Parents seek more insight into schools

Parents want more information on their children's schooling, says a report by the conservative think-tank Maxim Institute released yesterday.

The report is based on interviews with 1001 parents throughout New Zealand and finds that almost 90 per cent of those interviewed would like more information on the quality of their children's teachers and what areas a school specialises in.

"Seventy-nine per cent of parents would like to know which schools in their area have the best and worst exam results," it says, "and 61 per cent of parents want more information about truancy rates, stand-downs and expulsions to help them choose a school."

The institute's policy manager, Nicki Taylor, said the findings showed that the present provision of information was not what parents wanted.

"Despite the Ministry of Education spending $54 million on information provision in the 2004-2005 year and enlisting the help of top Kiwis like Tana Umaga, parents still cannot find and compare basic information about their local schools, such as exam results and areas of specialty," she said.

New Zealand was being left behind by countries such as Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States, which had recognised the importance of providing good, useable and easy-to-understand information to parents about schools.

"For example, in Australia, each state must ensure that all its schools disclose performance information to the general public, including: the proportion of pupils achieving national standards in literacy and numeracy, the 'value added' by the school, school leaver destination, teaching qualifications and staff and student absentee and retention rates.

"It is parents and not bureaucrats who are primarily responsible for the education of their children and parents need access to the best possible information about schools."

- NZPA