5. Question No. 5—EducationGREG FLEMING (National—Maungakiekie) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 5—Education5. GREG FLEMING (National—Maungakiekie) to the Minister of Education: What recent announcements has she made on improving education outcomes for New Zealand children?Hon ERICA STANFORD (Minister of Education): I recently announced $67 million of investment from Budget '24 for structured literacy which will transform the way New Zealand children learn to read—improving student achievement closing the equity gap and setting up Kiwi kids for success. This money will also ensure that schools and teachers have the resources and support they need to teach Kiwi kids to read whether it be in English or in te reo Māori. Reading is fundamental to help children to succeed in education and in life. If we improve our education outcomes then we build a brighter future for our kids for our society as a whole and a stronger economy.Greg Fleming: What will her recent announcements mean for students?Hon ERICA STANFORD: We are unashamedly investing in the front line of education to improve outcomes for students. Along with that $67 million to improve student achievement we also have invested $53 million to increase the supply of our teachers. The teachers are our greatest asset in education and we need to invest in recruitment training and retraining. We have introduced an hour a day of reading writing and maths; we are implementing a knowledge-rich curriculum; we've removed the distraction of cell phones for the whole of school day; we've set an ambitious target around attendance and achievement. Every single one of these announcements is focused on raising achievement and closing the equity gap so that our tamariki can live the lives that they want.Greg Fleming: What reports has she seen that are supporting her work programme announcements?Hon ERICA STANFORD: Last week the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research published a report which showed that graduate primary school teachers have been let down by the system and lack basic qualifications in science and mathematics. It found a quarter of teachers failed to meet the required benchmark to pass NCEA level 1 maths and more than half failed to pass level 1 science—under the previous Government's watch. Many chose not to pursue maths and science beyond level 1 but those who do are more likely to fail than pass. The correlation between these statistics and outcomes for our students are deeply concerning because only 42 percent of year 8 students are at curriculum for maths and only 20 percent are at curriculum for science. There is a moral imperative to break this cycle. This is why I have announced that we are strengthening the curriculum investing in teacher professional development and taking the first steps to improve teacher training.Greg Fleming: How will savings be reinvested in education?Hon ERICA STANFORD: Around $429 million in savings will be realised in education over the next four years and every single dollar of these savings will be reinvested into the front line. Some of these reinvestments have already been announced such as the increased funding for period products so students don't miss out at school. We've also ensured that school lunches will continue while delivering a more efficient programme and extending it to 10000 Kiwi kids in early childhood. The savings we have made will be dwarfed by the significant investments that we will deliver in Budget '24 tomorrow. We are a Government that is focused on delivering for Kiwi kids and I look forward to the announcements from the Minister of Finance tomorrow.