Tolley Anne: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Tolley Anne: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:645;Page:14310] 
12.  
ANNE TOLLEY (National—East Coast) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Does he stand by his statement in the House last week that “All students who are legally obliged to be in school are being targeted.”; if so why? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Education) 
: 
 Yes. the Ministry of Education has the responsibility of ensuring that all New Zealand children receive their right to an education. Children who are absent from school for 20 consecutive days will now be automatically identified by the new $6.4 million ENROL system. 
Anne Tolley 
: If he does believe that all students who are legally obliged to be in school are being targeted then why does the Ministry of Education memorandum I tabled last week show that non-enrolled students who are in contact with Child Youth and Family and the police will no longer be targeted by the private provider who is paid to get students back into school? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: The contracted provider that the member refers to deals with cases where locating the student is the most pressing issue. For students under Child Youth and Family care under police investigation or indeed under the Ministry of Health locating them is not an issue. Those students require complex case management and it is more appropriate that they are managed directly by the ministry than by the private provider. 
Moana Mackey 
: What improvements has the Labour-led Government made to truancy services? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: A great many. A full review of truancy services was undertaken in 2006 and additional funding of $2 million has been allocated to support local schools. That has enabled cases to be dealt with more quickly and the underlying causes of non-attendance to be better addressed. The new $6.4 million ENROL system now available to all schools gives us the ability for the first time ever to track every pupil nationwide. 
Anne Tolley 
: Why does the Ministry of Education memorandum I tabled last week show that non-enrolled students—that is not just truants but non-enrolled students—who have been excluded from school will also no longer be targeted by the private provider who is paid to get students back into school? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I stress again that the member seems to be unable to grasp that the purpose of the Non-enrolment Truancy Service—“NETS” as it is known—is to track and trace pupils. The ministry then deals with them. The students whom the member is referring to are being dealt with by the ministry. 
Anne Tolley 
: How can the Minister suggest that Child Youth and Family social workers will be the ones required to ensure students are enrolled in school when Child Youth and Family itself does not even know how many kids under its care are missing from school because it says that it is the foster parents’ responsibility to keep those children in school? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: The member again failed to grasp the points I made in my earlier answers. It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education to place those children who are under Child Youth and Family or the police in school and it is actively doing that. It is pointless to have a system in place to locate pupils when we already know the location of the pupils she is referring to. 
Anne Tolley 
: If the Ministry of Education is going to have to deal with the most at-risk and complex cases of non-enrolment then how is it going to do that when its own memorandum states that the ministry does not think it is well-enough resourced to carry out the job? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: We are clearly talking at cross-purposes here. I would be delighted to see the member at the end of question time to explain just how the Non-enrolment Truancy Service works because she seems to be unable to grasp it in question time. 
Anne Tolley 
: Why according to this ministry memo are the most at-risk students—that is those in contact with Child Youth and Family those in contract with the police and those who have been excluded from school—the very ones ignored by the contract between the Government and the private provider and why are those cases dumped on the ministry which says itself that it does not have the resources to handle them? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: The contract is for an agency to trace missing pupils. We know where those pupils are; they are under the care of other Government agencies. What is the point of getting an agency focused on missing pupils? Its task is to find missing students. Those students are not missing. Their cases are complex and difficult as the member said but we actually know where they are. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. It is a requirement that you have set out Madam Speaker that Ministers do address questions. Presumably the address should be an answer. The question arises here as to whether you are prepared to accept that saying that we have a contract to find missing pupils then saying that we actually know where they are raises the question of why there is a contract in the first place. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: No I listened very carefully to the answer. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: You see Madam Speaker that reveals the problem the Opposition has. The students whose whereabouts we know are not the ones whom the contract is about which is what Mr Carter has just been explaining frequently to the member opposite who received a “fail” pass in her first outing. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The Minister addressed the question I thought at length. 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: In order to enlighten the member I seek leave to— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: If members wish to remain in the Chamber for the rest of the day they will hear this point of order in silence. 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: In order to enlighten the member who seems unable to grasp what— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: No what is the point of order? 
Hon CHRIS CARTER 
: I seek leave to table  
Consultation on ‘Staying at School’ 
. It is a book I tabled last week but I would like to table it again for the benefit of the member. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection.