Podcasts about Education minister

“If elected president, I'll eradicate poverty in Ghana through STEM education, following China's example, and ensure that all essential development equipment is produced locally.” - Dr. Yaw Adutwum, former Education Minister and NPP presidential candidate

"Disgusted, absolutely ridiculous and past being disappointed". Those are just some of the reaction from Principals and teachers to the government's proposed primary school curriculum. The overnight publication of draft curriculums for six learning areas and recent changes to the already-published maths and English curriculums have prompted a virtual revolt by the Principals Federation. It says it does not trust the Education Ministry or Education Minister, Erica Stanford. Education correspondent John Gerritsen spoke to Lisa Owen.

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The government has released the full draft of New Zealand's new Year 0 to 10 curriculum as opposition from within the educational sector grows to the proposed changes. Education Minister, Erica Stanford spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

The Education Minister's hoping the new curriculum will close the education equity gap. Erica Stanford has unveiled proposed changes to content for Years 1-10 on top of the English and Maths refresh announced earlier. The key changes include financial education, and compulsory consent education. Stanford told Mike Hosking that no matter where a child goes to school, they will learn the same thing. She says a consistent curriculum means no matter where or what family kids are from, they get the same knowledge they need to be successful. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Queensland's Education Minister, John-Paul Langbroek, responds after students were taught about the wrong Roman leader ahead of a crucial Ancient History exam. Hear what the Minister is doing to reassure stressed students and how the school system is safeguarding against high-stakes testing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Ministry of Education has recently revealed their new draft math's curriculum for years 0 - 10, making this new curriculum the third in three years. In announcing the move, Education Minister, Erica Stanford, says the new curriculum is another step forward for the country producing a world-leading system for all students. However, the new curriculum has faced criticism, such as around the amount of time educators are expected to have implemented the new curriculum. As a result, multiple open letters have been sent to the government. In an open letter from 44 maths education experts yesterday, they say the changes “seem more political than educational”. News and Editorial Director Joel spoke to Lisa Darragh, a Senior Curriculum and Pedagogy Researcher at the University of Auckland, about this new curriculum and what her thoughts are on it.

It's early days for new curriculum changes, as not all subject documents have been uploaded. The Education Minister has unveiled proposed changes to content for Years 1-10, on top of the English and Maths refresh announced earlier - changing subjects like health and history. The Immediate Past President of the Auckland Primary Principals Association Kyle Brewerton told Ryan Bridge that only some documents are fully visible at the moment. He says his immediate reaction is there's a lot of content change and it's now the schools responsibility to feedback. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greg Brady spoke to Paul Calandra, PC MPP for Markham—Stouffville and Education Minister about Education minister plans to 'make an example' of school board trustee involved in Italy art trip. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg Brady spoke to Paul Calandra, PC MPP for Markham—Stouffville and Education Minister about Education minister plans to 'make an example' of school board trustee involved in Italy art trip. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Government is really spooked by this week's mega strike. With about 100,000 people expected to walk off the job on Thursday. If it wasn't spooked, we wouldn't have Public Service Minister Judith Collins writing this open letter to patients, students and families affected by the doctors, nurses, teachers, prison staff and other healthcare workers going on strike. It's a letter which, I think, ups the ante on the serve Health Minister Simeon Brown gave doctors last week over their involvement. Because what Judith Collins says in the letter, aside from how much the Government regrets the impact the strike is going to have on people - which it is, she's encouraging parents to do, what I would describe as, harassment of teachers. She's saying to parents - especially those with younger kids who are going to have to make alternative arrangements for the day because they can't leave the young ones at home on their own - that they should quiz teachers about the timing of their action. Why they're striking in a week when many schools already have teacher-only days and on a day so close to the Labour Day holiday on Monday. And I think this is so wrong. Because, if you've ever had kids at school, you will know that quite a few parents don't need any encouragement to have a go at the teachers. You always hear stories about parents hounding teachers about this and that. And, every now and then, you hear stories about people quitting teaching altogether because of the relentless hassle they get from parents. And the Government, with this open letter, is just encouraging more of that. It's calling the mega strike “politically-motivated”. But the Government stands accused of the exact same thing with this open letter. As well as the outburst last week from the Health Minister. One of the reasons the Government thinks it's politically-motivated is the secondary teachers union wanting to discuss Palestine when it met with the Education Minister. That was just dumb and didn't do their cause any good. But the Government just needs to accept that the mega strike is happening and it needs to stop this attack on people who are doing nothing illegal. They're fully within their rights to strike and this harassment has to stop. If you heard me last week criticising the firefighters for striking, because I thought it put us at unnecessary risk, then you might think it's a bit rich of me to be having a go at the Government today. The difference is, I'm not a government minister. More importantly, though, I wasn't encouraging anyone to confront the firefighters. Far from it. But that's what the Public Service Minister is doing. The teachers shouldn't have to defend themselves to nagging parents and the Government shouldn't be egging them on. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Deb hears from ETFO’s president and takes your calls Plus – Ontario’s Education Minister tables bill to fire school board trustee involved in Italy art trip GUESTS: David Mastin - ETFO President Steve Clark - Government House Leader of Ontario Paul Calandra – Ontario Education Minister

