Parata Hekia: Financial Review Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParata Hekia: Financial Review Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 04 March 2014. Volume:696;Page:16283. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education):Tēnātātou e te Whare.Tēnā koutou katoa. I am really pleased to be able to take a call in this financial review debate because I would like to take the opportunity to publicly commend the Ministry of Education for the fine work it has been doing in a very challenging portfolio. We have heard from speakers this afternoon and if we were to believe everything they said we would be surrounded by an education system characterised by doom and gloom when in fact out there our schools—over 2500 schools catering to 832000 of our 5 to 17 and 18-year-olds—and over 5000 early childhood education centres of a diverse range of provision are doing exciting and fulfilling and constructive things.As Minister of Education I am very reliant on a family of education agencies within the government sector to undertake that work. The Ministry of Education is key amongst that. One of the first discussions I had with the new Secretary for Education Peter Hughes was what our particular role and contribution would be through the Ministry of Education. A significant change is going on. Whereas once the job of the Secretary for Education and of the ministry was characterised as being sector leadership what we have recognised very clearly—unlike previous administrations—is that the leadership of the sector properly remains with boards of trustees our parents around the country and the principals of those schools. The role of the Ministry of Education is to provide the systems support to back those schools to be successful in delivering high-quality teaching and learning so that achievement can rise for all of our children. And that is what the Ministry of Education is doing.There is a system change going on. It is being recognised by the sector leaders. That system change includes changes such as ensuring that what we are asking of schools really does add value to their operational environment and is not simply about compliance. They are appreciating that every fortnight now the Ministry of Education is communicating with them about the key issues and concerns that they need to be aware of. They are getting the support from our regional offices which are working with them on understanding what our investment in data means for more effective operating of their schools but more properly on making sure that they are causing learning to happen and that they know that it is happening.So I would like to commend the Secretary for Education his leadership team and the ministry as a whole which is full of very committed people up and down our country whose job it is to back our 2500 schools and over 5000 early childhood education providers to win. Why? Because we want to be responsive to parents. Whatever community they come from and whatever level of socio-economic status they have parents want their children to be successful and they put a great deal of trust into the schools and early childhood education providers to ensure that that can be the case. And there are professionals in schools whose jobs are to make sure that they are able todeliver their skills their training and their expertise to make sure that learning and engagement are occurring with the young people in front of them and that they are able to give information to parents in ways that parents can therefore be empowered to support their own children’s learning at home and in the community.We have seen the importance and the necessity of ensuring that parents are being well supported and that has led to the transfer of the authority and all of the funding from the Ministry of Education to the New ZealandSchool Trustees Association. That has resulted in Budget 2013 in an 84 percent increase for the association. It is the organisation that works with over 16500 parents relations and community people who want to see their school succeeding. We want to ensure that parents are getting reports in plain English so that they understand how they can help their children learn and we are constantly improving that reporting by getting feedback from parents about what they require. We are investing in a tool kit for parents about the questions they can be asking their children’s teachers so that they get the answers that help them to be informed and helpful towards their children in their learning journey.The Ministry of Education has been entrusted with $9.7 billion of taxpayers’ money to bring about a lift in achievement not for three out of five of our kids not for four out of five but for every one of our children and young people. We know from the research that the critical in-school difference is made by the quality of teaching and the quality of leadership. That saw in January this year the Prime Minister in his state of the nation address prioritising education and investing $359 million in four new roles. Those new roles will give better career pathways for our profession and they will support the status and the profile of the profession so that we can keep attract and grow the quality of teaching and leadership because in schools that is what makes a difference to achievement.And we want to back our profession to win. That is why this Government will be introducing legislation very shortly to transform the New Zealand Teachers Council into a 21st century professional body that is fit for the demands of the 21st century. That is why we have invested the $359 million that I have just talked about. That is why we are hosting education festivals in Auckland Wellington and Christchurch so that schools can showcase to each other and to the public all of the great things that they are doing within schools. That is why we have launched aninspiredbyU website so that each and every one of us gets the opportunity to thank those teachers who have made a difference in our lives. That is why New Zealand went in to bat to host theInternational Summit on the Teaching Profession.At the end of March we will be hosting in Parliament nearly 20 Ministers of Education from around the world because they want to come to New Zealand to see what the particular levers are within our system that are making a difference but also how we can confront together the challenge that is a challenge to many education systems which is how we deliver both excellence and equity to all of our children and young people. Our Ministry of Education our Vote Education and this Government are absolutely committed to backing our system to win and to putting our money where our mouths are.Speaking of that money we are also investing in the platform of schools.That means school properties which have been dismissed by previous speakers here. Modern learning environments really do create the context within which these quality teaching and quality leadership practices can make magic with every one of our New Zealand students. Network for Learning the connecting up of schools to the ultra-fast broadband has been a $700 million investment by this Government because we know that the 21st century demands new ways of learning and we want every New Zealandchild to be successful New Zealanders operating on a global stage. That is what this New Zealand education system is committed to.There was some scaremongering about privatising our education system. How five partnership schools out of 2500 schools can somehow characterise a privatising agenda is beyond me ChickenLicken. The sky has not fallen. What this Government is prepared to do is trial other alternatives invest in other options to make sure we do get the five out of five of our young people succeeding. We cannot keep doing everything we have always done or we will keep getting the results we have always got. Instead the result we are getting is a 2.5 percent increase in National Certificate of Educational Achievement overall a 4 percent increase inMāori achievement and a 7 percent increase in Pasifika achievement. In terms of getting under-fives into early childhood education we have seen a rise to nearly 96 percent when our target is 98 percent.Look our numbers our performance and our track record speak for itself. The $9.7 billion that has been entrusted into Vote Education is being spent wisely. That investment is showing a return. When I use language like that it is not about privatising; it is about proving to the taxpaying parents out there that what we are doing in education is making a difference for each and every child.Mr Chair I can and will go on. I will go on and talk about all the wonderful things that we are doing across the education system. In terms of early childhood education one of the key principles of the New Zealand education system is to provide choice to parents whether it is playcentre or kindergarten whether it is parent-led or teacher-led whether it is home-based or centre-based. Those choices are ones that we profoundly believe parents in New Zealand have the right to make on behalf of their children for what they think is the best learning opportunity. That is equally true of our formal and compulsory education system. We have small rural schools. We have large metropolitan schools. We have faith-based schools. We havecoed schools. All of these choices are available to our parents so that their children can have the education they deserve to create the best possible New Zealand we can have.Report noted.