The Republic of New Zealand Party

“It is no longer a gap, it is an abyss, and shows boys have been rated second best by successive Labour Governments” says Paul Haynes, Republicans spokesperson on Education.

The Ministry funded Otago University National Education Monitoring Programme recently announced that 12 year old girls were outperforming boys in 70% of written tasks.

“These damning statistics from a government funded report clearly show boys are getting second class treatment.” Haynes said.

He further stated that “The Ministerial Reference Group for Boys Education admits that even in traditionally male subjects boys are lagging behind girls, because the assessments are increasingly written and not practical.”

“This government knows results are stacked against boys and yet nothing changes,” Haynes said.

This government funds 2/3rds of what schools need to survive, leaving the community to find the rest. Is boys’ education being sacrificed as a cost saver?

“We need a balanced assessment programme at schools that doesn’t disenfranchise. We need OSH rules changed to allow work experience for 15 year olds and we need to bring back a full apprenticeship programme.” Haynes concluded, if we intend to reverse this trend.