The Education Minister has been accused of not being across a crucial aspect of her portfolio - or deliberately misinforming people. Post Primary Teacher's Association President, Chris Abercrombie spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

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The Education Minister's confident successful primary school literacy results aren't just low hanging fruit. Results from the new phonics literacy programme show 58% of students are at or above expectations after 20 weeks. More than 40% of students exceeded expectations in Term 3 – more than double the first term. Erica Stanford says they're tracking where they hoped. But she told Mike Hosking this couldn't be achieved by just anyone and required a government who was prepared to follow the science. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Erica Stanford believes mandated structured literacy is turning reading and writing skills around. The Education Minister's revealed new data showing 58 percent of students are at or above phonics expectations after 20 weeks at school - up from 36 percent in Term One. The number exceeding expectations is more than double Term One's figure. Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says this data shows the Government's education plan is working. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's confidence New Zealand schools are turning a corner on literacy skills. The Education Minister says data shows 58 percent of new entrant students are at-or-above phonics expectations after 20 weeks at school - up from 36 percent in Term One. The number exceeding expectations is more than double Term One's figure. Erica Stanford says she wants 90 percent of kids to achieve curriculum level. "As teachers become more confident and capable with explicit teaching and the new curriculum and structured literacy, the results will get better and better and better...we see that overseas." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Monday, 13 October 2025, the last of the Israeli hostages are being released today in a momentous day for Gaza. Israel correspondent Alexander Cornwell speaks to Heather ahead of Donald Trump's arrival to Jerusalem. The Education Minister says "I told you so!" after literacy stats show the structured literacy approach she mandated across the country is already lifting reading rates for our youngest school kids. Heather reckons we need a fundamental change to local body elections after an abysmal turnout over the weekend. Plus, the Huddle debates literacy, local politics and longer hospital stays for new mums. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I love the fact that New Zealand Education Minister Erica Stanford and the Prime Minister presented improved reading stats to the nation yesterday. Erica Stanford was very quick to praise teachers for the much-improved results in phonics reading. She said this is an incredible improvement in reading scores in less than half a year and reflects the brilliant work teachers are doing, and it does. Teachers have had a difficult time with changes in curriculum and dealing with increasingly disruptive children and school closures during Covid – it has been a difficult time. But when given a challenge, and when given a mandate, and given the tools to help do it, they rose to the challenge and the results have been, in these very early stages, remarkable. There needed to be a turnaround. New Zealand's reading results have been declining since 2006 in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, which is done every five years, and just about every international test where we mark ourselves against other countries we have been on a downward spiral. Interestingly, educators, teachers, principals insisted that it's just tests. Our kids don't like tests, they don't like being compared, it's a very crude way to measure achievement. No, not really, it's not. It's an accurate assessment of where we were at. And where we were at was dismal. The results from this year look extremely promising. Data showed 58% of students were at or above expectations at their 20-week phonics check in Term 3. That's up from 36% in Term 1. So they were measured after Term 1 – the little five-year-olds were at or above expectations, 36% of them in Term 1, and that has moved to 58% in Term 3. In Term 3, 43% of students were classed as exceeding expectations, more than double the Term 1 rate. For Māori students in mainstream education, 47% of them required further support with phonics in Term 3. That is down from 62% of them needing support in Term 1. So to put it in another slightly more positive