Push for schools to focus more on Asia

Asia New Zealand hopes the national school curriculum will have a greater focus on Asian issues within a year.

Education leaders agreed on the importance of developing such knowledge at an Asia NZ summit in Wellington last week. While Government, business, media, arts and education leaders agreed on the importance of Asia for New Zealand's future, strategically and economically, consensus was harder to find on the best way to build bridges.

But education leaders resolved to push for a stronger focus on Asian issues in schools within the next 12 to 18 months.

"If we saw Asian studies given a significant place in the curriculum within a year, we'd be delighted," said Asia NZ chairman Sir Dryden Spring after the summit.

"And that's a realistic possibility. The Government's already changing the curriculum structure to provide for more language training."

Sir Dryden said the summit was just one step in a procession to try and get Asian issues back on the country's radar. But the time to act was now.

"Probably, if we can't be pretty much there in a year [with the school curriculum], it won't happen," he said.

The Journalists Training Organisation agreed to facilitate a media group to push initiatives such as promoting exchanges with media staff in parts of Asia and increasing the ethnic diversity in local newsrooms.

Business leaders saw a need for fresh business models to accommodate the rapidly rising Asian bloc. There was also a need for larger business groups to help smaller ones to access Asia.

Sir Dryden said Asia NZ would facilitate further dialogue across the sectors, including holding a summit next year with a predominantly business focus.

The summit follows a report in July, Preparing for a Future with Asia, which warned that New Zealand needed to wise up to the region's increasing importance or risk a lower standard of living and less secure future.

Prime Minister Helen Clark told summit delegates they had to forge strong and lasting links across Asia in their respective sectors.

There were significant gaps "in our engagement with Asia" that needed to be filled and, for a small nation to make an impact, it had to work in an integrated way.