8. Question No. 8—EducationERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 8—Education8. ERICA STANFORD (National—East Coast Bays) to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by all her statements and actions?Hon JAN TINETTI (Minister of Education): Yes in the context they were given and taken.Erica Stanford: How can she stand by her actions when they have resulted in a 10.3 percent decline in the number of Māori student leavers with NCEA level 2 under her watch comparing 2022 to 2017?Hon JAN TINETTI: Students sitting NCEA last year faced turbulent and disrupted teaching over the last few years. Globally we are seeing the impacts of COVID on student achievement. New Zealand's results are in line with international trends. I would note though that after five years in Government the National Party saw results in line with what we saw in 2022 after Labour's five years in Government which also saw students navigate through a global pandemic.Erica Stanford: Does she agree with the Ministry of Education who said Between 2017 and 2022 the proportion of Māori school leavers with NCEA level 2 or above decreased by 10.3 percentage points. Year-on-year increases occurred between 2012 and 2017 but since then there have been year-on-year decreases."?Hon JAN TINETTI: What I can say is that we are seeing a number of young people who are leaving for other opportunities such as employment apprenticeships or travelling overseas. All of these have increased. We are seeing a record number of apprenticeships and I would also point out that leaving school is not the end of a person's academic opportunity. A large proportion of young people including our Māori leavers are leaving school before 17 to further their education.Erica Stanford: What would she say to Māori parents when under her Government only 58 percent of their tamariki are leaving school with NCEA level 2 which the OECD says is the minimum qualification young people need for successful labour market participation?Hon JAN TINETTI: They might be leaving school with that but as I've already pointed out we have a record number that are going into apprenticeships. We're already pointing out that we have these young people who are continuing their education in other ways. They're also leaving school to go into work because we've got high employment levels or we've got record numbers that are leaving to go overseas.Erica Stanford: Is the Minister saying that she's accepting of the fact that only 58 percent of Māori students are leaving with NCEA level 2 because they're going into work and they're going overseas when the OECD says very clearly that the minimum qualification needed in New Zealand is level 2 for successful labour market participation?Hon JAN TINETTI: What I am going to say is that we want to ensure that when kids are leaving school that they have the knowledge that they need to thrive. We are making certain that the qualification process has minimum literacy and mathematic qualifications which has never been done before. We are making certain that from next year we are bringing in a new mandatory assessment from year 10 to give students parents and employers the confidence that school leavers have foundational maths and literacy skills which is something that that side failed to do."