6. Question No. 6—EducationKIRITAPU ALLAN (Labour) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 6—Education6. KIRITAPU ALLAN (Labour) to the Minister of Education: What steps is the Government taking to support students whose learning has been disrupted by the shift to COVID-19 alert level 3 in Auckland?SPEAKER: As I call Chris Hipkins I'm just going to warn the Leader of the Opposition that sometimes muttering can be taken as an interjection. I won't on this occasion.Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): Yesterday the Government committed further funding to enhance distance learning support to schools particularly focused on secondary school students with a particular emphasis on those who are studying towards NCEA. The Ministry of Education has been purchasing the limited stock of fit-for-education computer devices that are available in New Zealand and they'll be using this firstly to meet the unmet demand of students in year 9 and above in secondary schools in Auckland—that is 3612 students for whom schools have placed orders for a digital device with the Ministry of Education. The rest of the stock plus some of the devices sourced from overseas will be used to meet unmet demand from students in year 9 and above around the rest of the country. The total number of devices that we are seeking to secure and distribute to secondary school students is 8100. The Ministry of Education has been contacting eligible Auckland schools and kura first and foremost to confirm their requirements and to arrange the delivery of devices to them for distribution to students.Kiritapu Allan: How is the Government helping schools to meet the needs of senior students?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I am particularly conscious of the needs of our years 12 and 13 students who are studying towards NCEA for many of whom the year 2020 will be their last year of compulsory schooling. They have effectively lost a full term's worth of in-classroom teaching time and I'm mindful that particularly for those subjects that are applied subjects that can pose particular challenges. So the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health have been working together to ensure that senior secondary school students in years 12 and 13 can come back into school during level 3 providing all of the relevant protections are put in place. Effectively those schools would be treated the same as other workplaces. So they would have to have small bubble sizes small group sizes; they would have to adhere to social distancing; and they would have to keep the groups the same and ensure that there's continuity there and that there's good record-keeping and so on. If schools can demonstrate that they can do that they will be able to provide in-person teaching and support to a smaller group of years 12 and 13 students.Kiritapu Allan: What action is the Government undertaking to support younger students in Auckland?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Good news: we've brought back the very popular Home Learning TV to support children learning in age groups from two to 11 whilst Auckland remains at level 3 and the rest of the country is at level 2. It will take over TVNZ's DUKE TV channel daytime schedule from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays. The programming is particularly focused at younger children and includes the very popular Karen's House and junior science and maths lessons with Suzy Cato. Teachers and parents can access details of the lessons upcoming on the Learning from Home website and lesson plans are also being made available to support teachers so that they can support that learning.