Summarised by Centrist
The coalition-government is investing $20m to improve mathematics teaching in primary schools, addressing the country’s poor performance in global numeracy rankings.
Prime Minister Chris Luxon announced the “Make It Count” action plan at the National Party Conference, citing the urgent need to tackle the mathematics crisis.
The plan includes twice-yearly assessments for students, additional training for teachers, and tailored support for struggling students, set to commence in the 2025 school year.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said the introduction of a new, knowledge-rich maths curriculum was inspired by successful models from Singapore and Australia, and adapted for NZ.
The initiative responds to data showing that only 22% of Year 8 students met the expected benchmark for maths in 2023.
An Institute of Economic Research study revealed that a quarter of new primary school teachers lacked basic NCEA Level 1 maths proficiency.
Consequently, the Teaching Council will now require prospective teachers to have at least Level 2 maths qualifications.
The problem extends beyond teaching quality, with factors such as large class sizes and a cultural acceptance of poor maths skills also contributing. New Zealand’s nine-year-olds ranked 39th out of 64 countries in the 2019 Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS).
