Teachers strive to support all students regardless of their achievement levels, a Rotorua principal says.
"Teachers always try to support all students in their classes and do the best for them and hopefully continue to improve their outcomes," Sunset Primary School principal Niels Rasmussen said.
Mr Rasmussen's comments follows criticism by Secretary for Education Lesley Longstone, who said New Zealand could not claim to have a world class education system until achievement levels for students across the board were raised.
"The system is still under-performing for Maori and Pasifika learners and learners from communities with significant social and economic challenges," she wrote in the ministry's annual report.
"While our education system continues to under-perform for these learners, we are not entitled to call ourselves world class."
Just last week, Education Minister Hekia Parata boasted that our education system was among the best in the world, in reference to World Teachers' Day.
Mr Rasmussen said consistent under-achievement was often linked to other factors.
"They talk about a significant tail of under-achievement through Maori and Pasifika and I believe that wherever we have these kind of issues, they are often tied into socio-economic status.
Ms Longstone's statement has riled sector groups.
"It's unduly harsh... New Zealand does have a world class education system," Secondary Principals' Association president Patrick Walsh said.
Her comments ignored the real issue that many learners were struggling with, he said.
The release of national standards data showed under-achievement was greater at low decile schools in lower socio-economic areas.
"It's not the education system but poverty which is the cause of the under-achievement."
Mr Walsh also warned that Ms Longstone's statement could devalue the reputation of New Zealand schools overseas, making it difficult to recruit international students.
The report is the latest cause of friction between teachers and state education officials.
Proposed Canterbury school mergers, problems with the new teachers' payroll system, publication of national standards data and Ms Parata's comments about the poor pronunciation of Maori and Pasifika names in schools have all been sore points for teachers in recent weeks.
Educational Institute president Ian Leckie said teachers had taken offence at the latest comments.
"It's unbecoming of someone leading New Zealand's education system to actually be downgrading its own effectiveness and the success of all the work that thousands and thousands of teachers and support staff do out there."
According to OECD data, New Zealand is fourth in the world in reading and rates highly for maths and science, he said.
"There are areas that we do need to focus on...but that doesn't change that we are a world leader."
Ms Longstone said yesterday her comments referred to the entire education system, not to teacher performance.
"I am absolutely not denigrating teachers. I have never ever blamed teachers for these outcomes," she told Radio New Zealand.
"If you look at the annual report, it says very clearly that the system is not working, the system cannot be called world class."
- Teuila Fuatai
