Education is a top priority

Chester Borrows PHOTO/FILE

Every parent wants to see their child reach their full potential, to have all the opportunities in the world open to them. We all know education is a key to that success.

It's also a vital way to break the cycle of poverty - not just those who are down on their luck, but people whose parents, maybe even grandparents, were stuck dependent on state handouts for survival and who don't want the same for their kids.

That's why National is investing an extra $359 million over the next four years to lift the achievement of our school students.

International evidence and New Zealand-based research clearly shows that quality of teaching is the most important factor in a child's education. The next biggest influence is school leadership.

It is evidence and research no one has to battle to convince people on, as most of us saw it in action growing up. For me it was Gary Exeter, my year six (or standard four, as it was back then) teacher at Nayland Primary School. I can still see the legacy that his teaching has left on my ethics, values and the way I see the world.

The truly amazing thing, which I only cottoned on to recently, is that Mr Exeter (as he then was to me) was only 22 at the time - younger than some of my kids are now.

For a brilliant young teacher like him, what does our teaching profession hold? All too quickly they top out the pay scales, so are faced with the choice of either staying at the chalkboard, or advancing upwards but out of the classroom.

The other part of it - school leadership - we don't all see as obviously when we're at school, but we can all relate to it when we reach the adult world ourselves. The difference that a good or bad boss can make to our productivity, our happiness, and our success at work is huge. In that regard, our schools and teachers are no different to any other workplace. That's why the Government is introducing four new teaching and leadership roles in our schools - executive principals, expert teachers, lead teachers, and change principals.

These new teaching and leadership roles are about recognising excellent teachers and principals, keeping good teachers in the classroom, and sharing expertise across schools. People in these new roles will be paid additional allowances on top of their usual salaries in recognition of their new responsibilities.

These changes are the next step in National's education plan, and draw together the best of New Zealand and the best of overseas experience.

They're a mixture of what the profession has been telling us it needs, what the best performing countries are doing, and what international evidence and research shows works. I can't wait to get this into law and recognise some of our amazing Whanganui and South Taranaki teachers.

Education seems to be becoming the theme of the election, with both the Greens and Labour keen to follow National's lead in focusing on it. Our plans have been welcomed by such bastions of the right as the Secondary Principals' Association and the Post Primary Teachers' Association, but the opposition don't seem to like the idea of backing good teachers, presenting their own, mass-welfare-based solutions. While I don't agree with them, I'm still glad that both sides of the political spectrum have started the year off talking about education. If our job as politicians is to deliver a brighter, more positive future for New Zealand - for our children - then I think it's a pretty good place to start.