way, in Term 1 a quarter of Māori students were at or above expectations, by Term 3, that was 43%. So that's a significant difference. Education Minister Erica Stanford says this is only the beginning. “From next year, twice a year, every year in reading, writing and maths, there'll be a progress monitoring check-in. I do not call it a test. But we will be essentially assessing every child from year three to make sure that they're on track with their reading, writing and maths. And that includes higher level literacy like comprehension.” I have absolute faith that we'll see a lift in children's educational achievements under the new curriculum. Structured literacy, which involves explicitly teaching word identification, including through phonics, became mandatory in schools at the start of this year. Certainly it was used in many schools before this, but not necessarily by every teacher at every year level. It was very much hit and miss, and that was one of the things they talked about in the election campaign. They didn't want educational success to be by postcode because one principal did things one way and another principal did things another way. They wanted a standardized education for every child right across the country, and one that worked. Labour leader Chris Hipkins was quick to claim credit for the structured literacy program, telling reporters after the press conference yesterday the scheme had been underway under the previous Labour government. It was being rolled out, he said. We were in the early stages of rolling it out, but then we lost the election. Clearly, we believe in it, we developed it, the vast bulk of the work around structured literacy was done when Jan Tinetti was Associate Minister of Education and I was the Minister. Right. You had six years to make the changes, being generous, to look at the science and introduce a best practice for all of our Kiwi kids, but you didn't. You didn't. And as for the comment he made too, in a really churlish kind of look at me, what about us? He said, of course we'd be making more progress if teachers were in the classroom rather than on strike because the Government are offering them a real terms pay cut. Short memory former Education Minister. 2023 was a terrible year, absolutely terrible year for strike action by teachers. In March 2023, tens of thousands of primary, area, and secondary school teachers participated in an historic one-day walkout, but that show of strength didn't work. Despite the fact Labour is supposed to be the teachers' friend, teachers, primary and or secondary, went on strike for six days in 2023. And there were further rolling strikes and works to rule. So yeah, it would have been good to have them in the classroom in 2023 when you were Prime Minister, especially after the disruption of Covid. Ultimately though, what matters is our kids are back on track. Baby steps, but it's a very, very good beginning. For hundreds of years, a decent education was what gave you options. It didn't matter where you were born and what circumstances you were born, a good education gave you options. It emancipated you from material poverty, intellectual poverty, spiritual poverty. And the quality of New Zealand's education for all children, not just the children of the elite, was what set us apart from the rest of the world. We lost our way for a time. And we lost a whole cohort of young New Zealanders. But hopefully this is the beginning of giving New Zealand kids choices and opportunities, giving them the sort of future that they deserve. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How long is this Alberta teachers' strike going to last? What are the sticking points? Where is the government refusing to budge, and what are the terms both sides agree to? Will the government ultimately order teachers back to work? We ask Alberta's Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides (5:00) in this episode of Real Talk. NOTE: Our YouTube live stream experienced an interruption 45 minutes into this episode. You can catch the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, and you can always catch our audio live stream on the Mixlr audio app. APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/real-talk-ryan-jespersen/id1540709742 SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/03RyuWqhe4YBI7mS48VDBA REAL TALK on MIXLR: https://realtalkrj.mixlr.com/ 29:00 | Ryan reads some of the MANY emails we've received to talk@ryanjespersen.com  FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen  JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen  REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

