English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:621;Page:16890] 
10.  
Hon BILL ENGLISH (National—Clutha-Southland) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Does he agree with the comment of Linwood College Principal Rob Burrough who said: “We rely on a significant amount of locally raised funds in order to balance the books.” and has he taken any action to prevent schools collecting compulsory school fees? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
: 
 I have a lot of respect for the gentleman concerned. There is a point of difference here. Linwood College raised $60042 through donations last year. Total Government grants were $5.8 million up $1.2 million since 1999. I have not taken any action with regard to that school other than with all other schools when I reissued Wyatt Creech’s circular  
Payments by Parents of Students in State and State Integrated Schools 
 originally issued in 1998. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can he confirm that since he became the Minister parental contributions and donations have risen 34 percent to around $200 million per annum and that his school-funding policy now relies on mid and higher decile school parents paying fees to keep the school viable? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: No I do not and $60000 is certainly not in that category. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Does the Minister stand by his statement in the House last week that the New Zealand Council for Educational Research’s research conclusion that affected schools rely significantly on locally raised funds is incorrect; if he does what does that tell us about his opinion of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research’s quality of research? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think the member is aware that I have to tread relatively carefully in that area because of my close relationship with the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. However leaving that to one side it is fair to say that that particular piece of research ignored the fact that many of the extra teachers have been funded out of the extra operational grants. That is something the council should have referred to and did not and in my opinion that was more than a bit shoddy. 
Hon Bill English 
: Does the Minister agree or disagree with the following statement: “Many of the schools I visit rely on local funds school fees and fund raising to pay for basic educational needs. That is wrong. The Education Act guarantees New Zealand children a free State education. The Government is breaching its responsibilities under that Act when schools are forced to fund-raise to provide that education.”? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: When I became Minister in 1999 I sat down with schools in order to track a path to get out of that position. As a result of that there were 2550 extra teachers paid for by the Government a 10 percent and then inflation-adjusted increase per student and $120 million a year in professional development. That is why that situation does not exist now. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister confirm that the reason he will not comment on that statement is that it was made by him as Opposition spokesperson on education and will he confirm now what school principals all over the country are telling pupils at prize givings—that is Labour’s policy on school funding relies on parents of pupils in middle and high decile schools topping up State funding with fees and donations and when will he get real and just admit that that is just the way the world is? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: There are three questions there. The Minister may answer two. 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Of course I recognise my own very brilliant statement. It no longer applies.