Mock exams in NCEA Level 1 are due to be held very soon. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Education should be overhauled
The Government has set new literacy standards to be taken alongside NCEA. Apparently, these new standards are being introduced because a recent study found 40 per cent of students who achieved NCEA level 2 were not functionally literate or numerate.
What an indictment on our education system. What is needed is a complete overhaul of the system, starting with the curriculum and teacher training. The National Curriculum document continues to sell children and teachers short. Sparse on content, it makes “experiences” central to teaching and learning rather than knowledge and skills. We need well-trained, highly qualified teachers who teach a “content rich” curriculum where knowledge and skills are paramount.
We do not need “facilitators” masquerading as teachers and elevating the “child’s experience” as the pinnacle of all learning. Real change requires political will born of courage. If not, we will be destined for more hand-wringing by the experts, and a plethora of excuses for further failure, several years on.
Shane Kennedy, Wattle Downs.
Softly-softly, mayor
Mayor-elect Wayne Brown reckons to make quick changes but he and the councillors will not be sworn in until the 28th, and no significant differences can actually occur until mid-2023.
Even if there is collective agreement to make major changes, the Local Government Act requires formal public consultation on any significant amendment to the Annual Plan before decisions are made. And before consultation, the governing body must spend many weeks refining the precise wording of the Draft Annual Plan so submitters know what is proposed.
Before anybody suggests that the process could be sped up, the current Annual Plan has force until June 30 next year. Council cannot strike the rate for the following financial year until it knows the state of its finances and exactly how many ratepayers there are to share in paying the rates. So, the final decision on the Annual Plan always occurs at the end of June to allow the new plan to take effect on July 1. Brown should heed the adage: festina lente — make haste slowly.
Faulty legislation
The Government says the passing of the Fair Pay Agreements Bill is their top legislative priority and will help boost productivity and prosperity. No, if enacted the FPA would replace the Employment Contracts Act 1991, legislation which has served us well, ensured stability and secured wage increases commensurate with rising costs. Sector-wide wage bargaining by centralised arbitration would again ignite industrial chaos.
Increased productivity, wealth creation, better wages only stems from hard work and free wage bargaining which the FPA fails to address. The likely enactment of this legislation would be inappropriate in these uncertain times, potentially destructive, would impact on workplace relations and ultimately prove sheer folly.
PJ Edmondson, Tauranga.
True talent hidden
Bruce Cotterill (Weekend Herald, October 22) again sums up the New Zealand political landscape almost perfectly, and correctly states that most in power are not there by ability but more due to the gift of the gab. Politics is like an inverse function whereby the real talent so often lies at a much lower level than where it should, namely those in which power has been invested and who often have deeply set ideological ideas that are at odds with practicality. Three Waters is a good example, as are gold-plated cycleways.
Paul Beck, West Harbour.
Byelection reality
Many seem to think the Hamilton West byelection will be an indication of voters’ preferences at the General Election next year. Normally, this would be probably true but throw in the reasons for the current situation and this thinking lacks reality. When elected in 2020, Gaurav Sharma rode on Labour’s popularity and delivered a healthy majority.
The dilemma for voters now is — unlike general elections — there is no actual party vote but candidate and party combined. Those who think Sharma was badly treated will back him and his new party, taking votes off Labour. The economy will also have its say but the world could well be different in a year. So this byelection will not necessarily be a strong pointer to 2023.
Reg Dempster, Albany.
Wise Covid more — or not?
The editorial (Weekend Herald, October 22) pulled together the latest information from around the world on the new Covid-19 subvariants, and it was a timely reminder that another wave will probably hit here. This summer, with the exception of a few rules still in use to protect the vulnerable, the restrictions have gone and we can get back to a sense of normalcy.
“But,” as the editorial states, “an ongoing border detection system with antigen tests would surely have been worthwhile. Testing of arrivals, while we had it, was an early warning system for the country.” It’s now a case of wait and see if removing that detection system was wise.
Lorraine Kidd, Warkworth.
