New Zealand education retooling needs long-term push

Subject

Education and skills policy in New Zealand.

Significance

Teacher unrest including strikes, the next possible tranche in February 2019, have added urgency to the government's education system revamp for pre-school to universities to ready students for a changing workplace that is demanding different skillsets.

Impacts

• Teacher shortages will make it harder to tackle falls in children's international comparative achievement rankings.
• Fewer foreign students will mean compounding tertiary education funding shortfalls.
• The government's education reform plan implies substantial funding increases, posing fiscal issues for the early 2020s.