of the songs sung were in the Maori language. The school has a large proportion of new immigrants, many European kiwis but few Maori. The schools seem to be running scared of Government policy. Bob

*Another reason to get rid of Comrade Clark and her communist friends before it is too late Dave

*I suppose it's old fashioned to think that a school inspector (I assume they are still around ) could walk into a classroom of, say, 7 year olds in any school in the country and they would all be learning the same material. This would continue through their schooling until they went to uni. or went into employment. How else can the basics be taught and the results accurately assessed? I was speaking to a High School Headmistress recently and the issue of spelling and punctuation cropped up. The point was that the pupils were very poor at it and I had had to check some of their written applications for sports funding. The response was that a lot of the teachers don't understand the basic tenets of the English language and can't write a decent report so consequently neither can the pupils. Their needs to be some form of leadership shown in which the airy fairy new age stuff is discarded and replaced with something which work and will see them right for life whether that be in NZ or any where else. Mike

*get back to the three r's john

*Where is this Govt leading this country we are at the stage that we all may as well live in China The degeneration of our schooling system since tomorrows schools has been alarming.we have seen the lowering of the barriers for university so as our doctors and like are substandered to previous times Why do we have to be doing things that have fail some where else to continue to drag the quality of education to the lowest denominator Russell

*What is hapeening in our country. The pandering to Maori is way, way out of control. I`m going to look into home schooling as I refuse to allow my daughter to be subjected to this BS. Glen

*Students are arriving at my university barely literate. Dominic

*Standards and academic rigor give students credibility and faith in their education. Standards provide employers a coarse tool to compare candidates. This plan is waffle. Dave

*This government cannot be trusted in many more areas than just the vital area of education. It is wrong to indoctrinate our young people with questionable topics like global warning and Treaty of Waitangi. Laurie

*I oppose any inclusion of the Treaty of Waitangi and te reo Maori
which has no use in the commercial world Reading writing in English and the ability to count is uppermost. Te Reo Maori can be taught in the home at their expense and time. Colin

*This is all part Labours agender to dumb down the population & has been a main goal of the Labour Party for a long time.In this they are more than aided by the Green & Maori Parties.It is all about them having control over us. Benefits without working for them are all part of this process.It is time that people who are still able to think, see & speak were heard. Sheryl

*I am disgusted in the way that labour have handled themselves in office David

*The nations that consistently outperform NZ in international tests use standard approaches to curriculum. This is not a coincidence. Airy vocabulary and ideas will never return our young people excellence. Nothing will replace what is already tried and true. We have been betrayed by those we trusted. carol

*I'm totally horrified at all of this policital indoctrination. Our children need to learn and be taught. All of this dumming down is going to produce a lot of no-hopers who won't be able to make their way in the real world. Forget all the false information on the Treaty, Maori is not necessary and won't achieve anything worthwhile. The next elections can't come soon enough. Helen

*There are many youngish and very young people who can't read, write or spell, surely an understanding of basic englisj will equip students for the future. We seem to be hell bent on renaming things and losing sight of what is necessary. Computers are not the complete answer. Elsa

*Another dumbing down action! Philip

*I'm ashamed that this sort of crap is gong to be taught in NZ schools. talk about dumbing down of the nation. David

*It's creeping communism Ian

*Without some strict learning discipline no knowledge will be gained - even the 'old' cultures did know that : Repetition is the mother of wisdom & knowledge. Gerd

*we must get back to basics and learn from experiences in other countries - e.g the USA. murray

*As an educator for 40 years I have seen the baby and bathwater syndrome so often it becomes scarey. In this country we cant seem to build on our successes but allow a few liberals and politicians make change for change sake. I agree that we have to encourage children to problem solve, learn to learn, be critical etc BUT dont just through everything out for a new ideology. Governemst can implement this sort of thing because the grassroots in all spheres have become worn out by the ever increasing bureaucracy. Education is a prime example- more and more forms have to be filled. David Lange had a streamlined MOE. I have been told that in 1989 there were just 40MOE people in Auckland there is now over 200! Let schools get back to the basics- that is what parents want: The three R's and allow the other curriculum ideas to be added when the basics are taught and learnt properly. Maths Educator Len

