"The education of New Zealand’s children is about producing kids who are academically adept and socially and economically relevant. Schools should reflect the values and aspiration of parents in a flexible system where funding follows the child."

- Richard Lewis: Leader

Too many students are leaving school lacking basic knowledge and skills, particularly in literacy and numeracy. Moreover, parents and employers lack confidence in an education system that lacks clarity and credibility around national standards of achievement.

The Family Party also recognises that many children lack the capacity to learn because basic humanitarian needs are not being met at home - hence our dedicated Family Policy.

Our thinking on Education: The Family Party considers the home to be the first classroom of the next generation and parents to be the first educators and primary influencers in a child’s life. To that end, parents should not be separated from their child’s journey through education. The Family Party believes:

• The home is the first place of formation and parents have an invaluable role to play in the educational journey of their children
• Education MUST provide children with competence in reading, writing and arithmetic, and sound knowledge and skills that are relevant to New Zealand’s social and economic goals
• Our education system should work with parents to identify and unlock the unique potential of each individual, to ensure they maximise their talents and are economically and socially relevant to New Zealand’s economy
• The quality and of New Zealand’s teachers will determine the quality of our education system and the outcomes for students. Therefore, teachers must be adequately trained, esteemed and rewarded accordingly
• Standards of achievement must be specific and definable, internationally comparable and easy for the student, parent and employer to understand
• A healthy balance of male/female teachers is desirable for well-rounded development
• Funding should follow the child

Our vision for Education: The Family Party vision for Education combines academic, vocational skills and character excellence. To that end, the Family Party will:

• Expect and celebrate high standards of achievement from students
• Encourage and facilitate parental participation in all aspects of their child’s education
• Support 'funding following the child' and allow parents flexibility in school choice for state, state-integrated, private or home schooling
• Ensure that Government funding results in quality education for all children, regardless of social-economic status or ethnic background
• Foster greater cohesion between the education, public and business sectors to ensure educational pathways are relevant for today's and tomorrow’s economy

Character Education: It’s often said that your gifts might get you there, but only character will keep you there. Character development is critical to seeing knowledge properly harnessed. While character development is essentially a parental responsibility, it is in the best interests of our communities for schools to encourage and foster healthy character development. To that end, the Family Party will:

• Introduce elements of such a programme, which would include personal responsibility, respect (for self, others and authority), honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, fairness, diligence and compassion
• Introduce 'abstinence' as the entry point to sex education, thereby offering young people a better choice when it comes to decisions involving sexual behaviour: contraception would remain a valid part of the sex education curriculum  

Parental responsibility and participation: The Family Party will encourage parents to:

• Create a stable and safe home environment that meets all of a child’s humanitarian needs 
• Take ownership of their child’s pathway through education, providing ample support and encouragement throughout their schooling years
• Encourage their children to read and write and excel academically
• Set boundaries, behavioural standards and reasonable expectations within the home environment
• Identify the unique gifts, talents, and abilities of their children to maximise their learning potential and plan education with intent
• Be accountable for their child’s behaviour whilst at school and in the community
• Maintain a strong relationship with teachers and schools
• Support the school curriculum
• Save for higher education for their children

Government responsibility: The Family Party will:

• Ensure Government funding results in a quality education and fair opportunity for all
• Encourage family and parental participation in school life
• Complement the values and aspirations of parents for their children
• Enable Boards of Trustees and principals to promote and maintain an environment of academic discipline and success by empowering them through supportive and sensible guidelines and regulations
• Review funding strategies within the Education System in the light of:
  o Increased costs
  o Participation disparities
  o The need for remuneration packages for quality teachers, both male and female
  o Empowering parental choice
  o Recruitment packages to attract teachers in difficult-to-resource curriculum areas
  o Special funding packages for the relocating of teachers into hard-to-resource areas of the country
• Raise the profile and value of the teaching profession, leading the way in attracting quality people into the profession at every level, both male and female
• Research the potential of 'Entrepreneurial Colleges' and 'Sports Academies' to anchor educational pathways for those who excel in such areas (such as Maori and Pacific youth)

Curriculum: The Family Party will:

• Continue the ongoing review of NCEA to achieve definitive examination results that are understood by the student, parents and potential employers and are comparable with international standards
• Incorporate 'abstinence' as the 'entry point' to sex education: contraception would remain a valid part of the sex education curriculum
• Implement a character component in the education curriculum. Elements of such a programme would include personal responsibility, respect (for self, others and authority), honesty, trustworthiness, integrity, fairness, diligence and compassion

Teacher training: The Family Party will:

• Place an emphasis on equipping teachers to a high level of competency and skill in teaching techniques such as classroom management, quality curriculum delivery and student assessment
• Give priority to attracting more male teachers at primary and secondary levels
• Look at ways of attracting trainee teachers into hard-to-resource curriculum areas
• Introduce specific professional development programmes for schools receiving teachers back into the profession after a significant leave of absence
• Empower principals with remuneration packages to reward proven teachers

Early Childhood Education: The Family Party will:

• Review licensing regulations to reduce compliance and red tape
• Provide more financial support for centres with staff in ECE training
• Support struggling centres through mentoring programmes and assistance packages
• Investigate ways to attract more male teachers to the profession
• Require graduating teachers to complete 84 continuous weeks of full time work in a licensed centre to become fully registered

Primary school: The Family Party will:

• Give added emphasis to the foundational skills of numeracy and literacy through national base-line standards of competency and the support of quality resources
• Commence a Character Education programme at age-appropriate level
• Reduce standard class size to 25 children per class
• Investigate ways to attract more male teachers to the teaching profession at this level

Intermediate school: The Family Party will:

• Conduct research into age appropriate assessment tools aimed at identifying raw gifts, talents and abilities of students to design tailored educational pathways that unlock and maximise their inherent potential
• Support the concept of 'Master Teachers' in schools, who are experienced and proven teachers positioned at this level to build core academic and vocational strengths of students so they are thoroughly prepared for their pathway into college
• Introduce sex education into the Character Education program, with 'Abstinence' as the entry point for sex education and education on drugs and alcohol 
• Investigate ways to attract more male teachers to the profession at this level

Secondary school: The Family Party will:

• Introduce an 'Honours Programme' involving development of leadership skills and service to the community
• Pursue a vision for 'Entrepreneur Colleges' and 'Sporting Academies' involving successful professional sportsmen and woman and leaders in innovation and business
• Encouraging reciprocal relationships between the education and business sector for school leavers choosing a trade
• Investigate ways to attract more male teachers to the profession at this level
• Continue the National Abstinence Programme, with abstinence being the entry point to sex education

Tertiary / vocational training: The Family Party will:

• Support a review of the standards for entry into tertiary studies, so as not to compromise the integrity and credibility of tertiary education and training institutions 
• Look favourably towards students that undergo studies in an area relevant to New Zealand’s social and economic goals
• Provide greater support to businesses that offer apprenticeships and deliver certified 'on the job training' programmes 

Home schooling: The Family Party will:

• Support parents' right to educate their child or children at home and provide the equivalent amount of funding towards children being home schooled as if they were in the state education system

Zoning: The Family Party will:

• Ensure students can attend their local school but provide flexibility for parental choice through funding that follows the child

Student loans: 

The Family Party recognises heavy debt puts incredible stress and pressure on students during studies and when venturing into the workforce, and believes this to be a major contributor towards the 'brain-drain' to other countries and the delay in starting families and putting roots down in our communities. 

Our thinking on student loans: The financial responsibility for an individual’s higher education is best shared between the individual, the family and the state (on behalf of our communities and industry), as all are benefactors.

• It is detrimental for students to be forced to borrow in order to live (which is the current system), which creates debt and dependency from the outset, placing limitations on a student’s options, particularly when it comes to starting families, home-ownership and saving
• Huge debts force many graduates to seek employment through higher paying options offshore, thus denying our own country of these skills and expertise and creating shortages in key areas
• Courses and qualifications should be relevant to New Zealand’s social and economic goals for the present and future

Our goals for students: The Family Party will support a loan payment abatement scheme, where the Government meets the yearly loan repayments of students (especially within professions where there are present and anticipated skills shortages)

• Investigate schemes that provide incentives for loan repayments for every year worked in New Zealand, including bonus repayments for certain regions with certain skills shortages, e.g. regions requiring doctors or dentists etc.
• Introduce an achievement-based abatement system whereby high achievement is rewarded through fees-abatement incentives, discouraging the 'Cs get degrees' mentality

Student allowances: To assist students during their time of study and to minimise the cycle of debt, the Family Party will:

• Support the lowering of the age limit for parental income testing, to help the large proportion of students who receive little to no financial support from the Government
• Support progressive decreases in the parental income-testing threshold to assist families and students who face increasing living and support costs
• Encourage research for the viability of a dollar-for-dollar fee reduction incentive to encourage part-time work during study so that students are not completely reliant on the Government for living expenses

Additional support opportunities: To offer further alternatives to the Student Loan system that creates heavy debt, the Family Party will:

• Support increases in the number of Bonded Merit and Step Up Government scholarships already available
• Initiate a closer relationship between students and employers by offering individual scholarship tax incentives
• For professions where there are specific skills shortages, look towards offering tax rebates to companies of up to 50% of the value of scholarship programmes
• Encourage savings schemes for families saving for their children’s education