Robertson Grant: Education Amendment Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeRobertson Grant: Education Amendment Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee[Sitting date: 29 May 2013. Volume:690;Page:10522. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]GRANT ROBERTSON (Deputy Leader—Labour): Before I was rudely interrupted I was talking about—and I had only got through the introductory part of this which was—Dr Cam Calder: No!GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes in fact because we have not even got to why it is that such a flawed model is being imposed as an experiment on New Zealand children. I want to go through three or four things as I discuss this bill the Education Amendment Bill. I want to note that the Labour Party in the name of Chris Hipkins has Supplementary Order Papers on the Table to change these things. We want to make it very clear to the other side of the Chamber that those Supplementary Order Papers are there to be voted on. If the Government cannot stand up today and justify why it is allowing unregistered teachers into classrooms why there is no transparency in this process and why there is no requirement to teach from the curriculum then these Supplementary Order Papers should pass. Because that would at least bring charter schools back into line with the kinds of values that New Zealanders hold dear when it comes to our education system.Let us have a look at this. Firstly there is the question of profit. Let us be absolutely clear here: this is public money going for private profit and the accumulation of assets by private entities. That is what will happen here. On the other side of the Chamber the members yelled out before: “What about integrated schools?”. Well that is fine—Dr Cam Calder: What about ECE?GRANT ROBERTSON: We have got the system Dr Calder; why are we bringing in this flawed model? Why not use that? Why not actually develop the parts of our system that are actually going to help the people whom National says that this is for? Why not give more money then to kura? Why not support a programme like Te Kotahitanga? Why cut a programme like Te Kotahitanga which is actually working and delivering? Earlier today when Chris Hipkins first raised this Anne Tolley shook her head and that is because when she was the Minister of Education money did go in to Te Kotahitanga. She knows that under Hekia Parata and this administration that money has been taken out of a programme that has been working and delivering in favour of a programme now that will see profit-making schools using public money.Then there is the question of unregistered teachers and I can only echo what Tracey Martin has said about why it is important that we have registered teachers. It has been said that there are good people out there who can come into the classrooms and apply their skills. Well my mother whom I love dearly is excellent with a needle and thread but I would never put her in as a surgeon in a hospital. This Government is diminishing the importance of registered teachers. It is diminishing the importance of putting professionals in front of our children to ensure that they have a safe and good learning environment. Unregistered teachers mean lower quality education. It is that simple. Unregistered teachers mean a lower quality of education.John Key said New Zealanders should not get hung up about the fact that there will be unregistered teachers. They should be OK with it. They should be relaxed. Well New Zealand parents are not relaxed about the notion of unregistered teachers being in front of their classrooms. But why should the Government listen to us about this? Howabout it listens to its own advisers? The Ministry of Education recommended that all teachers at charter schools should be registered but Cabinet ignored that threw it away and said “We don’t care what the experts think about this. We’ve got our ideological agenda and we’re just going to pursue it.”Here is what the Ministry of Education said: “The overall potential for a negative impact on students’ education from teachers who do not meet the minimum standards for the profession is high.” So the Government knew it. It has been given the advice that this unregistered teachers policy would have a negative impact on the children in those classrooms and it has gone ahead with it. That is evidence of an ideological policy that can ride roughshod over any evidence. National is quite prepared—those members are quiet now are they not—to sit there and say “We don’t care what the advice is from the experts. We are going to ride roughshod over that in the pursuit of this ideological experiment.”The Ministry of Education’s advice about teacher registration went on. It said: “Teacher registration is one of the most influential levers in raising teacher quality”. Tracey Martin explained why that was before. It is like an apprenticeship. It is the time spent learning the craft learning the profession. But that side of the House does not see it as a profession. We saw that in early childhood education which it just sees as glorified babysitting. We have seen that now here with charter schools. This side of the House knows full well the importance of registered teachers of ensuring we have qualified teachers in front of our students. This Government is failing our children.