"Teachers, principals, parents and city councillors joined together last night in Porirua to talk about the effect National's national standards are having on the quality of education our children are receiving", Kris Faafoi, Labour's Candidate for Mana said today.
"The majority of those who attended the NZEI forum rejected the rushed, untested implementation of National standards.
"Many were concerned that National standards will dampen the love of learning many kids have.
"Attendees said that children who are successful when measured against the average achievement for their age are being labelled as 'failures' because National standards have been pitched much higher than normally achieve for their age.
"National Standards should be about uplifting the education of our kids- not penalising them for not meeting a set of standards that may be unrealistic.
" Kids and quality education are not a one size fits all problem- yet this government is trying to implement a one size fits all solution.
" Education and National Standards are a huge issue many parents in Mana are concerned about, yet National MP Hekia Parata did not front the Komiti.
"Mrs Parata was invited to answer the many questions attendees had around her government's decision not to listen to teachers, prinicpals, mums and dads who are all saying that the implementation of unrealistic and untested standards are going to hurt our kids." said Kris Faafoi.