Nurses must be hired
Reports of the abysmal efficacy of existing vaccines in fighting the emerging new variants of the Omicron strains of Covid-19, plus the unacceptable waiting times for semi-urgent and elective surgery, coupled with the distressed state of both hospital and community nursing shows the need for the immediate re-hiring of the previously “mandated-out” nurses who refused to be vaccinated.
They are needed on the front line to take up some of the slack in providing an acceptable standard of nursing and general treatment in our communities. So far the Health Ministry is all but turning a deaf ear to the critical need to re-employ those nurses.
Dennis Pennefather, Gisborne.
Land sales death wish
I was horrified to read how much New Zealand land has been sold to overseas interests in recent times. (NZ Herald, October 21). What on earth are the authorities thinking? Are we so desperate for money? Do we have a death wish?
Talk about the family silver ... Without the land, we have nothing. The law needs changing to end this madness immediately. I note that in some instances the sale price is kept secret. This smacks of a murky conspiracy. Well might we sing “God Defend New Zealand”.
John Hampson, Meadowbank.
Dissolve park trust
In the late 1980s for about five years I was Auckland Showgrounds chief executive and got to know how the place functioned, along with the legal arrangements and constraints imposed by the Cornwall Park Trust Board (CPTB) — the landowners.
Like the CPTB lease holders in residential properties adjacent to Cornwall Park, the Shows board had to contend with substantially increasing commercially based rent which for many residential leaseholders caused much distress, some having to quit their homes.
The trust was set up by Sir John Logan Campbell 150 years ago. Now, however, commercial, economic and social conditions are different. To resolve the current impasse, the Cornwall Park Trust should be dissolved, which will require an Act of Parliament, and a new or revised trust established allowing its residential properties to be offered to the leaseholders or on the open market for sale and the Showgrounds offered to the Government or city to buy.
The CPTB can then invest the proceeds to benefit Cornwall Park without causing further distress to its leaseholders and disruption to many companies’ operations.
Allan M Spence, Waiuku.
Sweet and sour takeaway
Forget the rest of the T20 World Cup — by thrashing Australia on Saturday, the Black Caps have already won. It is always great to see the most arrogant team in world sport get a real walloping by New Zealand. I always thought people played sport to enjoy themselves ... why doesn’t somebody tell that to the sour-faced Aussie cricket team?
Jock Mac Vicar, Hauraki.
Emissions cuts our duty
To all who say don’t bother with cutting our emissions, we are too small to make a difference, I say — if global emissions are not cut by 50 per cent by the end of this decade, by the end of this century the planet will be in a very dire situation indeed. Our children and grandchildren are entitled to the planet as we knew it, and I want them to know I was on the right side of history, and I tried.
Allison Kelly, Mt Eden.
On Auckland CCOs
If the CCOs have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear from the mayor’s promised scrutiny on ratepayers’ behalf. Mary Tallon, Hauraki.
On summer
Many thanks to Kim Knight for her delightful article ‘The taste of summer’ (Canvas, October 22) remembering summers when happiness was a sandwich with leftover ham and lettuce and the essential Highlander mayonnaise.
Anne Martin, Helensville.
On living costs
The great shrinkage age is upon us; our favourite box of tea bags is now 80, not 100. Guess we squeeze out one tea bag between us to keep up with this cost-of-living charge.
Glenn Forsyth, Taupō.
On Antarctica visit
Would have thought the PM has more pressing things to do to help the country get back on its feet than swanning off to the ice for a 65th anniversary.
Phil Dinbier, Kerikeri.
On Cotterill
I enjoy reading Bruce’s columns — he is able to articulate exactly what I think.
David Brown, Waiuku.
On education
Here goes yet another rearrangement of the deck chairs of the education system because it’s failing. Doesn’t matter. Until they ban all phones in all levels of schools there isn’t a show in hell of getting kids to concentrate on hard thinking.
Jim Carlyle, Te Atatu Peninsula.
'Strong, staunch, smart, hearty, mentally tough and most of all, loyal!'