Parata Hekia: Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Parata Hekia: Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
[Volume:651;Page:581] 
HEKIA PARATA (National) 
: 
 Tena koe tena koutou huri noa i te Whare i tenei po. I rise to support the Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill and I absolutely commend this bill to the House and to every member who purports to be in support of high-level education for all our students. This is outstanding legislation because it integrates all the players involved in the learning outcomes that students experience. Yes teachers are important; in fact they are critical and research supports that. But they are not the only part of the education system that needs to be involved. Parents need to have an opportunity to be involved. Parents need to understand how well their child is doing in an absolute sense as well as relative to children who are the same age as them in their school and across the country. 
The previous speaker Kelvin Davis has just given an outstanding example of a school that would respond extremely well to the system we are talking about. Regrettably according to the Education Review Office report of 2007 fewer than half the schools were reporting the kinds of achievements we are looking for. 
So yes we do need a systematic approach because we need to target which children require what kind of learning investment so they can get the support and the resources they need to achieve the best possible educational outcomes. Through this system teachers will understand better. I am astonished at what I keep hearing from that side of the House as if teaching and learning were the only formula to learning outcomes. Assessment is part of teaching and learning. 
Hon Chris Carter 
: It’s what you do with it. 
HEKIA PARATA 
: That is exactly the question. Unless teachers understand what the learning experience of the child is by assessment they are basically guessing at what they should do next in order to assist that student. We want to take guessing out of the game. We want to give every child in New Zealand the opportunity to be successful. Like the previous member in my maiden speech the other day I talked about the pursuit of quality citizenship and the importance of education in that pursuit. 
This bill ties together all the elements that will make it possible for students to be successful. It helps teachers to focus on what teaching and learning they should be doing; it helps parents to understand how well their child is doing; it helps schools at a school-wide level to understand where they need to be targeting their resources; and it helps the Government to understand where investments need to be made across the country in order to lift the level of achievement for all New Zealanders rather than just talk about it. As Dr Sharples was trying to point out fundamentally Te Kotahitanga respects the student. It attempts to call students by their names rather than saying “Rakaitemania have you got a nickname?” because they are not capable of addressing that fundamental respect to a Maori child who has a name that has come from his or her ancestors and is worthy of respect by the teacher who we have all agreed is so critical in their learning path. 
I absolutely support this. I acknowledge that the Minister is showing leadership here. Why is it in urgency? Because this side of the House believes that educational quality and success by students is an urgent matter. We are showing leadership in bringing it before the House now.