PM’s language policy will shake up NZ education system

New Zealand’s universities will need to overhaul teacher-training courses to meet the demands of a $160-million government policy that aims to teach more languages in primary schools, an Auckland academic says.

Auckland University of Technology’s head of language and culture, Sharon Harvey, says the policy will “completely transform” language education in New Zealand. 

Prime minister Bill English announced the initiative as part of a $379m election policy package for primary and secondary school education. He said that if the country wanted its young people “to succeed on the world stage, from the bottom of the globe, they need to be good cross-cultural communicators.”