National needs to stop turning our education system into a political football.

“Erica Stanford is politicising our education system by cherry picking data and pitting parents and educators against each other,” Labour’s education spokesperson Ginny Andersen said.

“She is deliberately misrepresenting our policy because she would rather run a scare campaign than have an honest debate about education.

“Education cannot be a political football, kicked backwards and forwards every three or six years depending on who the Minister is.

“When Governments repeatedly rewrite the curriculum according to their own political priorities, schools and students pay the price. They deserve stability and certainty in their education.

“If National wants to copy England, they should be honest about what she is actually copying.

“England has a huge gap between disadvantaged children and their peers. It has serious problems with persistent absence. Its own government is now undertaking major reforms to fix problems in its education system.

“So why is Erica Stanford holding up England as the model for New Zealand?

“New Zealand should take the best evidence from around the world – not blindly copy another country's system.

“Parents, schools and students deserve a Labour Government that is focused on making education work for them, not a National Government that is focused on their own report card,” Ginny Andersen said.