7. Question No. 7—EducationHon NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 7—Education7. Hon NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) to the Minister of Education: Does he stand by his decision to legislate to do away" with communities of online learning; if so why has he not proposed a replacement system?Hon TRACEY MARTIN (Acting Minister of Education): Yes I stand by the Government's decision to repeal the extension of communities of online learning (COOLs). The coalition Government is maintaining the existing system.Hon Nikki Kaye: How many parents in rural communities were consulted on his decision to legislate to do away with communities of online learning?Hon TRACEY MARTIN: There was a consultation group taking place but it was by representative groups which included NetNZ the Ombudsman and Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu and a range of individual submitters expressed the concerns that the COOLs would not be required to teach the national curriculum or employ registered teachers. If the member would like a breakdown of the individual submitters if she'd like to submit that in writing I'll have my office prepare that for her.Hon Nikki Kaye: Will he guarantee—SPEAKER: Order! It's a "she" at the moment.Hon Nikki Kaye: Well because she's answering on behalf of?SPEAKER: No she's not. She's the Acting Minister.Hon Nikki Kaye: OK. Will she guarantee that the Minister of Education will pass a new law to provide greater access to funding and quality online learning opportunities in this term of Government?Hon TRACEY MARTIN: What I can guarantee for the member is that this Government will now go out and consult with the general public with the education sector with the Virtual Learning Network with NetNZ and with all others as the previous Government should have done before they decided to override the current system that is delivering digital online learning for our students.Hon Nikki Kaye: In light of the Ministry of Education's statement that the Virtual Learning Network may disband as a result of this decision will the Government guarantee the parents of these children that additional funding will be provided to ensure this doesn't happen?Hon TRACEY MARTIN: As I've already mentioned the Government is using the existing system. Nothing has changed because the system that the previous Government wanted to put in wasn't going to take place until 31 December 2019. So we are currently working with the Virtual Learning Network NetNZ and all the other providers and the schooling sector to make sure that those students taking advantage of the online learning environment continue to do so and that we build a system that is useful and practical and realistic for New Zealand going into the future.Hon Nikki Kaye: Just to repeat my question in light of the Ministry of Education's statement that the Virtual Learning Network may disband as a result of this decision will the Government guarantee additional funding so that these children get access to this service?Hon TRACEY MARTIN: I'm not aware of the comment that the member is quoting so I will go and find out. But I guarantee that member that this Government will work with parents students schools the Virtual Learning Network NetNZ and all other areas of the sector to make sure that we make the most of the digital learning environment for our students from now and into the future."