17142 (2026). Hon Ginny Andersen to the Minister of Education

17142 (2026). Hon Ginny Andersen to the Minister of Education: What was the specialist knowledge that Learning First possessed that resulted in that company being engaged to provide advice to support the development of the strengthened national curriculum and why was this specialist knowledge important?

Hon Erica Stanford: I am advised by the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) that Learning First is widely regarded internationally as an expert in curriculum design and benchmarking. Learning First works with curriculum authorities in several jurisdictions, with proven research on how to connect curriculum development and implementation to other policies for meaningful change in classrooms. The Ministry’s Curriculum Assessment and Change Programme (CACP) sought an independent and international perspective to understand how our curriculum measures against global standards, and to identify benchmark international curricula with knowledge-rich content for each learning area by year, to serve as a base for comparison and improvement. The support provided helped in informing key phases of curriculum development and the research-driven approach to deliver a knowledge rich curriculum.