Letter: Prime minister should get his facts right

OPINION: In his statement about the "misinformation" put out by teacher unions, the prime minister makes three claims about what the Education Review Office found in its report on reading and writing in years 1 and 2 (Time to step up, Key tells teachers, Feb 3).

1. "Two-thirds of school leaders were not properly managing assessment." Not correct: it found that "some" leaders trusted their junior school teachers or leaders who knew the pupils well, a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

2. "30 per cent of teachers were not doing a good job of teaching reading and writing." Not correct: it found that 10 per cent of teachers were less than adequate.

3. "Many principals aren't adequately sharing their school's achievement information with their communities." Not correct: it found that they reported to the school community about their own school, but did not give always give data comparing it to other schools.

Why should they if the point is to inform parents as to how their children are performing?

When one talks about "misinformation" he/she should be very careful - especially if he/she is education minister or prime minister.

IVAN SNOOK

Emeritus Professor of Education

Massey University

- © Fairfax NZ News

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