*Devolving responsibility to some one else - politicians have no accountability - why do we need them? Cliff

*The Treaty of Waitangi as a core subject is offensive, inward looking and highly political. Keep politics out of schools. Angela

*God help our children. ken

*Too political and not enough biblical morality Geoff

*It's a good arguement for home schooling. Marnie

*Let's get back to basics - teach the three Rs - and note, no apostrophe needed with a plural. When people can't add two and two in their heads, or spell, the present system is obviously failing. Who needs touchy-feely rubbish? Sheila

*Uncle Helen rulz! Tracy

Is this the sort of Maori spirituality that Helen Clark wants to teach our children?

*This is yet another example of how this blatently left leaning government is taking this unsuspecting country down a Marxist path. Of all the governments I have experienced by living under over my adult life, this would be the worst insofar as implementing policy for it's own good rather than for the good of the country and the people. This new policy on education is another example as is the Electoral Finance Bill. John

*I used to be a teacher. You will only survive in that profession if you are prepared to be brainwashed by communists. It infuriates me to hear ads on radio and tv selling what should be fundamental curriculum in tax-payer-funded core education - eg maths, english. Any parent suckered in to buying this stuff should be demanding that their school teach their kids what they SHOULD be taught! Sharen

*The population at all levels of education are being "dumbed down" Murray

*I am gravely disturbed by all this socialist, Maori claptrap from this Govt - it is social engineering at its worst! Barry

*The behaviour of the youth with lack of respect for authority, property, people is indicative of how this outcomes based education is not working. Pride in the nation should be restored through discipline,a more traditional education and a return to adopting good moral values. Nadeen

*It's frightening to think that NZ socialists have become so strong and confident that they can now openly indoctrinate our children......or worst of all that NZ parents are so ignorant, unaware or just plain "blinded" by the Clark regime to the pseudo-communist social engineering that's been going on since the early 90's!Why do we have to tolerate the re-invention of the mistakes of Marx/Leninism and the regressive steps of that failed ideology? Sure, many of us have not got good memories, [or instant recall]required of success in academic achievement so fail under the old re-regurgitation of facts and figures. The OBE might just be the answer along with the "no-failure/every-ones a winner" NCEA politically correct/feel-good of our current cotton-wool society of state dependency.Is this the best we can do for our kids when the rest of the successful counties of the world have found it did not work? Ced

*I have tutored at polytechnic level and the problem with group work is that often some people in the group do the work and everyone in the group gets the benefits. This means that an individual can be passed as having skills/knowledge that they do not possess. The ""qualification becomes meaningless because although ""Mary Smith"" supposedly has the skills to do tasks A, B and C in reality she cannot apply these skills as her credentials are based on other people's ability. while I am not opposed to team/group work, at the end of the day we must have defined standards that individuals can be tested against to verify they have certain skills/knowledge. This begins from Y1 at primary. I do not believe that social advancement by age serves any prupose other than to encourage those who haven't achieved to hide their lack of ability in disruptive behaviour and antagonism toward society as a whole. Carol

*While this "turn of events" is truly alarming, we should not be surprised. We have watched the steady progress with which the Labour party has solidified its grip on every corner of NZ life. And what better place to have an iron grip than the classroom? Labour now has 2 generations of dupes running around with their heads full of cotton wool socialist neo-commie tree-hugging tripe, with no skills at all to discern the truth about anything, who have no ability to recognise fact from fiction, and who don't have any wish to better themselves without handouts from taxpayers. Further, we must also recognise the fact that this is all part of the master plan of the globalisation crowd - a stupid population that can't think for itself and doesn't know truth from lies is MUCH easier to control. Peter

*Sounds dreadful, but I have yet to hear the other side of the debate yet. Marty

*The frightening part about this and other changes to our society the current minority Govt is making.... there appears to be not even a wimper from the so called 'opposition parties' Bruce

