Labour has announced a policy to establish an Independent Council for Curriculum and Assessment (ICCA) to oversee New Zealand’s education curriculum and assessment system if elected in the upcoming general election. According to Labour education spokesperson Ginny Andersen, the proposed council would provide expert leadership while keeping broad goals and expectations under government democratic accountability. The initiative, announced this afternoon, would cost approximately $500,000 annually, funded through a reprioritisation of existing baseline education funding.
Establishment of the ICCA and Interim Expert Group
Should the party form a government, Labour plans to assemble an interim expert group in a three-month timeframe to deliver prompt recommendations regarding curriculum and assessment. The interim group would include members from across early childhood education, primary, secondary, and Māori medium settings. Once a final design is decided, the ICCA would be formally legislated. Andersen stated that the council is intended to operate similarly to the Infrastructure Commission, taking the politics out of educational reform and ensuring curriculum decisions are guided by evidence and educational expertise rather than the preferences of individual ministers.
Curriculum Rollout Pauses and NCEA Timeline Adjustments
Labour’s policy includes a one-year pause on the rollout of curriculum changes introduced by the current Government that have not yet been implemented. However, work already underway on maths and English would continue, with support provided to schools, as reported by 1News. Additionally, the current National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) system would remain in place and unchanged until 2029, allowing the ICCA time to review the Government’s planned changes and advise on future reforms.
Comparison With Government Reforms and National Party Policies
The current Government is undertaking a major overhaul of New Zealand’s school curriculum, releasing the final two learning areas for years 0 to 10 on Tuesday. Education Minister Erica Stanford stated that the new framework provides a clear and nationally consistent pathway for learning, with schools given until the beginning of 2029 to fully implement it. Stanford also made an announcement during May indicating that NCEA would be succeeded at Year 12 by the New Zealand Certificate of Education (NZCE) and at Year 13 by the New Zealand Advanced Certificate of Education (NZACE), alongside a mandatory literacy and numeracy Foundational Award anchored at Year 11. Furthermore, 1News coverage detailed that the National Party has put forward alternative proposals mandating sixty minutes daily for reading, writing, and arithmetic in schools, prohibiting cell phones in class, supplying extra resources, and supplanting NCEA with a grading structure utilizing A+ through E alongside an examination for every subject.
