Who should you vote for in 2008? If Gifted Education is important to your decision making, read on! We've collated below the policies of the major parties towards Gifted Education, and the support they've given us recently.

Please note all comments below are fact only, and are not intended to show any party in a favourable or unfavourable light. If you have any further information about a Party's policies which are not shown below please contact webmaster@giftededucation.org.nz and we will ensure the website is updated accordingly.

ACT Green Labour Maori National NZ First Progressive United Future

The Gifted Education Centre organised a Public Meeting which was held at Duncan McGhie Lecture Theatre, Faculty of Education, Auckland University, 74 Epsom Ave, Epsom on Friday 20th June 2008.

The purpose of the meeting was for spokespeople from each political party to present their party's view on education of gifted students and then to answer questions people have on this topic.

Labour

Chris Carter, the current Minister for Education, attended our Public Meeting in June 2008.

Mr Carter has visited Owairaka School on two occassions in 2008 but has declined our invitations to visit Owairaka ODS.

Louisa Wall, Labour List MP, visited Owairaka ODS on 20th June, and spent some time talking to pupils and staff.

Labour's School Education policy is here; it contains the following with regard to Giftedness:

"Personalising learning also means actively supporting children and young people who do not fit within the stereotypical ‘norm’. Gifted and talented students and pupils with dyslexia, for example, need the support of teachers trained to recognise and teach to their strengths, backed by quality professional development with curriculum support based on research about what works.

At present funding for this is provided on an application basis and for a fixed period of time. We intend to move the existing funding for organisations that deliver classroom and teacher development programmes for groups like gifted and talented students and pupils with dyslexia onto a more sustainable basis. This will help to spread best practice and develop centres of expertise for schools to draw on."

New Zealand First will ensure that adequate and on-going resourcing and teacher education will be made available to gifted and talented children. A review will be undertaken of funding that is available for gifted and talented education with a particular focus on ensuring classroom space is made available free of charge (without jeopardising any rental which would normally be received by the provider of such classroom space).

The Green Party supports special recognition of gifted children and the provision of special programmes for them, both in mainstream education and through alternative programmes like the One Day Schools.

It is clear that the One Day Schools do generate enthusiasm among those present, who relish being among other gifted children, and push themselves to new levels of achievement.

There needs to be a greater role for those expert in gifted children's issues, like the Gifted Education Centre, to advise the Ministry of Education, teacher training institutions and schools on gifted children's issues. This should be associated with a programme for additional gifted advisers in the schools, and more appropriate professional development initiatives for schools, relating to gifted education.

All this would help in a number of areas, such as:

- better and earlier identification of gifted children in the mainstream education system

- giving teachers better techniques to advance the learning of gifted children

- enable the better coordination and interlocking of programmes in the mainstream system, and in alternatives like the One Day Schools

- establish better relations between schools and the parents of gifted children, particularly given the crucial role of parents in understanding their gifted children and helping in their unique education.

- help overcome any social and economic constraints, given that gifted children come from all socio-economic levels.

- help schools deal with the emotional and social needs of gifted children, which are often different from most of their class-mates, and are not fully understood by their classmates.

We support further research and initiatives for home based services, schools, and early childhood services to develop appropriate educational services to gifted learners . We support the siting of different educational services close together and support schools that want to move into 'community learning centres'. Cooperation is beneficial to all. Also, by encouraging greater cooperation, rather than competition, gifted children are able to develop and share their talents with their community, while being supported and encouraged to develop those talents.

The Greens also support better targetted funding of gifted learners and specialist teachers, both inside and outside the mainstream system.

We think our policy for education of the gifted is backed up by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children, which recognises the rights of gifted children, and also the Ministry of Education's working party on gifted education, even though schools are still some way from meeting its recommendation that they should demonstrate how they are going to meet the needs of their gifted learners.

We also think gifted children benefit from the Green's overall approach to education, which is for a cooperative and inclusive system that provides a quality education for all learners. Our commitment to quality education for all includes supporting children with all sorts of special needs, and sits alongside the need to confront wider socio-economic disparities. Children are entitled to an education that respects their individuality and that offers maximum opportunities to develop their strengths and abilities.

Schools are currently under funded and the funding mechanisms force schools to prioritise critical needs against each other. Gifted children and those with special needs are those most likely to suffer. We support an immediate increase in the operations grant by 10% and a review of school funding mechanisms so that schools don’t have to compete with each other or internally, often minimising special support for talented or special needs children. Children with special needs should be funded on a needs basis and this includes gifted children.

We also support the Education Staffing Review Group recommendations to reduce the staff-pupil ratios. In addition to those recommendations the Greens support maximum class sizes no greater than 20 for primary, intermediate and secondary schools. We also want smaller early childhood ratios of teachers to children than is currently the case. This would help to give teachers in state schools more time to meet the needs of children in their classrooms. We would also provide for additional gifted advisers and other professional development initiatives for schools

The Green Party support schools that cater for special interest groups within society, as long as they maintain high teaching standards and deliver the core curriculum, including environmental education. This does not exclude gifted and talented children. We would expand alternative education programmes for young learners who are alienated from general educational settings, to include younger children (under age 13), those who feel alienated, and those whose educational philosophy is different from their school’s philosophy. The Green Party values education because they are our future and all children must be encouraged and supported to reach their potential.

"Education should always be focused on helping students discover and reach their potential, gifted children are just as entitled to this as any other student"

Mrs Turner and Denise Krum (Party President and United Future list member) visited the Owairaka ODS on August 29th, and spent some time talking to staff and pupils. They then spent time talking to the Director and a Board of Trustees member regarding potential policy.

United Future has specific policy around Gifted Education which is detailed here. This includes the statements:

UnitedFuture acknowledges that Gifted children are among some of the most neglected due perceptions that they are fortunate rather than the truth which is that they are poorly catered for.

• Better educate student teachers and current classroom teachers on how to identify and respond to the needs of gifted children
• Due to the small number of gifted children ensure that funding and resources are regionally managed in collaboration with schools in that region that have gifted students on their role.
• Fund full-day withdrawal programmes, such as The Gifted Education Centre's One Day School, for children assessed as requiring such provision.

• Provide regional resource teachers to support the learning of gifted students and their classroom teachers
  

Maori Party

The Maori party declined our invitation to attend the Public Meeting in June.

The Maori Party website does not seem to contain an education policy.