Education Minister Hekia Parata backed down on making class size changes that would have allowed reallocation of resources towards promoting teacher quality.
International research shows that class size does make a substantial difference to a child’s learning and the effects diminish as a child goes through the education system.
For new entrants, small class sizes can be an important factor for improving learning outcomes, but by secondary school, the effects of smaller classes become largely insignificant.
The factor that shows up repeatedly in research as having the biggest influence on a child’s learning is the quality of the teacher who takes the class.
Given that resources are limited and we have to choose what to prioritise, it is disappointing that resources will not be directed to improving teacher quality.
The changes that were suggested involved savings of $174 million over four years, $60 million of which were tagged for improving teacher quality and professional leadership.
Making changes to the teacher-student ratio upon which school funding is based would have meant staff losses for some schools, and staff gains for others.
Seeing the Government back down on changes that would have allowed New Zealand to focus on getting the best teachers in front of classrooms is disappointing; all the more so because the Government gave no reason for doing so except that parents were being caused a “disproportionate amount of anxiety.”
It remains to be seen whether the Government can find savings elsewhere in the Budget to fund initiatives related to teacher quality, or whether this idea will have to be abandoned for the time being.
