SpeechEducationIBRAHIM OMER (Acting Chairperson of the Education and Workforce Committee): Thank you Madam Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to kick off this annual review debate as the acting chair of the Education and Workforce Committee. I'd also like to thank the staff and the clerks and the officials who prepared the reports.The Education and Workforce Committee has conducted the 2021-22 annual review of the following entities: the Ministry of Education the Education Review Office the New Zealand Qualifications Authority the Tertiary Education Union the Tertiary Education Commission Education New Zealand Education Payroll Ltd and the Network for Learning Ltd. Alongside the annual reviews we have also considered the reports of the Ombudsman on the Minister of Education's compliance with the Official Information Act 1982.We met with the Minister of Education and officials to discuss the 2021-2022 annual reviews of the education sector. The topics covered in the hearing with the Minister were the effects of COVID19 on the education sector the emergency readiness of schools school attendance the Ministry of Education restructuring student achievements in literacy and numeracy and Te Pūkenga.Now I do not have the time to summarise and comment on everything covered in that report but I would like to highlight some. In regards to Te Pūkenga the Minister acknowledged her disappointment at the initial slow progress of Te Pūkenga. However she noted that she was feeling more confident and much more happy with the recent progress. The Minister also noted that the Eastern Institute of Technology is very pleased for example with Te Pūkenga having a nationwide entity supporting them throughout the flood-recovery efforts which is going to make a big difference.Attendance officers and attendance services: during COVID-19 the ministry started collecting weekly attendance data rather than doing it by term. The Minister noted that attendance data collection is mandatory for schools but it is not common knowledge and said that more work is needed to be done on attendance data. The Minister also spoke about the new registered attendance officers and attendance service introduced into schools. More than two-thirds of this service are school-based; the remainder are NGO- and iwi-led. The select committee welcomed these changes to the design of the attendance services.Pay parity for early childhood education (ECE): the ministry officials acknowledged that ECE teachers are often paid less than their counterparts in kindergarten. We looked at the pay parity scheme. The aim is to close the gap and have access to more funding if agreed to pay teachers in line with the kindergarten collective agreement. The ministry informed the committee that 54 percent of ECE centres had opted in—predominantly the larger centres. A pay parity advisory group had been set up to provide advice on the funding model.In regard to Māori and Pasifika participation rates in ECE it is 62 percent and 65 percent respectively and the nationwide average is 76 percent. The ministry noted that wider access to childcare subsidies would lessen the financial barriers to participation in ECE for Māori and Pasifika children. It also noted that the more effective ECE climate also helped. Like I said in my introductory remarks the list is long. But I will just leave it here and I look forward to the rest of the contributions and the debates for the rest of this afternoon. Thank you.