*It is pure political in . TONY

*This just provides even more incentive to take my family to Australia Gordon

*Great for private schools. The worse public schools become the better. Education should never have been taken onboard by the government in the first place, and clauses in the Education Act won't do a lot. If it is a government program, it is or will become political. Governments should abandon public education completely, and the only way that will happen is if they wreck it completely. They're doing a nice job with that so far. Berend

*What an utterly waiste of education time to have the treaty of Waitangi in the curriculum, this country will not grow 1$ rich by having that in the program but because of the waste of time we shall be so much more poor because the pupils do not learn what to bringe this country forward we are allready sinking more and more down in the mud wake up NZ we are going to soon live under circumstances not far from when Stalin and Hitler was alive!!!! jorgen

*1984 is coming later in NZ eric

*I think it is an absolute abomination. This country is quickly becoming a dictatorship. Nigel

*This is a veiled form of Communism, over 30 years ago Education was a prime target for the Socialists. As an astute politician once remarked
"Our future voters are in the schools, we must not educate them to understand what we are doing." Brian

*Once again this Govt sets the standards at the lowest common donominator. If you don't want to learn about facts and figures you will end up a lunatic like Sue Bradford Ron

*I desire structure and planned learning. Heather

*For too long now we have been failing our children. We have allowed governments to implement curriculums which have not given our kids the skills they need to be a success in life. All this PC stuff really needs to go out the window – it hasn’t worked has it! We need more discipline for a start – give the teachers the right to discipline their students while in their care. Only when they have control of the class can the teachers start to teach. (I heard a teacher say the other day that at least 50% of her time was taken trying to control disruptive children). Then teach our children the basics, to read, write and spell and to do basic maths – these are skills our kids will use for the rest of their lives!! Linda

*Goverernment at times berates the education system for the high level of students who leave school and are illiterate.This is thier excuse for constant tinkering, which gave us NCEA. Which is little more thn yet another ""dumbing down "" exercise. This noew Curriculum is another step in that direction. Remember back when only the Priests were allowed to learn to read, because that gave them power over the masses? This is the same sort of logic. Retain power by ensuring that enough of the voting population are too poorly educated to question. Just to depend on the State to give them the suppliments to thier low income, and look after them when they don't want to work etc. Hugh

*Absolute bull dust!!!! Doug

*Most definitely not! Colleen

*What hope does NZ have for the future.Dumbing down educationally and morally. Alan

*Our education system was already poor in comparison with many other countries. We have been turning out numbers of semi-literate students too. What now? How do we expect to foot it in the big wide world? Susan

*Just another example of the Labour govt. wnating to controll the minds of future New Zealanders. Mark

*Do you favour Tama Iti as the next candidate for a Nobel Peace Prize? Frank

*There is probably much more to it than you're saying! Debbie

*Climate Change and Sustainability in the new curriculum? Surely you must be joking! Taran

*With the news that 1 in 4 of our people are unable to read how about teaching children the very basics ie reading writing and ariithmetic before trying to fill their heads with information that they cannot understand!!! Christina

*In the real world "feel good" doesn't cut it; I prefer a system yielding problem solvers rather than problem debaters and for that you need a solid background of facts ron

*We will definitely not return to NZ until our 2 children have received their wonderful education in Canada. Julie

*I am just very thankful I am no longer involved in education or should I say, Government propaganda. DOT

*Thank you for your report relating to the new curriculum. I am disgusted at this governments actions. Please continue with the oposition to it. Ian

*This curriculum is straight out political indoctrination and does absolutely nothing to prepare students for the real world. It is part of the "everyone will be equal last" of the PC crowd who run the present government and bureaucracy.It defies all logic and one can only wonder as to the true agenda of these people.This OBE type education has been tried in many other places and has been found to be totally inadequate in educating our children. Many countries that have tried this " experiment"are abandoning it and returning to true education based on literacy and numeracy. Tried and true principals that are the fundamentals millions of people where educated with that enabled the world to take giant steps forward over the last 200 years. That system was not broken so why do the PC crowd think they have the right to fix it. We must get back to basics. Rewarding and acknowledging excellence and accountability. Ron

