by PETER GRACE
Resigning primary school principal Ken McKay foresees a dramatic change in education as a result of increasing paperwork and workload.
“Assessment is huge,” Mr McKay told NZ Catholic on the day of his farewell from Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School in Howick. “Paperwork is huge. And that’s only happened in
the last 20 to 30 years, but it’s extremely obvious now.”
He thinks there are two possible steps for primary school education if present trends continue.
“If the expectations of paper and assessments per child continue, then the only options I see is they give staff more non-contact time, or otherwise they lengthen the school day.
“That’s how I see education going. I can’t see how people can continue to work in this situation, let alone have more pushed on them.”
In his comments the day before the general election, Mr McKay said he had a feeling that if National got another term in government, “there will be more assessment type gathering
data. And because it’s software-based … the point is someone has got to put it [data] in, and who’s going to do it?
“The classroom teacher.”
Mr McKay is leaving because of ill health. He said he was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, with the specialist giving him another five or six years to live.
Stress and mental fatigue is huge, he said. And he didn’t think he was pulling his weight, so he decided to resign.
“I haven’t retired. I have resigned. Because if I can manage with drugs, I am hoping to keep on working. But to run a school on a day to day basis and be responsible — I don’t believe I
am physically and mentally fit enough to do that any more.”
But he is positive about life, about today, about work, about career, he said. “I have never had a hill, much less a mountain, that I couldn’t climb.”
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