Simmonds Penny; Tuiono Teanau; Tinetti JanPENNY SIMMONDS (National—Invercargill): The Minister is expecting the early childhood education sector to give feedback within three weeks without having access to the pay parity working group calculator and therefore without being able to work out the actual figures for their individual centres. How does the Minister see that that's going to be reasonable consultation for the sector?CHRIS BAILLIE (ACT): Thank you Mr Chair and thank you Minister. I just wonder if we could have just a brief update on how you think the curriculum refresh is going and maybe what the cost is to date the projected cost by the time it has been fully rolled out and how many fulltimeequivalent staff are working on the refresh and how long have they been working on it?TEANAU TUIONO (Green): Thank you Mr Chair. This question is around our kura kaupapa and our wharekura. I do want to acknowledge the pay bump within kōhanga reo—that was very significant for many of our teachers so I do want to acknowledge the work done there. There have been calls within kura kaupapa for greater autonomy. I wonder if the Minister of Education has heard of or has any reflections of a Harvard report which points to that when you give indigenous peoples more autonomy rangatiratanga that they do better that when we have control over our own resources and our own destinies—if I can put it that way—that they do better. This is what kura kaupapa are calling for in terms of the latest Waitangi Tribunal hearings that are happening at the moment. What is the Minister doing to ensure that greater autonomy for our kura kaupapa our kura our iwi and our wharekura?Hon JAN TINETTI (Minister of Education): I'll start there because again there's not a lot I can say because it is in front of the tribunal at the moment but what I can say is that certainly the kōhanga reo board worked very closely with the Ministry of Education to reach their aspirations for their mokopuna and tamariki. I met a kaiako from a kōhanga reo in the Waikato on Saturday night who was absolutely fizzing about the pay increase that she was going to get. Again it goes back to the pay parity conversation that we've just had before of the difference that it's not only going to make in her life but her four tamariki as well. It's going to change their outcomes and what they're doing. So I'm so excited about that piece of work and I'm so excited about the changes that it's going to make in their lives. As far as kura kaupapa I will let that work through in the tribunal but I am a huge advocate of Māori medium and huge advocate for our young people to go through that pathway because I've seen firsthand the difference that it makes to those young people.The curriculum refresh: I haven't got the numbers—and I will get them—of staffing involved there but the spend to date up to 2022-23 across all costs just from 2022-23 to 31 March is $5825 558 that I've got in front of me. If that's not quite correct I will correct that with you—I'll get that from my officials at the back—but I will say that it is progressing really well. While it's been a very stressful time for our teachers and particularly stressful there is a lot of excitement about the changes that the curriculum is making and the refreshes it is making to them in their settings and what it will mean for their understanding of how to teach curriculum. You like me will know that we do have a world-leading curriculum in this country but it has been one that sometimes has meant inconsistency across the country. What teachers are very excited about in this refresh is that it's giving them a clearer idea of what to teach and when to teach it. Teachers throughout teachers that I've interacted with over the years but even new people that I'm interacting with out in schools are saying it will make a difference.However I was very aware of the work pressures that our teaching workforce are under which is why I've extended out the year now for it to be gazetted and mandated that they have to be teaching the new curriculum refresh apart from literacy and mathematics. We know that we have to get that right and so we have not changed the time lines around that all but it gives our schools another year to get it implemented to get it right which they really do appreciate.I also say and the member might appreciate this having come out of the secondary system that my professional advisory group when I first took over the NCEA change programme were very adamant that we had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get the curriculum in front of the NCEA programme. We know that NCEA has been driving the curriculum in those senior areas of the school and the people that are on my professional advisory group are principals and teachers and highly regarded teachers who said it would be really good for the curriculum to be driving the teaching and learning rather than the assessment to be driving the teaching and learning. So that is one of the other reasons why I looked to extend that date out at the other end so that we have that opportunity to try and get the two aligned better than what they are currently.