Govt earmarks $100m for students underachieving in maths, new ‘maths intervention’ teachers

New full-time maths intervention teachers would provide additional support to children in years 0-6 who were not achieving at curriculum level, she said.

Stanford said professional development would be available to teachers to ensure the maths checks were used effectively.

Labour’s education spokeswoman, Willow-Jean Prime, slammed the Government for asking teachers to do more “while picking their pockets” – seemingly in reference to the Government’s swift changes to pay equity legislation.

The reforms were announced without warning on Tuesday by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden, an Act Party member.

The changes overhaul a 2020 law establishing a regime to allow people in sectors with a large female workforce to argue that they were underpaid relative to similar work done in sectors dominated by men.

The changes, passed under urgency last week, will be retrospective. All 33 current claims will cease and those claimants would need to reapply under the new regime.

In a statement, Prime said maths was an important aspect of education and there should be good resourcing for it.

“But when you’re asking teachers, who are mostly women, to do more while picking their pockets. What message is National sending our kids?“

Prime said Stanford needed to “front up and explain why she believes women, particularly those who are teachers, should be paid less than men. We are all waiting to hear it.”

$40m for intermediate maths

The remaining $40m will fund small-group maths tutoring for up to 34,000 Year 7-8 students each year from next year.

The scheme builds on the current maths tutoring pilot for 3000 students at intermediate school, which Stanford at Monday’s post-Cabinet press conference described as “highly successful”.

“An intervention at intermediate was vital to ensure those young people were experiencing success at high school.

“Early indications from the trial show that it has been hugely successful at raising achievement over a very short period of time.”

She said the scheme would help students get the foundational numeracy needed to be confident in NCEA.

All of these initiatives would also be introduced in te reo Māori, she said.

“When they stumble, we will intervene early to make sure they are confident in their abilities,” Stanford said in a message to parents.

She also thanked teachers and principals for their feedback on what support they needed in the classroom, saying: “We’ve listened and we are delivering.”

Stanford called the $100m primary and intermediate-school maths funding as a “game-changer”.

“It will raise achievement in our schools across the country.”

Monday’s announcement follows the introduction of a new maths curriculum for year 0-8 students earlier this year.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.