Standards' $36m 'won't go far'

Children struggling under new national standards will get the equivalent of only half a day's tuition to help them improve, a top academic says.

The Government was under continued siege over its national standards policy yesterday.

Terry Crooks, co-ordinator of the National Education Monitoring Project at Otago University, said he had major concerns about the standards.

"The Government keeps making the assumption that once poorly performing kids are identified, that that can be solved," Professor Crooks said.

"The evidence suggests that it's extremely hard to overcome major deficits of achievement."

The national standards of literacy and numeracy are being rolled out in schools this week.

All children aged five to 12 will be assessed against national standards for reading and writing at their year level. Parents will get reports at least twice a year.

The Government has promised $36 million of extra funding over three years to help pupils found to be struggling under the standards. The funding is on top of existing money for teaching literacy and numeracy.

Education Minister Anne Tolley said yesterday that officials were preparing advice on the best use of the $36m.

The policy was designed to help the one in five pupils leaving school without the basic skills they needed, she said.

Official figures show 20 per cent of primary and intermediate children would represent 86,971 pupils.

When the $36m is spread between those pupils over three years, each child would get $138 a year.

Professor Crooks said that would pay for less than half a day of tuition each.

"You can't do anything with that."

Associate Professor Alison Gilmore, executive director of the New Zealand Assessment Academy, said the amount promised so far "is not going to go terribly far".

"I think it will require an increased investment if the minister really wants to address the needs of all the children."

There were "serious gaps" in the policy and it was unrealistic to expect the standards would work because they had not been tested.

Prime Minister John Key got tough with teacher unions this week, saying the Government was not prepared to delay implementing the standards.

Associate Professor Gilmore said Mr Key's stance was unrealistic.

"There hasn't been an opportunity for widespread ownership or consultation around the national standards by the profession," she said.

"My fear is that there is too much politics in it."

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