Last week my post quoting Walter Nash generated some great debate, so this week I thought I’d stick with that era and select a few quotes from another great Labour leader, this time the Rt Hon Peter Fraser. One of the founders of the modern Labour Party, Fraser was our wartime PM and before that, Minister of Education and Health. He appointed C.E Beeby to the Education Department and between them they massively expanded the role of public education in our country.
“The government’s objective, broadly expressed, is that all persons, whatever their level of ability, whether they live in town or country, have a right as citizens to a free education of the kind for which they are best fitted and to the fullest extent of their powers.”
“Schools that are to cater for the whole population must offer courses that are as rich and varied as are the needs and abilities of the children who enter them.”
Both of those quotes are as relevant today as they were back in the 1930s. If we want all Kiwis to have the best possible start in life, then a quality public education system is critical. National’s cuts to early childhood education suggest they don’t agree. The introduction of national standards risks narrowing the focus of our schools, forcing them to adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach, failing to recognise that different kids learn at different speeds and have different strengths.
Yee haa! That was a great quote
THis should apply to tertiary education also, let’s us not harp on about employment potential deleted to keep out of spam Trevor when this is a place to expand the mind
Oops, I forgot to censor, sorry
Does the right to a free education include pilot training for 64 yr olds. Yes I know part is paid for by the student , but as a student loan.
Using the Fraser/Beeby statement as a basis for Labour’s 2011 Education Policy would be a great step in the right direction and undo the potential for damage caused by national standards. This vision is still relevant 70 years later, which is quite something and can easily be adapted to meet the rapidly changing educational world of the 21st century. Let’s not forget that there are some children, already born, who will live to see the 22nd century and so our educational system must be future focussed, to provide these children with the education needed to enable them to cope in am unpredictable future. I believe that an education policy based on this would be easy to sell.
On the other hand the NACT govt education policies pre-date the Fraser/Beeby vision and is based on the 19th century concept of educating children to take their place in the workforce and that it is all – anything beyond the old fashioned 3R’s (which is what the national standards actually reduce to when all the excess verbiage is trimmed off), is irrelevant in the NACT govt’ eyes. “Who needs Arts degrees? Who need to learn philosohoy? That won’t get them a job.”
As for preparation for the 21st century from 2025 (why is that date familiar) and beyond, forget it. Typically for this govt, there is no future focus apart from lofty aspirations and tyre kicking.
Agreed Ghost and ASA
Oops, excuse my typos in my comment. Clearly I am failing to meet the appropriate national standard in writing……
My dad never voted Labour again after Peter Fraser a “Conchie” drew the first marble for conscription. Harry Holland too I think. It’s always easier to send others into the firing line just as artful dodger George W did too.
However I still cannot fathom why after 8 years of taxpayer funded primary schooling we still have one in five kids unable to read and write to a satisfactory level and doomed to failure at high school. Trevor – why didn’t you ever do anything to hold primary schools to some sort of account? Why do we allow the NZEI to call the tune when it’s we who pay the piper?
This.
Education is lifelong and, once you get past the basics, doesn’t fit into any prescribed curriculum or degree. We need to make it better, more dynamic and, IMO, this is where UFB really would come into it. Dynamic “classes” and research done by interested people throughout the country whenever they felt like it. We need the infrastructure and we’re still playing around with the failed privatisation model introduced by the 4th Labour government. We need a democratic community model that isn’t controlled by foreign owners.
“…education of the kind for which they are best fitted…”
Sorry to put a damper on anyone’s enthusiasm for the Beeb quote but, right up to the 1960s, an “education of the kind for which they were best fitted” meant STREAMING. Based on flawed British research, 11-12 year olds were given IQ tests and pushed towards courses deemed to suit their capabilities. For most girls this meant going into Commercial courses (where only “core” maths and English were taught), while many boys went into Technical (woodwork, metalwork and tech drawing). The more highly valued subjects – science, maths, history, geography and languages – were for those selected for the Professional stream. Maori were considered best fitted for domestic work and trades, and their education was shaped towards those goals. I’ve never liked the Beeb quote for those reasons.
A 21st century goal might be “an education that enables everyone, whatever their age, sex, ethnicity, level of disability, location within New Zealand (etc.) to expand their knowledge and skills and INCREASE their potential, so that they can fully participate in the economic and social life of their chosen country of residence – and pass on their enthusiasm for education to the next generation (or two).
I think the majority of NZers support free education from 2 to 25…
I read a report about investment recently that analysed the best investments historically over the last 300 years… The conclusion was that over the course of your life every dollar spent on education, on average, yeilds a 20% annualised return, better than the average returns from business, stocks or property…
The old saying, “the investment is education” is actually economically accurate…