Another change in legislation currently before Parliament will let schools introduce cohort entry, meaning children starting school for the first time can be enrolled in groups at the beginning of each term. That would mean children could start school at age 4, if their parents wanted them to.
Parata, talking to the Herald before stepping down as Education Minister next month, said it made sense for schools to reconsider traditional hours and learning approaches.
"At the moment the hours are worked out for adults... there are both educational and labour-market imperatives for the way we have organised stuff. The starting age of 5 and 6-year-olds is because, originally, that was what was thought to be the age a kid could be independent of their parent and the parent could go to work.
"Then if you look at the way schools are organised... 'You do this in Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4'. It has been described as an industrial model. And we are trying to prepare our kids for a digital, knowledge-based economy."
Parata said there were a number of schools that had moved away from the traditional 45-minute periods to just three "chunks" of learning time each day.
What is taught in that time can also be varied, she said. The new groupings of local schools - called "communities of learning" - meant primary schools could get help from specialist secondary school maths teachers, for example.
"You might say, 'We are going to devote term one to maths so you can roster the time to the maths specialists, instead of doing maths every day all through school."
The new Haeata Community Campus in Christchurch's Aranui has five-and-a-half-hour school days, and includes a learning area that can fit 300 students. Teachers work together in learning "hubs", some of which include beds for students to take naps.
Parata said those types of facilities as well as NZQA's aim to eventually have "anytime, anywhere" online assessment would further turn schooling away from the prescribed, one-size-fits-all model, and help students transition to the increase in responsibility that suddenly comes with university and work.
Labour MP Chris Hipkins said in the five years he had been his party's education spokesman not once had a school expressed the desire for increased flexibility around school hours.
"I think schools absolutely want more flexibility, but I think the type of flexibility they are asking for isn't the type that Hekia is giving them. Schools talk about national standards being too rigid, about the school building code being too rigid, requirements around the communities of learning as being far too rigid."
Hipkins said he was open to cohort entry for primary schools, but the Ministry of Education seemed to be driving it for administrative reasons.
Parata's talk about schools restructuring how lessons are delivered showed a desire to increase class sizes, he said.
The Ministry of Education was unable to provide figures on how many schools had altered their hours, either with the Education Minister's approval or since last year's law change.
