1 Jul 2010

Parlt library withdraws national standards research

5:28 pm on 1 July 2010

Parliament's library on Wednesday withdrew a research paper highlighting potential problems with the Government's controversial national standards for primary schools.

The library published the paper earlier in June as a summary of the Government's policy on standards in reading, writing and maths and the issues associated with the policy.

The 10-page summary was critical of the speed with which the standards were designed and implemented, and the lack of time teachers had to become familiar with them.

But the paper was withdrawn after the New Zealand Herald reported that Education Minister Anne Tolley was not happy with it.

A spokesperson for the minister says it was withdrawn before she complained to the Speaker of the House. He says the paper was factually inaccurate and contained opinions.

A spokesperson for Parliamentary Services said there were issues with the process followed for publishing the report.