Education (National Standards of Literacy and Numeracy) Amendment Bill

Education (National Standards of Literacy and Numeracy) Amendment Bill EXPLANATORY NOTE GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT The purpose of this Bill is to allow the Minister, by notice in the Gazette , to publish agreed national standards in literacy and numeracy, and to require schools to provide information in their annual reports about the progress of students in respect of any national standards in literacy and numeracy that have been published. This will enable parents to be well-informed about students' schooling and to assess whether remedial action may be required for schools and students whose achievements fall short of the national standards. CLAUSE BY CLAUSE ANALYSIS Clause 1 is the Title. Clause 2 provides for the Bill to come into force on the day after the date on which it receives the Royal assent. Clause 3 states that the Education Act 1989 is the principal Act. Clause 4 inserts a requirement to publish national standards in literacy and numeracy. Clause 5 inserts a requirement for schools to provide an analysis of students' progress measured against the national standards. The Parliament of New Zealand enacts as follows: 1 Title This Act is the Education (National Standards of Literacy and Numeracy) Amendment Act 2007 . 2 Commencement This Act comes into force on the day after the date on which it receives the Royal assent. 3 Principal Act amended This Act amends the Education Act 1989. 4 National education guidelines Section 60A is amended by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (b): ba national standards, which are standards for literacy and numeracy applicable to all students in an age or year group: . 5 Annual reports Section 87(2) is amended by adding the following paragraph after paragraph (e): f a statement in which schools provide an analysis of the progress of students measured against any national standard in literacy and numeracy published under section 60A(ba).