Government Priorities

When the Prime Minister opened the 48th Parliament in November 2005, she outlined the Government priorities. They are: economic transformation; national identity; and families – young and old.

Economic transformation is about continuing our journey towards a thriving and internationally competitive economy with a highly skilled workforce. Families – Young and Old is about providing opportunity and security, backed up by excellent services, to family members of every age. National identity is about building our pride in who we are, where we live, and what we do.

The formal statement on the Government Priorities can be found on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet website.

Ministry of Education

Education has a role to play in each of these areas.

1. In the area of Economic Transformation, education will seek to build a high quality and relevant tertiary system, implement a strategy to up-skill the workforce, and improve school to work transitions through clear and well supported pathways
2. In the area of Families – Young and Old, education will support initiatives aimed at raising achievement and reducing disparities, and initiatives aimed at strengthening family functioning and capability
3. In the area of National Identity ,educational institutions form the foundations upon which government’s role in shaping and supporting national identity is built.

More detail about Education and the Government Priorities can be found in the Ministry of Education's Statement of Intent: 2006 to 2011.

Economic Transformation

Education and the Labour Market: New Zealand's labour market is considerably more dynamic than in the past, and is likely to remain so as New Zealand's economy becomes further integrated with the global economy. Education can moderate the negative effects from labour market fluctuations. There is a substantial body of evidence that shows that those with higher levels of education are more likely to participate in the labour market, face lower risks of unemployment, have greater access to further training and receive higher earnings on average.

This report considers some of the relationships between education and the labour market, and provides access to a number of relevant resources relating to New Zealand's labour market.

Families - Young and Old

Eight Education Priorities: In the early childhood and schooling sectors the Minister of Education has set the following eight priorities for the next three years that provide direction and urgency for the Ministry's work:

1. effective teaching
2. parents and family/whānau
3. foundations and knowledge
4. strong professional leadership
5. resourcing
6. staying at school
7. setting boundaries
8. teaching and learning in secondary schools

Schools Plus

Schools Plus is being developed to achieve government's goal that all young people are in education, skills development, or structured learning relevant, to their needs and abilities, until the age of 18.

See the Ministry's Schools Plus website for the latest news or visit the Education Counts Schools Plus theme page to see some reasearch and statistical information relevant to Schools Plus. 

Healthy Confident Kids

The priority Families – Young and Old has a number of sub-themes, including 'Healthy Confident Kids'. The Ministry of Education is the lead agency coordinating projects under this sub-theme. The following workstreams represent the centre-piece of this sub-theme:

• free early childhood education services
• 1:15 teacher-pupil ratio for new entrants
• school readiness health checks
• tertiary student loans
• well child review
• obesity.

Related Pages on Education Counts

Related Ministry Web Pages

See the Schools Plus website.