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. The downward trend is clear, in both our national monitoring data and international tests like PISA. We have an appalling truancy problem, and our teachers are unsupported and undervalued.

In this week’s podcast, Oliver Hartwich and Michael Johnston discuss the Initiative’s education manifesto Save our Schools: Solutions for New Zealand’s Education Crisis. This manifesto draws on the body of research compiled at The New Zealand Initiative over the past decade to bring together a coherent plan to improve our education system, and to restore it to a place of international excellence.