Tinetti JanEDUCATION AND TRAINING AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingHon JAN TINETTI (Associate Minister of Education (School Operations)) on behalf of the Minister of Education: I present a legislative statement on the Education and Training Amendment Bill.DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon JAN TINETTI: I move That the Education and Training Amendment Bill be now read a second time. On behalf of the Minister of Education I wish to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Education and Workforce Committee for their careful and cooperative consideration of this bill. I also wish to thank those who made submissions on the bill as well as the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives for their report relating to this bill. And as the Minister mentioned in his first reading speech this bill primarily deals with issues that aren't policy changes but are the inevitable necessary tweaks following the drafting of the Education and Training Act 2020 which was a significant drafting exercise. While the amendments to the Act are small they are relatively urgent. As part of the process of converting all education legislation into a single statute Schedules 20 23 and 24 relating to the enrolment schemes electing and co-opting board members and national student numbers were to be automatically repealed on specified dates and converted into regulations. Upon further reflection these three schedules all contain provisions that should remain in primary legislation rather than being converted into regulations. As such the bill amends the Act's sunset provision so the schedules are not automatically repealed on specified dates. The schedule relating to national student numbers is due to be repealed on 1 January 2022 making it necessary for the bill to be passed this year. I thank the select committee for their timely examination of the bill which avoids a vacuum.The Education and Training Act and the Children's Act both contain provisions aimed at keeping children safe when engaging in education. It has become clear that there is some confusion about how the two Acts work together. The bill inserts a provision to make it clear that the first question employers must ask themselves is whether their new employee is a children's worker. Only if the answer is no" do the provisions of the Education and Training Act become relevant. There are a few other minor and technical changes in the bill including amending the thresholds for interventions in State schools so that they replicate the provisions of the previous Education Act 1989. These thresholds were intentionally changed in the drafting of the Education and Training Act.The bill also amends the physical restraint provisions to be consistent with the position under the now repealed Education Act 1989. This position was not intended to be changed. The bill amends section 6 of the Act to specify five education agencies that must give effect to the statements of expectations relating to Te Tiriti o Waitangi issued jointly by the Ministers of Education and Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti. These agencies are the Ministry of Education the Education Review Office the New Zealand Qualifications Authority the Tertiary Education Commission and Education New Zealand.I wish to thank the Office of the Clerk who drew the committee's attention to two design issues relating to the bill. While the report from the Office of the Clerk did not lead to any amendments to the bill these kinds of checks and balances are an important part of how our Parliament operates.So as the Minister predicted in his first reading speech the bill did not set the world on fire. The bill has been reported back with no recommended amendments and as he hoped with the bill being relatively technical it has been non-controversial so far. I commend the Education and Training Amendment Bill to the House.DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion be agreed to."