4. Education Minister—RecordCHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka) to the Minister of EducationEducation Minister—Record4. CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka) to the Minister of Education: Which of the following best describes her tenure as Minister of Education: her abandoned plan to increase class sizes her proposed Christchurch school closures her closure of residential special schools the introduction of charter schools the decline in international achievement ratings or the roll-out of Novopay?Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education): Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. May I thank the member for not surprising me and not being able to rise above that gracelessness. What I think this list demonstrates about my tenure as Minister of Education is that I have always been prepared to make the tough decisions that are in the best interests of our young people rather than what might be easiest for adults. What I think better describes my tenure—for which I feel most privileged—is what has been my relentless focus on our children and young people. That has been characterised by this: all of our young students now are starting earlier staying longer and leaving better qualified. That is reflected in student stand downs suspensions and exclusions being at the lowest levels since records began 16 years ago. Since 2011 the rate of children starting school has reached almost 98 percent provisional results for 18-year-olds have them at 85.2 percent and we have invested in a quality agenda to support our teachers to grow their teaching practice. We have invested $359 million in educational success 197 communities of learning have been established involving over half a million young people and—I am about to finish—we have increased Vote Education from $8 billion to $11 billion which is the most any Government has ever invested. I am proud of my tenure.Chris Hipkins: Will she now in her final question time as Minister of Education finally apologise to the schools teachers and families in Christchurch who having been shepherded into a hall and given colour-coded name tags discovered halfway through the meeting that the colour of their name tag denoted whether she intended to close merge or leave open their schools?Hon HEKIA PARATA: I can attest to a much better approach than what the member commends. I went down to Christchurch community by community and apologised in person to them. Then I set about making a case to this Government to secure over a billion dollars to rebuild and renew so that the Greater Christchurch Waimakariri and Selwyn areas would have the best 21st century education network in this country and indeed in Australasia. I am satisfied that I have made well on that one mistake.Chris Hipkins: Will she now apologise to teachers and school staff for approving the implementation of Novopay despite the trials having proven it did not pay staff properly and the advice to her at the time was that there were 147 known faults with the system?Hon HEKIA PARATA: I think that the apology from this Government—including myself—was to take action as quickly as possible and to absolutely empathise and sympathise because no Government wants to see anyone losing their salary because of a digital failure. Together with my colleague the Hon Steven Joyce we worked hard to rectify that and now the error rate is lower than the previous system and is certainly lower than that member's.Chris Hipkins: Will she now apologise to the families and students at Salisbury School for her first failed attempt to close the school which Justice Dobson called an abrogation of the responsibilities involved in making a decision" and given Justice Dobson's conclusion that "No great leap of logic [was] required to recognise the validity of concerns"?Hon HEKIA PARATA: In respect of Salisbury School in particular there is a process that we are in the middle of and we will continue that process because that is what the law provides for. In terms of special education learning support for those young people most vulnerable with clinical or behavioural disorders this Government has increased funding by 29 percent. Under my watch we have introduced the Intensive Wraparound Service which has seen many more young people being given support so they can live comfortably in their own communities. Residential hostels have their place but in these modern times it is far more sustainable to find ways to help those young people be successful in their own home communities.Chris Hipkins: Does she regret the breakdown in her relationship with Lesley Longstone the former Secretary for Education who left with a $425000 golden handshake as a result?Hon HEKIA PARATA: The member misremembers. There was no breakdown in our relationship. The particular appointee was unable to meet the requirements and that has been demonstrated by subsequent appointments in the form of Peter Hughes now chief commissioner and in the current form of Iona Holsted—both eminently capable of carrying out these roles and discharging them very effectively.Chris Hipkins: Is she proud of the fact that the two major international Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies released during her time as Minister of Education both showed Kiwi kids getting worse in their literacy worse in their numeracy and worse in their science?Hon HEKIA PARATA: I am proud of the New Zealand education system. It is one that has constantly striven to improve itself. What the PISA results tell us and caution us about is that we have constantly got to improve. We do not resile from those but then they are triangulated with the national student monitoring project out of the University of Otago by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study and by the best evidence synthesis. So unlike the member we do not hang off one international study because it happens to support a member's point of view; we look at the round and what we see and should be proud of is the achievement of young New Zealanders. So yes I am proud of them."