Stanford oversees rewrite of every school curriculum in under three years
Education Minister Erica Stanford has overseen a rewrite of every school curriculum in less than three years. RNZ
The changes include mandating a structured literacy approach to teaching reading in every primary school, banning cellphones from classrooms, and requiring an hour a day of reading, writing and maths. They include re-introducing charter schools, cutting the cost of the free school lunches programme, dismantling Te Pūkenga, the mega-tertiary institute, moving the fees-free year of tertiary study from the first year to the final year, and removing school boards' Treaty of Waitangi obligations.
Primary schools have worked with a new English curriculum since the start of 2025. Further Years 0-10 curricula in English, Mathematics and Statistics, Te Reo Rangatira and Te Pāngarau were slated for implementation in 2026, with Years 0-8 Science scheduled for 2027. Tahurangi
Analysis by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research of 15 years of PAT results showed maths and reading skills improved over the past couple of years. The analysis did not attribute the improvement to any particular cause, and the improvement in maths and reading vocabulary began before the current government's tenure.
Attendance and qualification figures give a mixed picture. Last term 64 percent of children attended school regularly, the best Term 2 result since 2020. Last year 19 percent of school-leavers had no formal qualification.
Stanford told RNZ there were early signs of improvement in maths, writing and five-year-olds' ability to read. RNZ reported the government is in a position of unprecedented control over the various levers influencing the school system.
