Tolley Anne: Budget Debate 
Tolley Anne: Budget Debate 
[Volume:673;Page:19179] 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 This Budget is all about good news for education—fantastic news for education. I say to the member who has resumed his seat Chris Hipkins that he has a very short memory. The previous Labour Government let four schools in his electorate sit and rot—sit and rot—for 7 years. They were not allowed to do any maintenance and they were not allowed to put any improvements in while the Labour Government sat back and watched and talked about the possibility of investing $90 million in those schools. It led them on and promised them it would spend $90 million and what did it do just before the last election? It promised them $14 million between four schools. After sitting and watching those schools rot it promised them $14 million. 
This National Government put an extra $30 million into that area and that member now has four great schools being rebuilt as part of National’s infrastructure stimulus to put employment into that member’s electorate. This National Government made that investment from its education budget which has increased by $4.4 billion since National came into Government—$4.4 billion extra into education since National came in to lead the Government. 
This Budget continues that spend that investment in education which we know will provide opportunities for young people to go on and realise their potential. This Government has said the Government will no longer sit back and watch kids fail in school—fail in school. We are not going to say the only way for them to get their qualifications is to raise the school leaving age. No this Government is investing in those young people. What did we do in this Budget? Apart from making lots of money available to the sector we put in support for our key policies. We put in extra money to support network and leadership and to spread good practice around national standards. National standards are giving schools and teachers good information about students. Most important they are giving parents good information about how well their child is doing. So we put some money into supporting schools with their implementation of national standards. 
We have also put money into supporting schools in the development of the Youth Guarantee. The previous Labour Government looked at young people and said they were leaving school without qualifications so it would design a fancy name for a programme: Schools Plus. It was all a hoax. It was nothing more than a name. There certainly was no money. All that the Labour Government did was to put up the school leaving age and say to the schools that they had to get some qualifications for those kids and it would keep those kids in school until the schools did that. This Government has said kids actually learn in different ways. We understand that so we have put money into trades academies. We have opened eight trades academies this year—eight trades academies. Another four will open next year and this Budget puts money in for another five to open next year. In terms of service academies we brought them all together and we revamped them and there is money in this Budget for more service academies. 
I have been up and down the country meeting the young people who are taking part in the trades academies and I have to say there is a light in their eyes. They are enjoying their education—for the first time in years some of them tell me—because they are doing something they love they are in an environment that values them as young adults and they are getting their qualifications. This National Government has made that available. In fact when I was in Canterbury last week opening the trades academy there one of the tutors said to me that he had had a call from a parent. The parent was just ringing to check that her son was actually turning up for his class at 8 o’clock in the morning. She wanted to make sure that he was actually turning up for his class at 8 o’clock in the morning because to be perfectly honest she said he had never turned up anywhere at 8 o’clock in the morning. He was out of bed and off to the trades academy at 8 and she wanted to know that he was there. The tutor actually had to say to that mother that her son was there before him. Every morning that boy is there ready to go learning and gaining his qualifications. 
That is the difference that this Government is making for young people up and down the country. Eight new service academies are being funded to open next year on top of the nine that are already operating throughout this country. 
In this Budget we have put in $51.5 million for the School Network Upgrade Project because we know that technology is a leading component of schooling today. It makes the difference for people in rural areas and for many of our Maori kura. It makes the difference. It is absolutely essential as we roll out fibre across the country with a particular emphasis on servicing schools that the schools themselves have the right sorts of facilities to take advantage of that fibre. This Government has provided an 80 percent subsidy to schools as against the previous Labour Government’s contribution which was at such a miserable level that very few schools were actually able to take up this project. This Government has put its money where its mouth is and said it knows that technology is hugely important to the development of education in this country. We are prepared to fund it and we are prepared to put the money in to make sure not only that the fibre is delivered to those schools but that they have the infrastructure to support it in their school grounds. 
Speaking of school grounds I say this Government has invested $200 million more each year in property development than the previous Labour Government did—$200 million each year. That has meant that good jobs in the construction area and in the design area are available out in provincial New Zealand. It means that schools have been developing what they call modern learning environments: upgrading their classrooms and upgrading their properties so that children are learning in a modern learning environment. 
We have said that the achievement of Maori students in our mainstream schools is nowhere near as good as the achievement of Maori in kura kaupapa schools. That is not acceptable because 90 percent of Maori students are actually in mainstream schooling. Their results can be described as abysmal. The previous Labour Government did not address that lack of achievement by Maori and Pasifika apart from sitting back and talking about it in communities and wringing its hands and doing nothing. This Government is determined to ensure that every single child who goes to a school in the New Zealand education system has the opportunity to develop to their full potential. Whether they are Maori Pasifika Asian or European they all should have the same opportunity to get an excellent education and we are determined to make sure that that happens. 
We are putting extra money in so that another 20-odd schools will be able to get into the Te Kotahitanga programme which trains teachers on how to work with Maori students. Actually it is really good for Pasifika Asian and European students as well but it teaches teachers to recognise that valuing identity culture and language in our Maori students helps with their learning. And if we can help those students with their learning then they will achieve. So this Government has put in a lot of effort and I thank my Maori Party colleagues for the assistance and the perseverance that they have put into developing good policies to help to lift Maori achievement. 
This Budget is all about good news in education for young New Zealanders and I am very proud to be part of a National Government that even in these really tough economic times is prepared to put a huge investment into education.