Tolley Anne: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Tolley Anne: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:649;Page:17849] 
8.  
ANNE TOLLEY (National—East Coast) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Is he satisfied that the Ministry of Education is spending taxpayer funds wisely; if so why? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Associate Minister of Education) 
 on behalf of the  
Minister of Education 
: Yes; the recently released school-leaver statistics show that that is indeed the case. Each year since the National Certificate of Educational Achievement was introduced in 2002 the rates of achievement have been lifting. More students are getting the qualifications they need and fewer and fewer are getting left behind. 
Anne Tolley 
: Why does an education report from 11 April 2008 show that the Minister of Education was the one who had to approve and did approve the spending of nearly $60000 on badges with phrases such as “Wassup!” and “Nice!” on them; badges that have been rubbished by the education sector which wants money to be spent on the teaching of students rather than on useless promotional badges? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: That was one part of Ka Hikitia which is a system-wide strategy aimed at improving the performance of Maori students. Ka Hikitia is based on clear evidence of what will make a difference to Maori student outcomes. And those interesting phrases are used by the majority of youngsters in this country. They understand what they mean even if some people in that member’s party struggle with them—just like they are struggling at the moment with the truth. 
Hon Mark Burton 
: What announcements made today support the Government’s commitment to 21st century learning? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: The Government announced today that 87 new schools will benefit from the latest round of funding for information and communication technologies professional development bringing the total number of schools involved since 1999 to 1744. This Government has committed $408 million to information and communications technology since 1999 and a further $65.3 million in Budget 2008. 
Dail Jones 
: Is the Minister satisfied that the Ministry of Education is spending wisely the funding for 20 free hours’ early childhood education; if so will he ensure that it is urgently extended to playcentres and to those sections of kohanga reo that are not fully benefiting from the scheme? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: Forty percent of kohanga reo are now using that early childhood education funding. Playcentres are a different issue. But there is huge uptake by nearly 80 percent of all preschool children in any preschool education forum. 
Anne Tolley 
: Why is it that under his watch the Ministry of Education contemplated spending $7000 on origami pyramids with motivational statements on them to promote Ka Hikitia but instead—apparently because it could not think of enough motivational statements to cover the pyramids—decided to spend $56000 on similarly useless but eight times more expensive gimmicky badges; and can he explain how Maori achievement levels will be lifted by Japanese folding pyramids or badges with “Wassup!” on them? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: At the end of the day that is one part of that strategy. There are several things that this Government is involved in such as TeachNZ Team-Up Mission-On—those things that the general public support. 
Anne Tolley 
: Can he confirm that his ministry spent almost $70000 on checklists and word-find puzzles to supposedly fight bullying that were labelled “an absolute insult” by one principal and that are being stacked in the corners of classrooms and in recycling bins around the country because cards and notices do nothing to stop bullying? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: The feedback on Ka Hikitia has been amazing. It has been very supportive. Some principals—very very few—and schools have returned the material. But in relation to the anti-bullying cards I am surprised that that member who preaches platitudes about getting rid of violence dares to say that whatever effort is put in is no good. The pocket card is just one part of the Government’s wider strategy to tackle disruptive behaviour in schools. The total budget was $81200 which included the development printing distribution and launch; 675000 cards were printed at a cost of 12 cents each. If that is the way to get into kids’ heads to stop them from bullying and creating violence then we will do it; we will do anything to help cut that out in schools. What is that member’s policy? 
Anne Tolley 
: Why did the Ministry of Education have five communications staff in 1999 but in 2008 it has 35 communications staff plus contractors at a cost of almost $2.5 million a year; is this extra spin expenditure to convince schools that they do not really need more money for teaching rather than the ministry spending money on websites Japanese paper-folding gimmicks and cringe-worthy statements like “Wassup!” on badges? 
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA 
: It is surprising that that member does not believe that support—financial or in whatever form—for websites is OK in this modern day in relation to education. The Ministry of Education’s total staff numbers—excluding the 1380 staff who transferred to the ministry from Special Education Services in 2002-03 and the 78 staff who transferred from Early Childhood Development in 2003-04—have increased by 302 since 2004. That is a 15 percent increase in staff which is good support for the education that our children need. 
Anne Tolley 
: I seek leave to table the project brief for the origami— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection. 
Anne Tolley 
: I seek leave to table an email saying no to the origami— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection. 
Anne Tolley 
: I seek leave to table the report to the Minister of Education asking whether the badges saying “wassup” and— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is. 
Anne Tolley 
: I seek leave to table answers to questions that show that communications staff have increased from five to— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is.