Duncan Helen: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Duncan Helen: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:623;Page:18329] 
12.  
HELEN DUNCAN (Labour) 
 to the  
Associate Minister of Education 
: What evidence has the Government received about the role of families in the educational achievement of their children? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE (Associate Minister of Education) 
: 
 Research clearly shows that parents who are involved in their children’s learning and who encourage their children to be the best they can be make a real and positive difference to how children learn. Information is a key mechanism to support family and community involvement and for this reason the Government is launching an information programme to give parents more information—and resources—to support their involvement in their children’s learning and to help them understand the education system so they can have confidence to talk to teachers and ask the right questions. 
Helen Duncan 
: Is the Minister able to provide the House with any further information about this information campaign? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: A key element of this programme is the involvement of a high-profile New Zealander as an education ambassador. I am therefore delighted to announce to the House that Tana Umaga has been appointed as an education ambassador to front this new long-term information programme. His task will be to help reach parents with the key information they will need to help their children learn and to encourage and help parents to get more involved in their children’s education. Who better to promote such a message than a successful Kiwi role model like Tana not only a parent himself but also an inspiration to many people young and old. 
Hon Bill English 
: Why is the Government willing to take hundreds of millions of dollars of fees from parents for State-funded education by means of school donations and only give them a rugby star instead of what they really want which is some choice about where to send their children to school because at least that would show that the Government was taking parents seriously instead of this kind of jumped-up exercise in spin? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: The very existence of this programme is the best evidence that I can think of to show the commitment this Government has to the education of young people and the encouragement of cooperation between parents and their school. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Why is the Government finally attempting to do something to enhance the educational role of parents but at the same time at the behest of the Prime Minister and her colleagues planning to drive all the parents out of the home and into the workforce whereby they will have less time to help their children with education because of the Prime Minister’s rather peculiar view of women? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: I thank that member for his support of the initiative and clearly the latter comment is not true. 
Judy Turner 
: If parents are to play a bigger role in the educational achievement of their children yet at the same time we are talking about kids in care from dawn to dusk when exactly will parents find the time to do this? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: I think it is appropriate to recognise that the stress is on parents and they will make appropriate decisions about the level of involvement for them according to their individual circumstances.