If nothing was done the cost to society would be astronomical , harming people s ability to distinguish facts from lies and fuelling irrational beliefs such as the anti-vax movement, Duggan said. With the power of social media now it s so easy for people to put semi-truths or false truths out there. And if we have lost the ability to be a little bit cynical and to question things then we re in deep trouble.
Duggan said she did not know why the MoE was not doing more to stop the decline.
Association of Primary Science Educators national coordinator Sandy Jackson said she would love to see science getting the attention and resources now going into maths.
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The Principals Federation says achievement in maths and science in particular should be ringing alarm bells and schools need more direction on what they should be teaching and the best ways to teach it.
In a letter to the secretary for education, Iona Holsted, the federation s president, Perry Rush, said New Zealand s falling scores had not provoked an urgent response and the lack of thought leadership was a serious weakness.
Holsted responded with a letter that said the Ministry of Education (MOE) was already working on the problems the federation raised and schools already had the ability, and the funding for teacher training, to change how they taught.