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In this week’s podcast, Oliver Hartwich and Michael Johnston are joined by visiting professor Dr Antje Barabasch to discuss vocational education and training, the Swiss dual education system, and the differences with the New Zealand system. Professor Dr Antje Barabasch is head of the research axe “Teaching and Learning in VET” and the research field “Learning cultures and instruction”. Read more

A recent report revealed that a third of 15-year-olds cannot read at a basic adult standard. Numeracy rates are similarly worrying, with many students battling to comprehend basic mathematics. Read more

There are many pressing problems facing New Zealand, but none more urgent than the decay of our once great education system. For more than two decades, the literacy and numeracy achievement of our young people has been declining. Read more

Recent Ministry of Education publications bring mātauranga Māori concepts into the school curriculum. While concepts like mauri, a Māori term meaning “vital essence” or “life force”, may have something to offer science as a reflection of ecosystem health or the “life-supporting capacity” of rivers, any interpretation that equated mauri with chemical properties, or as “the binding force between the physical and the spiritual”, had no place in the chemistry curriculum and proposals to incorporate traditional knowledge in science curricula need a lot more reflection, with nobody excluded from the conversation. Read more