Joyce Steven: Education Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeJoyce Steven: Education Amendment Bill (No 2) — Second Reading[Sitting date: 25 November 2014. Volume:702;Page:818. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment):Can I thank the previous speaker Chris Hipkins for his contribution. I must say it is amazing how someone so young has become so much part of the furniture around here in the education space. He fulminates along at great length and is actually a bit like those two guys from The Muppet Show now. I do not think that is a compliment for someone so young. You would hope they would come up with fresh ideas and they would be actually open to new ideas and open to new ways of doing things but not Chris. He gets his advice from education unions. He gets his speaking points and he stays very close to those so much so that on Newstalk ZB on Wednesday mornings he has been replaced by that up-and-coming talent Annette King. We are thrilled to see Annette back on Newstalk ZB although Chris was not too bad.Anyhow the Education Amendment Bill (No 2) is a very important bill. It has three objectives: to ensure that New Zealand’s education sector is equipped to meet the challenges and opportunities of the modern learning context to create a regulatory framework that promotes accountability and high standards and to drive continuous improvement in the education sector.My particular interest is in the area of university and wānanga governance and the amendments to university and wānanga governance proposed in the bill will meet the bill’s objectives by creating smaller skills-based councils that will be able to respond more quickly to the modern-day challenges of tertiary education and give universities and wānanga more flexibility to reflect their unique stakeholders on their councils and tailor their councils to their specific needs. The amendments will also clearly define the duties and accountabilities of council members so that they know what is expected of them and can be held accountable for poor performance.The reforms will modernise councils so that they can more easily meet the needs of a rapidly changing employment market can adapt to the new challenges from changing technology in teaching and learning and can operate more effectively in an increasingly competitive international higher education environment.I would like to thank the members of the Education and Science Committee for their diligent consideration of the bill. I would also like to thank the organisations and individuals who made submissions on the bill. The Education and Science Committee received a large number of submissions regarding the tertiary governance provisions in the bill. Submitters discussed the impact of the changes on institutional autonomy and academic freedom on diversity on links to the community and on staff and student voice. They emphasised the special characteristics of universities and wānanga and their role as critics and the conscience of society.Many commented on the proposed increase as they saw it in the proportion of ministerial appointees on the councils. Evidence for the proposed changes was also a prominent theme. The most commonly cited reasons for submitters opposing the governance provisions in the bill were that they would firstly negatively impact institutional autonomy and academic freedom; secondly lead to greater ministerial control; or thirdly lead to the loss of student and staff voices on councils. I would like to take the time in this second reading to respond to those concerns.Firstly the amendments will not affect institutional autonomy or academic freedom as these are guaranteed by section 161 of the Education Act. I myself recognise the value and importance of institutional autonomy and academic freedom which is why I am not proposing any changes to this section of the Act.The bill’s amendments will also not lead to greater ministerial control of institutional councils. Despite claims to the contrary the Minister will have no mechanism to instruct council members to make certain decisions nor will the Minister he or she have the power to sanction council members for their governance decisions. The Minister’s powers over appointed members are limited only to ensuring that members comply with their individual duties as council members and he or she could sanction a council member only at the behest of the council itself.The amendments will not prevent institutions from having any of their stakeholders represented on the councils. Which stakeholders are represented on a council and how those stakeholders are appointed will be a matter for each individual institution’s constitution rather than being specified in the Education Act. I actually think that is a grown-up approach to the institution’s governance. There is nothing in this bill that will prevent an institution from having student representatives or staff members on its council.I am pleased that the Education and Science Committee has recommended by majority that the Education Amendment Bill (No 2) be passed with no substantive amendments to the tertiary governance provisions. The committee has recommended several minor technical amendments to the bill’s tertiary governance provisions which I will briefly cover.The committee has recommended the bill be amended to clarify that tertiary education institutions may continue to co-opt members on to their councils by direct appointment. The councils of institutions are not subject to the Local Authorities (Members’ Interests) Act 1968 and during the transition to new councils the Minister is required to consult with the council before giving any directions he or she thinks are necessary to ensure it can function effectively. The committee has also tidied up inconsistencies between the bill and Part 15A of the Education Act 1989 which sets out the governance arrangement for polytechnics.The Government intends to support the amendments recommended by the committee. The international education components of the bill will create a more robust regulatory framework for our international education sector. This will better protect international students in New Zealand and ensure that international education continues to grow in a sustainable manner.The committee made one minor amendment to the international education provisions in the bill. This amendment specifies that the purpose of the new code of practice for the pastoral care of international students is to ensure that international students have a positive experience in New Zealand that supports their educational achievement. The Education and Science Committee did not recommend any amendments to the bill’s quality assurance provisions.This is a sensible bill that builds on the strong foundations of the tertiary education system which have been developed and strengthened by this Government. It makes important relevant changes to the governance of our universities and wānanga so that they can respond more quickly and strategically to the challenges of modern-day tertiary education. This is a good bill and I commend it to the House.