Mahuta Nanaia: Education Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Mahuta Nanaia: Education Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:622;Page:18081] 
NANAIA MAHUTA (Labour—Tainui) 
: 
 I take this call to support the Education Amendment Bill and its committal to the Education and Science Committee. It is a good bill and it underpins the direction that this Government has signalled since coming into office and that is that it cares about education. This Government wants all kids to have a good start in life. This Government wants to ensure that all kids reach their full potential and to ensure that investment in education makes sure that that happens. So I support this bill and I want to speak to the particular parts that underpin a lot of the Government’s thinking. It is about children getting a good start from the very first point of entry into education and that is in early childhood. 
In September 2002 the Government released its report  
Pathways to the Future: Nga Huarahi Arataki 
. That was a 10-year strategic plan that set out an agenda for early childhood education. That plan foreshadowed a review of the regulatory system. Parts of those findings are in this bill and that will ensure that we work towards a good-quality early childhood education system. That is what this bill is all about. 
I am particularly excited that for example in Pukekohe in the Tainui electorate we have opened the first purpose-built early childhood education centre. Eighty percent of the students are Maori and all those tamariki are keen to wake up every morning and go to that centre. Why? Because they are excited about learning. That is what we want to see happen more often in our communities. 
One of the earlier speakers commented on issues in Kawhia. The regional office of the ministry has worked very hard alongside the Kawhia Educational Trust to make sure that early childhood education is provided in that community. Yes there have been issues around the qualifications of the teachers there and yes the matter went to court and yes the Government is still committed to working with the trust to find a solution. What might that solution be? The Minister has raised in the House in response to questions brought up by members of the Opposition that if the Kawhia Educational Trust wants to apply for a provisional licence from the regional office it is quite able to do that and find a solution and a way forward. I can tell members that all parents in that community are committed to working with this Government to ensure that the centre stays open. They want to see a quality education delivered to their children. They want to see that the teachers deliver good-quality education and bilingual at that—and I want to see that in all education centres. They know they can work through their issues with this Government and they know we are committed to these types of things. 
I think that when the bill goes to the select committee a number of issues may be raised in terms of what is happening across the broader sector of early childhood education. In terms of Maori participation it was only with the introduction of kohanga reo that we had the first surge of increased participation in early childhood education. Now we are seeing another increased level of participation. I hope those issues are raised at the select committee. I think they are all important issues to be considered by the select committee. I commit the bill to the select committee for consideration.