Parata HekiaEDUCATION (UPDATE) AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingHon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education): I move That the Education (Update) Amendment Bill be now read a second time. This bill amends the Education Act 1989 by putting the achievement and learning of children and young people at the centre of early childhood education and compulsory schooling ensuring there is strong accountability throughout the education system enhancing collaboration between education providers making improvements to the areas where the law needs modernising or more flexibility strengthening the legal framework for managing teacher competence issues establishing a future-focused legal framework for online learning and improving the way the Government provides careers services.I would like to thank the chair and members of the Education and Science Committee for their diligent consideration of the bill. I also want to thank the many organisations and individuals who made submissions on the bill who took the opportunity to have their say and have their voices heard on the biggest update to education legislation in nearly 30 years. The committee received a large and diverse range of submissions with submitters particularly commenting on amendments relating to communities of online learning (COOLs) cohort entry enduring objectives for the education system a statement of national education and learning priorities and improvements to school planning and reporting.The committee has recommended a number of amendments to the bill. The most significant of these prohibit the use of seclusion in schools early childhood services and ngā kōhanga reo and regulates the use of physical restraint. This bill gives us the opportunity to ensure that the Education Act 1989 is updated to best serve the needs of our children and young people. This includes making sure schools early childhood services and ngā kōhanga reo know how to deal with challenging behaviour in a safe way. We want parents and whānau to be confident that schools and our early learning services are safe places for their children. We want staff to prevent and be able to de-escalate potentially dangerous situations in ways that minimise the risk of hurting a student or of being hurt themselves. I am pleased that the committee has agreed to make these amendments as this sends a clear signal to educators that in today's world there is no situation where it is acceptable for children and young people to be held in seclusion. The bill will also make clear the limited situations that physical restraint can be used on children and young people by teachers and authorised staff members. This will mean that in cases of violent or extremely disruptive behaviour students and teachers will be protected from harm and learning can continue to happen.I would like to express my thanks once again to the committee for seeking further submissions on Supplementary Order Paper 250. Thanks also to those who submitted on these important changes some of whom shared very personal experiences with the committee. The committee by majority has recommended a number of other changes be made to the bill. These changes are not major but they do address a number of details that will result in a more efficient and effective bill. I would now like to draw the House's attention to some of the more noteworthy. In response to concerns from submitters the committee has recommended a change to the provisions around planning and reporting to make sure that the strategic document that schools will be required to prepare reflect their communities' needs and aspirations. The Government is keen to ensure that the aspirations vision and values of communities are incorporated into their schools' strategic planning. In fact this bill reinstates a requirement to consult with the school community which was removed from the requirements for the charter in 2001. The amendment recommended by the committee means boards of trustees will also be able to consult on their draft strategic plans with any other person group or organisation that they think they should consult with. This will allow boards to consult with parties that fall outside of the parameters initially set out in the bill such as the proprietor of a State integrated school. I am also pleased the committee has recommended a similar change to the provisions around combined boards with the Minister of Education now required to consult with the proprietor of a State integrated school before combining the boards of State integrated schools.The committee has recommended some changes to the provisions that have been incorporated into the Education Act 1989 from the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975. In particular submitters were concerned that in some instances modernising the language and style of the transferred provisions had unintentionally changed their meaning. The instances where this has happened have been rectified. An example of this is a new section 422(1)(d) set out in clause 144 where the words instruction and observances" were intended to cover the original wording of "practices rights and doctrines". In making these changes schools with a philosophical special character were unintentionally excluded. Part of what makes our education system unique and distinctive is the recognition of different abilities religious beliefs ethnic groups income levels and ideas about teaching and learning. The bill has been amended to ensure that schools can continue to teach according to their own special character.We are keen to provide innovative and high-quality digital options to engage students grow their digital fluency and connect them even more to 21st century learning opportunities. COOLs offer that. The committee has also recommended a number of technical changes to the provisions around COOLs. One of the biggest changes is moving the commencement date out from 31 December 2017 to 31 December 2019. Moving the commencement date better aligns with the planned introduction of a new funding system for schools and early learning providers. It also provides more time to develop a robust accreditation and accountability regime to ensure COOLs meet the needs of our learners. The bill creates two types of COOLs full and supplementary which will provide tuition in different ways. A key change the committee has recommended is replacing the term "full COOL" with "enrolling COOL". This will better reflect the fact that enrolling COOLs are the only ones that can enrol students as well as avoiding confusion with the term "fully accredited COOL" which is also used in the bill.The last set of recommendations from the committee that I would like to draw the House's attention to is around cohort entry. A number of submitters wanted to change the consultation requirements for boards wanting to introduce cohort entry including broadening the categories of those who must be consulted and requiring their general acceptance. Boards will need to consult with school staff parents of current and prospective students and local early learning services before introducing cohort entry. There is nothing stopping them from consulting their wider community or community of learning (kāhui ako) or consulting more frequently if they so choose. The committee has recommended specifying in the bill that when developing and seeking views on a proposed cohort entry policy a board must also consider whether the policy is generally acceptable to those consulted. The committee has also recommended a 3 July 2017 commencement date for cohort entry. This will enable the system changes to be made and allow good guidance to be developed for effective transitions.We are an ambitious Government determined to ensure the achievement of children and young people is at the heart of the education system and we are putting in place the flexibility to respond to their current and future needs. We know that a good education is a passport to the future and that is why we are spending over $11 billion in education to make sure all our young people have the opportunity to secure that future. This year we have seen record rates in NCEA and we have seen record rates and participation in early learning. We are committed to modernising our education system to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The changes recommended by the committee some of which I have just discussed will result in a safer learning environment and a more efficient and effective bill. Ultimately this will ensure that the legislation provides an effective platform for lifting the achievement of all young New Zealanders. I am pleased that the committee has recommended by majority that the Education (Update) Amendment Bill be passed with these amendments. Once again I would like to thank the chair and the members of the committee for their diligence and their work. I now commend the Education (Update) Amendment Bill to the House."