Lotu-Iiga Sam: Education Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Lotu-Iiga Sam: Education Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 18 October 2012. Volume:684;Page:5999. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to take a call on this the first reading of the Education Amendment Bill. I want to thank the Associate Minister of Education John Banks as well as the Minister of Education Hekia Parata as well as Catherine Judd for the work they have done on bringing this bill to the House. What does this bill show? It shows that this Government is committed to ensuring that every young New Zealander has the skills and qualifications required to successfully participate in our modern economy. We agree with members across the House that we have a great education system in this country and we have some of the highest spending in the OECD on education. But we can do better. 
What is the problem? Our Government inherited an education system that saw one in five students leaving school without the ability to read write and do maths. That means that their ability to contribute to society is limited. It means that it leads to a high level of welfare dependency and it leads to crime and incarceration. In terms of National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 2 which is considered entry level for jobs 31 percent of school leavers are currently leaving school without NCEA level 2. For Maori and Pacific students it is even worse—52 percent for Maori and 41 percent for Pacific. That is a travesty for those students it is a travesty for their families and their communities and it is a travesty for this country. 
So what is this bill going to change? This bill is aimed at solving the long tail of underachievement in our education sector. 
Sue Moroney 
: How? 
Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: The measures in this bill will lead to the goal that we have set out for 85 percent of 18-year-olds having NCEA level 2 or better by 2017. Members opposite ask us how. Here is how madam. It is about establishing clearer surrender and retention provisions which Nikki Kaye talked about and which will contribute towards learning environments that are both safe and conducive to positive student achievement. The bill also supports getting children into early childhood education earlier by enabling the ministry to assign a National Student Number to children likely to benefit from attending early childhood education services. It also makes other amendments for provisions such as flexible school timetabling as well as clear expectations for boards of trustees. 
I held a public meeting in Maungakiekie and the feedback from parents was encouraging. They wanted to find out more about these schools and how they worked and how they could better improve outcomes for their children and their grandchildren. I have also met with a number of Pasifika groups. They have said that they are open to partnership schools being part of Pasifika learning in this country. 
I also went to a charter school in the United States called E L Haynes. E L Haynes is a school that is full of minority kids—95 percent. What the data shows is that student achievement was recorded at 77 percent of students proficient or advanced in maths and 64 percent proficient or advanced in reading. That compares with the state averages of 43 percent and 44 percent respectively. This is about the educational outcomes of our children and it is about doing something different to address the long tale of underachievement. It will give our parents our communities and our young people a choice. Although we are making great progress in education we can and need to do better. I welcome and fully support this bill and I look forward to debating this bill as it goes forward. Thank you.