David Seymour says the Government's winning because attendance is improving. The Associate Education Minister's putting $140 million towards improving attendance over four years, promising to reach twice the number of students. Extra support is going to 170 schools with chronic absence. Seymour told Mike Hosking when defining our long-term future, the thing that matters most is getting kids into class. He says throwing money at the problem helps, and this is a better use of taxpayer money to make sure children stay in schools. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's your latest ECR Newswatch bulletin from the team at East Coast Radio. Website

When the Post-Primary Teachers Association marked the roll at its annual conference in Christchurch today there was a notable absentee - Education Minister Erica Stanford. The excuse she gave for pulling out of a speech this afternoon didn't go down well in a room awash with talk of industrial action, scrapping NCEA, subject changes and teacher shortages. Keiller MacDuff reports.

There's a belief there's more that needs to be done to smooth immigration processes in New Zealand. The Government's revealed two new pathways for skilled migrants to secure Kiwi residency. One is for skilled work experience and another for trades and technicians. Immigration Minister Erica Stanford told Mike Hosking there's a lot more announcements to come, but they're often held up by IT changes. She says they're working on a start-up visa while more needs to be done in the RSE space, and there's a whole list of other things. Stanford's also standing by her decision to miss the PPTA's annual conference in Christchurch. The Education Minister had been scheduled to speak to the secondary teachers union yesterday for months but abruptly cancelled due to an 'unavoidable clash.' She told Hosking it was because the Prime Minister's office gave her a date for yesterday's skilled workers' announcement in Auckland. She says authorities also advised her it wasn't the best time to give a speech due to the ongoing pay bargaining. Stanford adds she is frequently meeting with the PPTA, and this is the first conference she's had to miss. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A much-needed boost to rural schools' infrastructure, which has been neglected for many years. The Education Minister's unveiled a $413 million package to get maintenance and improvement jobs at schools underway sooner. More than half is for improvements on all isolated, rural, or small schools. Rural Schools Leadership Association President Andrew King told Mike Hosking it will predominantly go towards basic infrastructure. He says in the past, rural schools haven't had work done simply because of the cost to get trades people out there. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's more funding for schools to do jobs like painting and fixing gutters as part of a $413-million-dollar package in accelerated Government investment. Education Minister Erica Stanford says the funding will enable more maintenance to be done these summer holidays. She says $58 million of new money will be available to schools as of now. "Every single school up and down the country is going to be getting a 50 percent top up on their school property maintenance grant." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greg Brady spoke to Paul Calandra, Education Minister and PC MPP for Markham—Stouffville about Ontario's stricter parking rules after deadly daycare crash cause confusion, raise accessibility concerns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Africa's future will be written by its girls and women — if they have the resources and rights to lead. Graça Machel calls for a generational shift in how girls' education and leadership are supported, while Françoise Moudouthe challenges donors and policymakers to back feminist movements with flexible, sustained funding. Satta Sheriff brings the voice of a new generation, connecting women's leadership to broader fights for climate justice, peace, and economic inclusion. This episode is full of hard truths about the barriers girls and women face, paired with inspiring examples of what happens when those barriers come down. Guests Graça Machel, women's and children's rights advocate; former freedom fighter and first Education Minister of Mozambique; co-founder of The Elders. Françoise Moudouthe, CEO of the African Women's Development Fund Satta Sheriff, Human Rights Activist & African Union Panel of the Future Member Background Materials Women's Rights in Review 30 years after Beijing, UN Women Futures Africa: Trends for Women by 2030, The African Women's Development Fund African Young Women B+25 Manifesto, African Union

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Kiwi students will soon be learning more about AI in the classroom, potentially as a specialist subject in year 13. It's part of a major curriculum shake-up which the Education Minister says will better prepare students for the future workforce. Professor of AI at Victoria University, Alistair Knott spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

The Education Minister says a lot of schools were already trying to teach some of the new curriculum subjects. A new list of study topics has been unveiled as part of a refresh of the national curriculum from 2028. It places greater emphasis on the STEM subjects and adds Civics, Politics and Philosophy, and Media and Journalism. Erica Stanford told Mike Hosking a lot of schools were trying their best to teach some of these subjects in the NCEA system. She says they were trying to cobble together credits from different subjects, to make topics like Civics, Philosophy, and Politics work. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My uplifting story of the week involves charter schools. Charter schools are the little idea that could. Or maybe they are the big game-changing idea that could. We heard this week of the first public school wanting to explore the charter route. It's in Northland and it's being driven by the realisation that what they currently do doesn't work for their kids. And that is the genesis of the charter school thinking. Remember, charter schools go back to a previous Government, before Labour took to them in 2017. So this isn't new. But the basic premise was one size does not fit all and a lot of kids may well benefit from different styles and approaches to learning. I have been a fan from day one. Not because charter schools are magic bullets, but rather the simple premise that what we have demonstrably doesn't work for everyone. You can't hide from the facts and the truth and our pass rates, our success rates, are shocking. The unions simply bleat for more resource. Even if it is a partial answer, it isn't close to being the whole answer and their myopic view that there can only be one way is a very large part of the overall handbrake that has prevented real change and advancement. The Northland school, I thought, gave excellent insight. They have good people, they work hard, but they are simply not getting the cut through, so they need to try something different. They didn't used to be “for” charter schools, but just their ability to accept change needs to be admired and encouraged. Chris Hipkins as Education Minister in 2017 killed them. Not because they weren't working, but because he is beholden to the unions and there was no way they were ever going to get a chance to prove them wrong. So what we have seen this time round is no shortage of demand for schools. In fact, more schools are demanding it than there is money allocated. We see the first public school, or at least the first public school prepared to admit they want to look at change, which leads surely to a growing sense charter schools might at last have their time. Some may well turn out to be brilliant, lives may well get changed and the recognition of a decent idea may well be widely accepted. It seems the momentum is on. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senior secondary school students will be able to learn about and use generative artificial intelligence in a range of subjects. The Government's unveiled a new list of subjects as part of a refresh of the national curriculum from 2028. It places greater emphasis on STEM subjects and adds civics, politics and philosophy, and media and journalism. Education Minister Erica Stanford says other countries have offered STEM-based classes to their students, but Kiwi learners aren't at the right level yet. "Now that we've got this whole reform programme going, we can actually look to the future and go - what does that look like?" LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DUP's Paul Givan talks to Nolan

Helen McEntee, Education Minister, speaks about the current state of negotiations with Fórsa Trade Union regarding the school secretaries and caretakers strike.