*all smoke and mirrors to use a common cliche. I agree it will put more work on the schools Peter

*the only good change involved here is the emphasis on greater financial literacy, but even that is doesn't teach enough acumen. philip

*How can we be satisfied with a curriculum of mediocrity -- I'm a 62 year old teacher who's sick of watching schools being destroyed by successive Goverments policy making - freedom of choice and spurious enrollment schemes have not helped anyone to a better education other than those with the cash and influence. What is actually happening is that freedom of choice kills schools and then there is no freedom. Yes, it also reduces educational outcomes for those left in the struggling schools. Isn't Goverment great? Alastair

*This typical communist style, pander to the Maori, labour idealistic policies that Herr Clark is showing how "red" she is. New Zealanders are now beginning to wake up to her and her cohorts who seem hell bent on destroying the fabric of society, family values and any free enterprise. I have never voted labour and never will. We need intelligent people running this country, not idealistic communists expounding their thoeries on us and our children. New Zealand is definitely becoming a banana republic and is it no wonder why so many astute Kiwis are leaving our shores? John

*schools need to stick to what they are there for and thats giving our children education not making them agree to a particular opinion forced on them by the government!! They need to be given the facts and then able to come to their own conclusion!! This really scares me and I have 3 little ones heading for school (1 already there) and I don't want them brainwashed in anyway!!! Just teach them maths, reading and writing etc!!!!!! Melanie

*it will be a disaster john

*I am increasingly concerned about a government whose ideology is so clearly disconnected from reality. Roll on the elections! Michael

*This curriculum disarms rather than arms students with the skills and knowledge to compete in a very competitive world. It is cruel and misleading to expect them to cope with such unrealistic preparation. Stephen

*As usual this government is aiming at the lowest common denominator, not trying to raise the standard for all to compete in a world where other countries are looking for excellence. Another nail in the countries longer term coffin. Martin

*Is it any wonder private schools are growing so fast? Scott

*Another reason why Clarke & her govt has to go. David

*The new curriculum will programme children to be docile and accept everything without questioning. Lorna

*It is a political agenda to keep the Labour Govt in power Murray

*Actually, I had no idea that such a destructive, politically motivated, curriculum revamp was even being discussed. I believe that the reason opposition has been muted, is that most people would not have been aware of it. Like so many things the current government has done, it is surreptitious. I am disgusted and very worried about the future of this country. Isn't anyone in government going to stand up to this appalling new set of political indoctrination rules. Where is the opposition in Parliament? Dianne

*Why dumb down an already dumbed down system in which good teachers are totally overwhelmed trying to be teachers/parents/counsellors to 30 or 40 children while lazy teachers will be able to get away with doing even less by letting children 'develop' themselves. Shirley

It is a concern that children are not only being brainwashed regarding global warming, international affairs, the treaty but also the homosexual agenda.

The following is a link to the Society for the Promotion of Community Standards

http://www.spcs.org.nz/2007/celebrating-diversity-in-nz-schools-concerns-raised-over-gay-values-agenda/

It is not only a concern that our children and grandchildren are taught that homosexuality is an equally valid lifestyle choice to marriage but this will help ensure future left wing voters.

They are taught that anyone who opposes the appointment of a homosexual rights activist as Minister of Education is labeled a homophobe.

I am sure the left would complain if an anti abortions as Minister of Education and children were taught that abortion was murder.

Schools should be for education children not indoctrinating them.

