Hipkins Chris: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHipkins Chris: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 05 May 2016. Volume:713;Page:10832. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]7.CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka) to the Minister of Education: Does she agree with Hon Bill English that a lot of Kiwis are “pretty damned hopeless” and “they can’t read and write properly”; if so does she accept any responsibility as Minister of Education?Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. I think the House is better served by the Deputy Prime Minister’s full quote with which I do agree and it was: “The dairy industry has rightly said that a lot of the Kiwis who are turning up are pretty damned hopeless. They won’t show up. You can’t rely on them and that is one of the reasons the immigration is a bit permissive to fill the gap. But we can’t leave that problem unsolved which is in the long run—we can’t leave that problem unsolved. That is a cohort of Kiwis that now can’t get a license because they can’t read and write properly and don’t look to be employable—you know basically young males. And if we don’t work together to get them working then they’ll be with us a long time.” In regard to the second part I do accept—Hon Ruth Dyson: How about the question? Give it a passing run.Hon HEKIA PARATA: Perhaps I will finish the question. I do accept—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order!Hon HEKIA PARATA: Perhaps I will finish answering—Mr SPEAKER: Order!Hon HEKIA PARATA: Oh I beg your pardon.Mr SPEAKER: I just require a little more cooperation from this side from one particular member. The answer was long but it was completing a quote to give justification to the answer so I allowed that. There were two parts to the question and the member who asked the question deserves a response to the second part.Hon HEKIA PARATA: Thank you Mr Speaker. In regard to the second part I do accept responsibility for my part as Minister of Education but we all have a role to play—including the member—in encouraging educational success in all our young people.Chris Hipkins: When Bill English claimed that a lot of Kiwis cannot read and write properly was he basing that claim on a recent Tertiary Education Commission study that found that up to half the students meeting National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) literacy and numeracy requirements are not functionally literate or numerate; if not what was he basing it on?Hon HEKIA PARATA: Well I am not responsible for what was in the mind of the Deputy Prime Minister but I would hazard a guess that he was basing it on the education system when it was run under that party’s Government.Chris Hipkins: While we are on that topic could Bill English have been basing his claim on the fact that although NCEA achievement rates for Māori and Pasifika students have shown modest increases in the past 5 years the number of New Zealand European students gaining NCEA has fallen across the board with an 11 percent drop in the number meeting minimum university entrance standards?Hon HEKIA PARATA: The member is either playing fast and loose with the statistics or just does not understand them. First of all I do not know how 30 percent and 32 percent increases are modestin his world but Māori and Pasifika have gone from 43 percent under that Government to 72 percent. Pasifika have gone from 51 percent to 79 percent under this Government and students overall including New Zealand Pākehā have gone to 84.4 percent. It is not possible that there has been a drop in terms of NCEA. In terms of university entrance yes we took the decision to raise the standard of university entrance to ensure that when young people go to university they are able to complete the degree. That is a service that we have performed and we were prepared to do it and we will continue to raise the quality of education of all New Zealanders.Chris Hipkins: I seek leave to table a memorandum to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority board from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority staff dated 23 February 2016 which has the statistics I referred to showing a drop for New Zealand European students.Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that particular New Zealand Qualifications Authority board report. Is there any objection? There is none. It can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Chris Hipkins: Why should parents have confidence in this Government’s management of the education system when the Deputy Prime Minister describes Kiwi kids as “pretty damned hopeless” while at the same time in his role as Minister of Finance he has presided over funding cuts that have seen schools spending less per student in real terms than they were spending when National took office?Hon HEKIA PARATA: Parents should have confidence because they are not having to be barraged with the nonsense coming from the Opposition and instead are getting transparent data that is used appropriately in its context that is not misused or misleading and that is available to them every day in real time at every school.Chris Hipkins: Why does this Government have such low expectations for the 64000 young New Zealanders under the age of 25 who are unemployed choosing to label them as “pretty damned hopeless” as Bill English did rather than training them and educating them to do the jobs that are available?Hon HEKIA PARATA: Before I came to the House at 2 o’clock I was addressing a hui of about 60 workers who are focused on an initiative called Count Me In. Their job is to go out into the country and find the kids who have disengaged from education and reconnect them to education. In Gisborne we are running a pilot for year 9 kids who are likely to fall by the wayside because their siblings have and we are ensuring they get a better education. Across the country through trades academies through vocational pathways and through better relationships with industry business and employers we are identifying the skill sets that young people need to have to make them more employable—the very kids who were the subject—Mr SPEAKER: Order! Bring the answer to a conclusion.Hon HEKIA PARATA: —I will just finish—of the dairy industry’s concern. We are now making it possible for driver licences to achieve credits at school so more kids can drive. Thank you.Chris Hipkins: Why is this Government so out of touch with the reality of underfunding that schools face every day overlooks declining student achievement and labels the 64000 young New Zealanders who are unemployed as “pretty damned hopeless” rather than educating them and training them to meet some of the most critical skills shortages New Zealand has ever seen?Hon HEKIA PARATA: It is actually quite hard—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I want to hear the answer.Hon HEKIA PARATA: It is actually quite difficult to find anything in that rant that has a smidgen of truth to it that allows me to respond but I am going to have a go. This Government has very high expectations for all New Zealanders—not for some as occurred under that administration but for all New Zealanders at every stage of their education. That is why we introduced national standards so that we would know every year how well kids were or were not doing. That is why we have introduced Better Public Services targets because we are prepared to be transparent and hold ourselves accountable. That is why we have seen a 31 percent increase in Vote Education while student numbers have gone up 4 percent.Mr SPEAKER: Order!David Seymour: Was the Minister aware that the year 13 Māori students at the partnership school Te Kura Hourua o Whangarei Terenga Parāoa achieved a 100 percent pass rate for university entrance last year and that Chris Hipkins wants to close that school? [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Hon Hekia Parata—either of those two supplementary questions.Hon HEKIA PARATA: I was aware and it would appear the member was too. She wants to join in the congratulations to those young people. I would like to commend kura hourua and the parliamentary under-secretary for his support and applause of success—something foreign to the member obviously but success for young people—Mr SPEAKER: Order!Hon Damien O’Connor: Why will the Minister not fund alternative education properly to employ qualified teachers to help our most needy students so they do not become to quote Bill English“pretty damned hopeless” or does she agree with education expert Judy Bruce who said: “This is the Ministry of Education’s dirty little secret.”?Hon HEKIA PARATA: Again I am sorry I am not aware of that particular expert whom the member is quoting—Hon Damien O’Connor: Get on top of your portfolio.Hon HEKIA PARATA: Did the member want an answer? Alternative education is fully funded. It is currently under review because the outcomes from there are not as good as other parts that we are investing in and we want to invest in success. So the member can be assured that it is very much on my agenda.Hon Damien O’Connor: I seek leave to table a report indicating that alternative education students are underfunded by—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I need the source of the report and the date.Hon Damien O’Connor: It is a press statement.Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat immediately. I used to think the member was better than that.