This Bill aims to restore quality and confidence in New Zealand’s education system by requiring partnership schools kura hourua (“charter schools”) to teach a broad and balanced curriculum. Charter schools are not required to teach the New Zealand Curriculum or Te Marautanga. This raises serious concerns about the quality and direction of charter schools. There is a serious risk that students at charter schools will be delivered narrow curricula of a low quality that are irrelevant to the society to which they belong.

All students in New Zealand schools should be taught a broad and balanced curriculum. The existing New Zealand curriculum is recognised as one of the best in the world. It is a significant concern that charter schools will not have to teach to the existing curriculum; subjects such as science may be distorted to fit the beliefs of school owners, rather than ensuring that students gain a solid understanding of established scientific principles.

Ostensibly, exempting charter schools from teaching the New Zealand Curriculum or Te Marautanga is aimed at raising the achievement of underperforming students in New Zealand. Yet this overlooks the reality that the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga are world leading curricula that have been developed to provide students with the best possible education in the 21st century. The Labour Party does not believe that New Zealand children’s education should be sacrificed for the narrow beliefs of charter school providers or for private profits.