Greg Brady spoke with Rachel Chernos Lin, Councillor Ward 15 - Don Valley West about Toronto officials decry education minister's idea to eliminate school board trustees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OPINION: COA orders special audit against BARMM education minister | Aug. 30, 2025Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein #TheManilaTimes#KeepUpWithTheTimesSubscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein #TheManilaTimes#KeepUpWithTheTimesdv Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all. New Zealand: 7/10 We're the 3rd safest country in the world and about to outgrow Australia. How's that for openers? Horticulture NZ: 7/10 Their plan is to double export returns within 10 years. That's the sort of attitude that turns tides. More please. Sean O'Loughlin: 8/10 My hero of the week. He took Auckland Transport to court and won. Brains - 1. Arrogance - nil. Nicola vs Tory: 6/10 Who doesn't love a bitch slap? And who doesn't think Nicola has an excellent point? Principals: 4/10 Or at least the ones who wrote to the Education Minister asking for her to stop her reforms. In that letter is so much that's wrong with education – people overseeing failure and yet not wanting change. Putin: 3/10 You forgot that, didn't you? Where is the meeting? Where is the place? Where is the date? Did Trump get stiffed? LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A lack of surprise from the Education Minister over poor writing achievement in schools. New data shows only a quarter of Year 8 students achieved their curriculum writing level last year. The Government's launching a new digital tool for students sitting below the standard and introducing more professional development in literacy. Education Minister Erica Stanford told Mike Hosking the figures are the results of years of decline and a poor curriculum, which is now being changed. She says there's teaching practices where students have to guess words. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In an open discussion held by PPIA Victoria in Melbourne, former Indonesian Minister of Education and Culture, Anies Baswedan, said that teacher is the key to education in Indonesia. - Dalam diskusi terbuka yang diadakan oleh PPIA Victoria di Melbourne, mantan Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Indonesia, Anies Baswedan, mengatakan bahwa guru adalah kunci utama pendidikan di Indonesia.

A couple of weeks ago in our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party's Simon Court, we discussed multiple countries moving to formally recognise Palestinian Statehood, and what New Zealand's plans were in this regard. Last week, Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, said the country would carefully weigh its position over the next month in recognising the state of Palestine. During a debate in Parliament, the government's delay in recognising a Palestinian state, as opposed to other countries such as France, the UK, Canada, and Australia, led Green Party co-leader, Chlöe Swarbrick, to refer to the country as “outlier,” and called for the government MPs “with a spine” to “stand on the right side of history”. This led to her being ordered to leave Parliament by Speaker Gerry Brownlee, after refusing to apologise for her statement. As well as this, last week, Education Minister, Erica Stanford, announced cancelling the early-reading book At the Marae from its Ready to Read Phonics Plus series.  The government's reasoning for this is through “mixed” evidence suggesting that learning both English and te reo Māori for young learners could confuse them. The move has been widely criticised by linguists, academics, and educators, for being “an act of racism” and “white supremacy”. For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party's Simon Court, Producer Castor spoke to Simon about both these topics, starting with recognising a Palestinian state. Find out more about the Māori words which are a part of the official Oxford English Dictionary here

Following on from our chat with Simon Court, Thursday Wire Host, Caeden, spoke to Margaret Mutu - a Māori Studies Professor at the University of Auckland, who has a PhD in linguistics, about Education Minister, Erica Stanford's announcement, that the early-reading book At the Marae from the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series, will be canned. The ministry told RNZ that At the Marae, unlike other books in the series, the book uses six kupu Māori, could result in challenges for young learners.  however, Officials have advised the ministry that there was “limited” research regarding the effect kupu Māori had in early-reading books. Caeden spoke to Mutu about this, and the positives of raising tamariki with both English and te reo Māori

Education Minister Erica Stanford has been accused of overstepping the mark by excluding most Māori words from future books in a series for five year olds. An Education Ministry document shows Stanford made the decision in October last year because she was worried Māori words, apart from characters' names, would confuse learner readers using the ministry's Ready to Read Phonics Plus series. Schools did not know about the edict until RNZ broke the news today. Education correspondent John Gerritsen reports.

A Māori educator says he's angry the Education Minister is blaming possible confusion over pronunciation for excluding most Māori words from future books in a series for five-year-olds learning to read. Wellington kura kaupapa tumuaki and joint national chair of the national Kura Kaupapa Māori movement Rawiri Wright spoke to Corin Dann.

The Education Minister Erica Stanford has banned nearly all Māori words from new additions to a series of books used to teach five-year-olds to read. Education correspondent John Gerritsen spoke to Corin Dann.

The Minister of Education talks to Susie about her proposal to remove NCEA, and replace it with new qualifications.