O'Connor Simon: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Connor Simon: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 03 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13153. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]9.SIMON O’CONNOR (National—Tāmaki) to theMinister of Education: What recent announcements has she made on how the education system is performing at a local level?Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education): New Zealand has a world-class education system and one of the ingredients to keep it that way is a data-rich environment that enables parents and communities to work with their schools to ensure all our children succeed. It is important to make public achievement information as meaningful and as helpful as possible. For that reason we have already released national and regional education profiles and today school-by-school data which is being released for a second time. In addition I am releasing for the first time education profiles at territorial authority level. Together this data tells us how our education system is performing at national regional and local levels. This information allows parents and communities to have a fuller picture of how their children are doing at school and provides valuable data that helps to engage the entire community in how to support our early childhood educators and schools to be effective in raising achievement. Five out of five children and young people succeeding in education is in the interests of all New Zealanders and we can all work together to ensure that.Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The question that was asked by Mr Simon O’Connor was: “What recent announcements …”. The Minister has had tons of time to announce whatever those announcements were or to repeat them but not to go on and on trying to sell them which was not part of the question. That is the issue here.Mr SPEAKER: The member makes a reasonable point. It was a very long answer. I was about to get to my feet as the member did to say that it was long enough.Simon O’Connor: How does the education data at the regional council and territorial authority level contribute to lifting achievement in education?Hon HEKIA PARATA: This Government has an unrelenting focus on raising achievement for all children and young people. Making public achievement information available at different levels is about rallying people around a focus on raising achievement. Lifting this achievement must not be left as the sole responsibility of individual teachers in schools; we must all make a contribution.Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.Hon HEKIA PARATA: That includes—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I apologise to the Minister. There is a point of order from the Hon Trevor Mallard.Hon Trevor Mallard: The question was about data. We have now gone I think about half a minute into an answer and data has not been mentioned.Mr SPEAKER: I am certainly hopeful that the question is about to be answered. Would the Hon Hekia Parata please continue with her answer.Hon HEKIA PARATA: Yes. Public achievement information includes a range of data at local regional and national level and it is important that that is available so that schools alone are not left with the responsibility but so that community leaders business owners and parents can also help. For some this will be challenging as our pictures of achievement do not show uniform success everywhere. The driver for providing this information is to empower all of us to take action to raise achievement for five out of five of our children and young people.Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I know I complained about the answer to the question sort of going on at the beginning but I am now going to ask whether the Minister can answer the question again so that there is actually an answer to the question that was asked. I know—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I have heard enough from the member. I am calling for a supplementary question from Simon O’Connor. But in the meantime the point has some validity so if the member wants to sharpen up and think of a supplementary question I am going to give him one.Hon Trevor Mallard: A spare one?Mr SPEAKER: Yes a spare one.Simon O’Connor: Why is the ministry releasing financial information about individual schools?Hon HEKIA PARATA: This Government has increased its investment in Vote Education every year for the past 5 years. Schools received $5.8 billion this year—Hon Annette King: That’s not the question asked.Hon HEKIA PARATA: —an increase of 30 percent which is financial information. Parents also contribute further to the education of their children and young people through donations. In 2010 and 2011 the amount schools—Hon David Parker: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.Hon HEKIA PARATA: —received in donations—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! I have a point of order. I am sorry to interrupt the Minister.Hon David Parker: It is a very similar one to those raised by the Rt Hon Winston Peters and the Hon Trevor Mallard. The answer is not addressing the question that was asked by her member of her.Mr SPEAKER: Well to be honest I think that as the member rose to his feet we were starting to get an answer to the question. Could the Minister please continue with the last part of her answer.Hon HEKIA PARATA: Yes. I wanted to confirm to the House that the Government is releasing financial information about schools because it reflects the overall investment this Government has made—including in this year $5.8 billion—and in addition from parents and donations about 1.8 percent of that total amount.Hon Trevor Mallard: What is the difference between data and information?Hon HEKIA PARATA: Data is individual bytes that when put together create an information picture. Data and information can be used in different ways in different contexts but unless the person receiving them understands them it is quite difficult to make that distinction.