Financial Review Debate — Ministry of Education

I am very pleased to speak on this financial review. Can I start off by acknowledging the previous chair of the Education and Science Committee, Allan Peachey. He was someone who had a huge respect in this House, and I think all members would acknowledge the huge contribution he made to our country in terms of education. Can I acknowledge the Hon Hekia Parata, our Minister of Education, and the fantastic job that she is doing for us and this Government, and the Hon Anne Tolley, who also did an outstanding job.

Many of us in the National Party believe in equality of opportunity, not outcome. For many of us we will fight to the death in this Parliament to ensure that some of our most disadvantaged children get the best opportunities in life. A large part of that is access to good quality education. What we are very proud of in this Parliament is that not only have we raised standards but also we have focused on ensuring that we resource our education system properly. When it comes to the Budget we are very proud that the increases we have seen have been in both health and education.

If we look at some of our achievements, we have managed to fund 18 new schools, we have managed to fund 400 school buildings, we have employed 1,600 more teachers, and we have focused 50 education experts and $36 million to target those children who are falling behind. We know, in this House, that, actually, this country has some of the most outstanding educators in the world, but we also know that there are a group of children who are not doing so well. So everything that we do, whether it is better resources, which we have provided in the last 3½ years, or whether it is national standards, is about ensuring that those kids who are falling behind get the best start in life that they can. We have also been very focused on programmes like the Youth Guarantee. We know that some children in New Zealand do not suit a classroom environment. We are focused in ensuring that those kids do not drop out of school. The Youth Guarantee offers free study at selected private training establishments and polytechnics and institutes of technology. We have seen 12,500 Youth Guarantee places for 16 and 17-year-olds; that will happen by 2014.

I want to talk about something that I am very passionate about and that is close to my heart, which is ensuring that New Zealand schoolkids can lead the world in digital literacy. When you look at the last 3½ years, we have committed an extraordinary amount of money through the ultra-fast broadband fund, $1.5 billion, to make sure that our kids can lead the world in digital literacy. As many members will be aware, there is an inquiry in front of our Parliament to ensure that kids across New Zealand, whatever school they may be in, have equality of access to technology.

We have also focused on service academies—that is, military-style programmes for years 12 and 13, which are run at schools with the Defence Force. We have already opened eight new academies for over 800 students, with 13 more opening in 2012.

We have been absolutely focused as well on ensuring that rural kids get a good education. That has been partly through the Ultra-fast Broadband Initiative and Rural Broadband Initiative. We have committed that over 97 percent of our schools will have ultra-fast broadband access by 2015. The Rural Broadband Initiative will put $300 million into this. I am very proud to be part of a Government that is not only providing extra and additional resources—and we have seen that through the new schools that we have opened, we have seen that through the many school buildings that we have built, and we are seeing that through the investment that we are making in new technology—but is also saying that we are unashamedly focused on raising standards for our most disadvantaged children.

Can I acknowledge that this does not just happen. It is not just about money; it is not just about good policy. It is also about leadership. Those members of the House who look at their schools and see that some of their schools are failing know how important leadership and governance is. Can I say that I am very proud to be part of an education team led by the Hon Hekia Parata, who has made some hard calls in the last period that she has been in there. She is not afraid to say that this Government has standards, and that this Government will not let children be left behind. We have seen some of those hard decisions, and I am sure there will be more challenges that we will have in this area. But what we are very clear on, on this side of the House, is that when it comes to future Budgets, we are absolutely focused on ensuring that education is a priority, but we are also focused on ensuring that we get good value for money. We are also focused on the fact that we understand—

I rise to speak to the 2010-11 financial review of the Ministry of Education. I first would like to note that it is New Zealand Sign Language Week, and I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the many teachers who will use this week to introduce New Zealand Sign Language into the classroom, and thereby introduce our children to this beautiful visual language, which is the third official language of New Zealand.

We all know and are agreed upon the importance of investing in education for our children. We know that this means for children with a disability providing appropriate early intervention and adaptive technology so that they do not fall behind their peers. So I am very concerned that the Ministry of Education has changed its policy and is now choosing not to fund remote microphone hearing aids for children with the hearing impairment called auditory processing disorder, unless they are also receiving special education support. What this means in practice is that these children have to have another recognised disability, such as autism, or to have developed a serious learning need. I consider this policy to be both unfair and illogical.

