Tolley Anne: Education Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
Tolley Anne: Education Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
[Volume:664;Page:12328] 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 I move  
That the Education Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be referred to the Education and Science Committee that the committee report finally to the House on or before 1 November 2010 and that the committee have the authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions and during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 187 and 190(1)(b) and (c). The purpose of this motion is to bring forward the report back of the bill to ensure its enactment before the end of the year so that the necessary arrangements are in place in particular for the introduction of trades academies next year. 
This bill introduces legislation that will enable the establishment of secondary-tertiary programmes for students enrolled in school. It will reduce the compliance burden on limited attendance centres protect the sustainability of the New Zealand export education sector improve the law affecting private schools and make minor changes to school enrolment scheme priorities. 
The first area of broad policy change is secondary-tertiary programmes. The bill will make the interface between secondary and tertiary education more integrated to fulfil this Government’s commitment to the Youth Guarantee. It will do this by allowing secondary students to participate full-time in a secondary-tertiary programme while still enrolled at school. The legislation details the process for the Minister of Education to approve the organisations that will provide a secondary-tertiary programme and the process for the Secretary for Education to agree to the details of the secondary-tertiary programme as well as the reporting and monitoring arrangements with these providers. 
The first examples of secondary-tertiary programmes will be trades academies. Trades academies will motivate more students to stay engaged in learning and training by providing them with a greater number of options for study. Trades academies will also provide students with clear pathways by giving them a head start on training for industry-related qualifications and smooth access to employment. To introduce initiatives spanning the secondary-tertiary interface new legislative arrangements are required to allow more appropriate sharing of the responsibilities for students when they are undertaking a joint secondary-tertiary programme. The changes in this bill will ensure protection of the education welfare and safety of students. 
A second area of policy change will reduce the compliance burden for limited attendance centres. Limited attendance centres provide short-term care for young children on a casual basis like recreational facilities or shopping centres. Providers emphasise care rather than education. Many limited attendance centres find the current early childhood education regulations onerous and have ceased providing the service or are operating a centre outside of the licensing requirements. Although limited attendance centres will no longer be subject to early childhood education regulatory requirements they will continue to be subject to arrangements with the operators of the facility local government and other legislative requirements to ensure the safety and welfare of the children in their care. The nature of a limited attendance centre means that parents or caregivers are able to be easily contacted to resume responsibility for their child at short notice. 
At the moment there are few restrictions in education legislation relating to international students who change course or provider. Current refund provisions for international students enrolled at private training establishments penalise those providers who invest in overseas recruitment but have their students enticed away once they arrive in New Zealand by providers who do not invest in marketing overseas but offer much cheaper courses. A number of undesirable consequences are associated with international students changing providers shortly after they arrive in New Zealand. Overseas agents lose their commission which reduces their enthusiasm for referring students to New Zealand in the first place. New Zealand’s reputation and the sustainability of the sector are damaged and there are immigration risks from non - bona fide students. 
This bill removes the incentive for international students to change provider by increasing the maximum amount that private training establishments can retain when providing a refund to international students who withdraw from a course of 3 months or more. The bill will enable the relevant Minister to set through a notice in the New Zealand  
Education Gazette 
 refund provisions for international students enrolled at private training establishments for such courses. This notice will set the period during which international students can withdraw from these courses and receive a refund of their course fees and it will set the maximum proportion of the course fees that the private training establishment may retain. 
This bill also updates and clarifies the law affecting private schools in response to the Law Commission report  
Private Schools and the Law 
. The bill will update and clarify the registration criteria to provide clear standards for prospective private schools. This will ensure minimum standards for private schools’ premises equipment and standards of tuition and it will ensure that all private schools are correctly registered. No regulation currently exists with regard to who can manage a private school. This bill ensures the safety and welfare of students by restricting those persons whose previous conduct or character makes their managing a private school inappropriate. The bill introduces a graduated range of sanctions to apply to private schools that breach the law or their registration conditions and this allows for an appropriate response to minor breaches. 
Finally the current Education Act the Education Act 1989 specifies the order in which school boards must prioritise enrolment applications via the ballot process from out-of-zone students. This bill gives some priority to the children of board members and former pupils who have a historical family connection to the school. Currently the legislation does not give any priority to applications from those students. This bill will improve education law across a range of areas. I am very pleased in particular that it creates greater options for study for students by opening up that secondary-tertiary interface to help fulfil the Government’s Youth Guarantee. Students will find that interface easier to negotiate and that will facilitate their continued engagement in education. I commend the Education Amendment Bill (No 2) to the House at its first reading.