2 days ago
Watch: Minister Erica Stanford makes education announcement
Education Minister Erica Stanford has announced that the government will not build any new open-plan classrooms.
She said all new classrooms would be designed in a flexible way to ensure better student outcomes.
Stanford said she had received overwhelming feedback from schools that open-plan classrooms were not meeting the needs of students.
"While open-plan designs were originally intended to foster collaboration, they have often created challenges for schools, particularly around noise and managing student behaviour," she said.
In many cases, open-plan classrooms reduced rather than enhanced flexibility, she said.
All new classrooms would be built using standard designs that prioritised flexibility over open-plan layouts, she said.
Stanford said glass sliding doors could be used so that classes "could be open when classes collaborate but can also close for focused learning".
... More to come
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
