NZ gov't launches education campaign on standards

The New Zealand government has launched a publicity campaign to educate parents about the new national standards, saying people are confused about the changes.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has written to 350,000 homes as part of a 200,000 NZ dollars (140,000) campaign to explain the government's national standards for reading and writing, Radio New Zealand reported on Tuesday.

An expert committee will be set up to advise on any problems that occur during implementation.

Key said on Tuesday all of National Party's MPs would also begin a round of public meetings to explain the policy, which aims to measure year one to eight pupils' literacy levels against a set of national benchmarks.

Some schools have threatened to boycott the standards, while others said they should have had a trial run first.

Key said some unions, principals and teachers were resistant to change, but would have to get used to the idea that national standards were now a legal obligation.

Key said about 30 percent of teachers needed to lift their game.

"We demand that schools and teachers improve in all areas and I make no apology of that," Key said.

The campaign comes as hundreds of thousands of primary and intermediate pupils - who will be subjected to the standards - return to school.