*It is absolutely terrifying!!!! Gail

*I cannot trust this government, end of story. Roy

*Leave alone an education system that has been tested and proven for decades and has produced some of the greatest minds and scholars to date. Walter

*Our Kids are being sold short and what is worse - National is silent which makes me really angry. Rob

*Just as you say schools are becoming more & more politicised. Vaughan

*You remind me of the old lady teacher in the Freedom Writers. Matthew

*What kind of future is this for our children and our grandchildren? Robin

*I want to see NZ children prote4cted from political indoctrination. Ailsa

*When I went to school, we were taught how to hold a pen or pencil, taught to print, then write. Taught to spell and do arithmetic. We were taught. Nowadays with this PC crap, kids are taught that to participate is by far better than achieving and aiming for the top. I think that these days, if you want your child to have a good honest education, there is no option other than to home school. Ray

*What a load of Jingoism and PC drivel. The next thing we know our children will behave like the Simpsons. Alastair

*I miss the basics of ensuring that children first of all learn to read, write and arithmatic plus knowledge of history and geography. Teachers will have their hands full that way already and leave all the other nonsense and doublespeak to those who want to indulge in that in their free time. EJ

*Education has always been political & never apolitical. It has always conveyed social & cultural values albeit disguised under subject titles such as 'Home Economics', 'Social Studies' where 1 perspective only was taught, etc. I don't think it's perfect, far from it, but it is a small step in a corrected direction. As far as what this will mean in terms of our workload as teachers, well, time will tell. vicki

*Classic propoganda by the goverment, typical Helen Clark social engineering again. Wolfgang

*Very disturbing! What is it going to do to the future labour force of the country? toby

*Just another step along the road to becoming a banana republic. Gary

*The Old way achieved a higher education level which is now sadly lacking. John

Dont imagine we are selling our kids short, this is selling our kids down the river. Lets put the thing im its proper perspective, this is not an educational curriculum, this is a politically inspired propaganda curriculum to guile impressionable kids into submisssion of the communist socialist and make their developing minds maleable into accepting the manipulation of unsubstantiated facts through fear and ignorance. It could be no worse if the kids were required to wear the uniform of brown shirt and black tie, associated to the mind manipulation of nazi germany, where kids who underwent political entrapment of their youth to spy on and undermine the authority of parents in the naqme of ideology. different logo same policy.
The substitution of the political clap trap of so called global warming, and the activist manipulated treaty of waitangi, now a scenario amplified beyond hobsons wildest dreams, is so blatently obnoxious as to demand the disbandment of a central education aoffice and a referendum to make all schools subject to privatisation by the tender process. Did any parent, group of parents, any rferendum of parents ever have a say in this curriculum change within this compulsory attendance regime, No the whole thing is a hijack of teh kids best interests by the ideology terorists. these persons cannot be allowed to continue. The MINISTER must be dismissed and the whole EDUCATION MINISTRY INVOLVED WITH CURRICULUMS AND RESPONSIBLITY FOR AUTHORISING OR SANCTIONING THIS CHANGE, ALL FIRED.
Only by allowing good and committed Teachers to band together in co-operatives similar to Doctors running local health centres, could we see anything approaching honesty in education. Parents need the option to vote with their feet and elect the service most suited to them. We have Steiner and Religious schools operating to give good honest education, I have no doubt others will spring up to offer choice and the portable voucher will allow parents to determine value and excercise democratic choice. We need to hammer into every grandparent and [parent that thsi curiculum is the dumbing down of our kids by design. Never will we make parity with Australia in education or jobs is our education is squandered in this way. Vern Wall.

*It is disgraceful that Labour is experimenting with our children in this way. They should have a set curriculum with regular testing and high standards. If students do not keep up they should have to repeat a year. And non-academic kids should have vocational training to give them the skills to take on a good job. Marie

*I can't believe that the Treaty has been given such a central position in the curriculum. Talk about brainwashing kids. It is appalling. Jim

*Definitely not! This new curriculum will be the ruin of so many kids. The problem is that the long term effects take years to show through. David

*It is disgraceful that opposition parties have not been more critical of this curriculum. It is clearly taking the country in the wrong direction and Labour should be held to account for what they have done. And to put the Treaty in there in such a prominent position is so wrong. Tricia

*Labour doesn't want to admit that the education system is failing NZ kids so they change the system so much that it is impossible to be able to compare systems. they will get away with falling standards because we won't be able to measure or compare them. Ken

No and it will never be until they get back to basics (with a small difference )
Ralph

The poll this week asks:

Are you are satisfied that the direction of the new school curriculum is in the best interests of New Zealand students?