Woods Megan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWoods Megan: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 18 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18619. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]11.Dr MEGAN WOODS (Labour—Wigram)to the Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment: How many secondary schools currently receive Adult and Community Education funding compared to the 212 secondary schools in 2009 when the funding was cut?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment):I am advised that 21 are directly funded and a number of others are indirectly funded through the first 21. For the member’s information there are also 26 community providers six private training establishments one Rural Education Activities Programme 18 Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics of New Zealand and one wānanga funded.Dr Megan Woods: Does he think it is acceptable that since the 2009 funding cuts there is now no school-based adult and community education provision in the Hawke’s Bay and the Hutt Valley and that in the lower North Island where there used to be 21 adult and community education providers there now are only two?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I think the member should look at the wider question of foundation education in those regions. Actually we have unapologetically been more focused on foundation education that delivers qualifications that get people on a ladder to achievement and improved incomes. In this Government we have achieved a record number of qualifications. The member is entitled to her view but actually I think we have a good balance of foundation education across all parts of New Zealand.Dr Megan Woods: If foundation literacy and numeracy are his priority as claimed why did he in 2012 cut $22 million worth of community education funding designed to encourage embedded literacy and numeracy learning in level 1 to 3 courses?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I do not have the exact information to hand but I am pretty sure the member is incorrect. There was a shift in funding from one fund to another fund at that time but actually we are spending something like $69 million a year in community education including the type the member mentioned just then—$69 million a year—so I invite her to go back and look through the appropriations. I am more than happy to help her find the locations of the particular sums of money.Dr Megan Woods: How does the Minister reconcile the Hon Bill English’s 2009 claim that a good proportion of those people will be able to continue to adult and community education with the fact that there are now 150000 New Zealanders who once attended night school but do not now have the opportunity?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: As I said to the member if she is determined to make it simply about schools yes there has been a change—there is no doubt about that. But there are a whole lot of other providers for both informal and formal foundation education. If the member is criticising us for cutting funding for Moroccan cooking and concrete shell mosaics and some of the other classes that were in those schools at that time I am very happy for her to do that. This Government’s record on tertiary education is a heck of a lot stronger and if her solution is to simply go back to 2008 she is welcome to it.Dr Megan Woods: How does the Minister reconcile his comments labelling adult and community education courses as low-value and hobby courses with the view of his colleague the Hon Bill English who in 2005 emphasised the importance of a wide range of night classes including furniture restoration and painting and stated that he believed that adult and community education is a place for education not aligned with Government priorities?Hon Bill English: That’s exactly what we’ve done.Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I think that is exactly what we have done. The reality of the situation is the Government is funding $69 million a year in community education across a whole range of providers. The member of course is entitled to her view. I think the whole Labour Party thinks that everything that happened prior to 2008 was pretty good and everything that has happened since is pretty bad. That appears to be its view. I do not think it has got anything new to say but if it wants to go back to 2008 that is fine. We stand by our record and the number of qualifications achieved in foundation education.