Kaye Nikki: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Kaye Nikki: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 14 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4339. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) 
: 
 I am very pleased to speak on the Appropriations (2012/13 Estimates) Bill. I want to acknowledge the Minister of Education Hekia Parata because I think she has a plan for education in this country unlike the Opposition. 
I want to start by talking about the increased investment in education. Under our Government this is the fourth successive Budget whereby we have increased education funding. We are now spending $9.6 billion in this country; $500 million more in the last Budget. Can I also say that I think a very clear ideological point has been made by the Opposition today. Today the Opposition has said that basically parents have no role in students’ learning but every single night when parents read to their children when they get home they are involved in the learning pathway. When you look at this Budget and when you look at the initiatives that we have put forward—whether it is national standards and providing greater data to parents whether it is greater accountability and choice within our education system—you will see that we believe on this side of the House that it is not OK that one in five children leave our education system not being able to read and write properly. What we are focused on is accepting that there are some amazing teachers and principals in this country but the literacy rate is not an acceptable standard for this country. That is why you have seen in this Budget firstly a massive increase in what we are spending and secondly some targeted initiatives which are focused on those children and I want to talk about a couple of those. 
The first thing is that when it comes to early childhood education we are seeing a massive funding increase—a 34 percent increase since 2008. That is huge and it is particularly focused on Maori and Pasifika kids. We have seen $47 million in targeted initiatives to ensure that Maori and Pasifika kids are not on the back foot when they start out in our education system. We have also put forward the initiative of partnership schools. What that is about is saying that for some students a different model may work. We have seen huge interest from iwi and from Pasifika organisations and I want to give people an example of that. At my select committee the Education and Science Committee we currently have an inquiry into Pacific languages. I want members opposite to think about this for a moment. There are many Pasifika students who have barriers to our education system in the area of language. I want members opposite to think about certain schools having a system where some of those teachers or some of the other people who come into those schools have a speciality in language and whether that would actually help a number of Pasifika students. So from my perspective this is about greater choice and about providing for some of those most disadvantaged students another option. 
The other big aspect of our education plan is lifting achievement. What we are saying on this side of the House is that the status quo is not acceptable. That is why we have implemented national standards because again we believe that parents have a right to certain data about how their children are doing so that they can be involved in a student’s pathway in terms of their learning. So there is a philosophical and an ideological difference between members on the opposite side and our members. We do value the role of teachers and principals in this country but we also believe that parents have a key role to play in learning. That is why when we have put forward national standards we have actually said: “Look we’re not interested in league tables but we are interested in providing good data to parents about how their students are doing.” We also believe that the other aspect of our education plan is a 21st century education system. That is why we have put $1.5 billion into ultra-fast broadband. That is why as part of the mixed-ownership model that has been opposed by members opposite we are putting a billion dollars into modernising schools. 
So what you can see here on this side of the Chamber is a very clear education plan that has increased investment in education—$500 million in this Budget—that has greater transparency and accountability through national standards and that has targeted initiatives to particularly vulnerable students whether it is the $47 million in terms of early childhood education whether it is partnership schools whether it is ensuring that we actually have decent data about where these kids—some of these kids who are failing—are or whether it is the Youth Guarantee places that we have put forward. We have been very focused on saying that although Pakeha kids second in the world for Maori and Pasifika kids I think it is 33rd and 44th respectively and we cannot have a situation where the status quo remains. Members opposite have demonstrated they are living in a 1950s world where they believe that on an ideological basis teachers are the only people who can be involved in learning. We do not believe that and that is reflected in an increased budget targeted initiatives for some of our most vulnerable and increased transparency—