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Erica Stanford insists her curriculum reform adds sunlight and accountability to the sector.

In a pre-Budget announcement, the Education Minister has announced $131 million to help improve students' reading, writing, and maths.

It'll also include more professional development for teachers and school leaders in those areas.

Stanford told Mike Hosking New Zealand's been in a black hole for some time.

She says students aren't proficient in basic timetables, facts, or reading until they get to high school, and are struggling.

She says we've been in the grip of a liberal education experiment that states assessing young people is bad for their mental health – which is ridiculous.

Also in the announcement was a pledge to give schools more maths and literacy resources, and 36 extra maths intervention teachers.

Stanford told Hosking more teachers are added every Budget, and she'd fund more if she could.

She says they'll take small groups struggling with maths out of classes to get them where they need to be, and it's never been done before.

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