Photo: RNZ/ Nick Monro
Education agencies have urged the incoming government to tackle disparities for Māori, Pacific and disabled students.
In their briefings to incoming ministers the agencies also highlighted serious financial challenges.
The Education Ministry, Qualifications Authority, Tertiary Education Commission and Education Review Office made the briefings in November last year and published them on Thursday.
The Education Review Office (ERO) warned incoming Education Minister Erica Stanford of serious problems in schools and early learning.
Its briefing said only half the early childhood services it reviewed last year provided high quality education and there was a pattern of unacceptable non-compliance with regulations.
The briefing said school children's performance was falling prior to the pandemic and had worsened since.
One-in-six schools were doing badly and most of those were in rural or provincial locations, the briefing said.
It said the process for turning around the worst-performing schools was too slow and needed immediate attention.
This is one of a number of briefings to incoming ministers released on Thursday. Read more:
- Read the briefing to the climate minister here
- Read the briefing to the transport minister here
- Read the briefing to the foreign affairs minister
- Read the briefing from the National Emergency Management Agency
- Read the briefing from police
"Poor performing schools contribute to inequities. Children in these schools are more likely to be Māori, more likely to be Pacific and more likely to be living in low socioeconomic communities," ERO's briefing said.
"To date much of the system approach to intervention with these schools has been through governance arrangements rather than directly addressing school leadership and the factors like quality of teaching - which we know are key drivers in school performance."
Education Ministry will have difficulty meeting savings targets
The Ministry of Education's briefing said incoming government ministers needed to act quickly to deal with cost pressures.
It said education spending was tight and there were multiple sources of pressure on this year's government Budget.
The government had already committed $94 million to projects, and funding for initiatives including free school lunches would stop in the middle of this year, it said.
The briefing indicated the ministry would have difficulty meeting the new government's savings targets.
It said the previous government instructed the ministry to cut spending by about two percent a year but that would have significant impact on its core work.
A critical priority was making education work better for Māori, Pacific and disabled students.
The percentage of school funding aimed at helping disadvantaged students was about half that provided in other countries, it said.
It indicated that raising the quality of teaching was critical.
"Quality of teaching is the most important factor, after family, in influencing educational outcomes. It is not sufficient to fund supportively for greater equity, it is also necessary to address the other elements that will influence the quality of teaching, including greater direction from the centre on pedagogy, for example, in the form of a model of common practice that the sector could be required to adopt," it said.
The briefing said successive governments had tried to improve the school system but without the desired results.
"In our view, this is because we do not have the right balance between enough standardisation from the centre (in terms of supporting what is taught and how it is taught), local autonomy and innovation in local contexts, and accountability for outcomes."
Challenges in tertiary education
The Tertiary Education Commission said tertiary institutions faced severe challenges.
The commission's briefing to incoming Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds said universities were under unprecedented financial pressure and other institutions including Te Pūkenga were considered high risk.
It said institutions received most of their funding from the government and the minister would need to consider options for the sector as a matter of priority.
"The financial situation in the sector is a substantive issue that we are monitoring closely. In particular, the challenges facing the university sector are unprecedented. Widespread uncertainty and risk remain. For the first time on record, the sector is forecasting a deficit in 2023, and another deficit is forecast in 2024.
"We are closely monitoring the performance of several universities and considering what levers can be used to mitigate risks to the Crown and the nation's network of provision," the commission's report said.
The briefing said tertiary institutions must also solve long-standing disparities for some students and become more responsive to the needs of industry.
Disparities would limit economic growth as Māori and Pacific populations grew, it said.
The Qualifications Authority's briefing warned that students who did not have computers were being left behind.
NZQA said it could now run tests online by default but there was too much variability in the use of digital devices among students and schools.
It said there was a strong case for government to ensure all students had computers.
"Various local initiatives, involving leased devices and community level connectivity, have helped remove inequities, however none of these initiatives have been nationally scaled. In addition, not all schools have the devices, full-school infrastructure or IT support needed to provide reliable digital external assessment for all learners."
The briefing also warned that NZQA was facing rising costs and needed to replace ageing computer systems.
The development of generative artificial intelligence such as Chat GPT presented challenges for assessment and the authority was keeping a watch on it, it said.