Auditory processing disorder is a hearing impairment where children are unable to process and understand sound in the same way as others, despite the fact that they may pass conventional hearing tests. It is linked to glue ear, which is a condition linked to poor housing and poverty, and it affects more boys than girls. It also is higher amongst Māori and Pacific Island children—the very children who are often falling behind in classroom situations. I consider the decision to cut funding to be unfair to the child with auditory processing disorder, who will be struggling to understand and follow classroom instructions and is likely to be on the path of underachievement. It is unfair to parents, who have to choose between watching their child fall behind in the classroom or paying privately for the remote microphone hearing aids themselves, assuming that they have the ability to do so. It is unfair to teachers and other children in the classroom, because children with remote processing disorder are unable to follow what is happening in the classroom to the same extent as their peers, and will therefore often have behavioural problems, causing disruption in the classroom. So I consider this decision to cut the funding to be wrong and short-sighted.

It also makes it impossible for schools to meet their obligation to provide an appropriate learning environment for these children, as they are required to do by the National Education Guidelines. Children with auditory processing disorder should not have to be failing the system before they receive the support and the technology that they are entitled to. So although I applaud the ministry for saying that it wants to focus on children who are underachieving, it also needs to make sure that children with a disability are given the support they need before they are completely failing in the school system, and that, I hope, will be addressed. Thank you.

Kia ora tātou, tēnā tātou te Whare, e whakawhāiti nei i tēnei ahiahi. First of all I would like to acknowledge my predecessor, the Hon Anne Tolley, for her clear focus and tenacity over the last 3 years and also, in particular, over the year in review. She led a number of changes that we now need to progress and embed in the system, and of course those include not only national standards at the primary school level but also trades training academies and a number of other initiatives that have been referred to.

I also want to acknowledge the former Secretary for Education Karen Sewell, who during this period retired from a very long and distinguished service of contribution to the education sector, not only as a teacher and principal but also distinguishing herself having been the head of every sector agency: the Education Review Office, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, and the Ministry of Education. So I would like to thank her.

I want to acknowledge our colleague the former chair of the Education and Science Committee Allan Peachey, and his passing, and I want to thank him at this time for the contribution he made. In so doing I would like to welcome the new Secretary for Education, Lesley Longstone, who joins us with a considerable and significantly successful career from the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. She brings to New Zealand that experience, from which we can benefit. One of the particular points that she made during the select committee review of education was that, with a fresh eye, she has observed that although many significant changes and valuable contributions have been made as a result of the education reform that we all know as Tomorrow’s Schools, one of the changes that she wishes to effect, and which I completely agree with her on, is that the ministry needs to be repositioned away from administering the system and into one of leadership—one of leadership that focuses on the best evidence that tells us what it is we should be doing in order to raise achievement in New Zealand.

I would like to acknowledge the work of our new chair of the select committee, Nikki Kaye, who has already contributed to this debate, and who brings a fresh and ebullient approach to the education arena and to her role as chair. She has already focused on, as she indicated in her speech, digital learning and learning environments for the 21st century. We have as a vision in education that we shall equip our young people to be able to successfully navigate society and the economy of the 21st century. Implicit in that, and important to that, is that they are able to use all of the social media tools that are available to us. Nikki’s stewardship of the select committee will, I am sure, be able to guide us successfully through those new and foreign waters, for some, but of course they are ones that I share confidence in with her.

We have an education system that is able to deliver a world-class education to the vast majority of our students. That is a great credit to them, to their families, and to the education profession, which delivers that year on year. Last week I had the great pleasure to share with the Governor-General, the Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae, at Government House the celebration of our top scholars. These young people from across New Zealand and from schools across all deciles have topped the academic excellence in our schools. I want to make particular mention of the fact that—

💬 Andrew Little: How many were from charter schools?

Well, if that member kept up, he would know we have not yet introduced charter schools, so that would be a little impossible to be able to yet celebrate. We look forward to that, but if we could instead focus on the significant numbers of Christchurch students who were top scholars. Despite all the challenges that they were beset with over the last 12 to 18 months, their level and quality of education and their own aptitude and application were reflected in their success at the highest level, and I want to, yet again, congratulate them.

💬 Andrew Little: Which just goes to show you don’t need charter schools.

However, we also have challenges in our system, if the member cared to listen, for a cohort of students who are underserved by the system. Too many of those are Māori and Pasifika, come from low socio-economic homes, and/or have special education needs. We are particularly focused, using the work of the past year and the successes of the past year, on how we can raise achievement for all New Zealand students, and that will be done by the thing that we know best, which is quality teaching and professional leadership. Thank you.

Report noted.

Ministry of Social Development