Coddington Deborah: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Coddington Deborah: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:612;Page:9044] 
7.  
DEBORAH CODDINGTON (ACT NZ) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Further to his answer in the House yesterday that “children have the right to attend their neighbourhood school” will he step in and protect this right for those children whose neighbourhood schools are under threat of closure? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education)) 
 on behalf of the 
 Minister of Education 
: This Government is committed to providing children with the highest possible quality of education. We want to see money spent on teaching and learning rather than buildings. As the size and make-up of communities change schools must also change to meet their students’ needs. The current round of network reviews that we are engaged in may result in some school amalgamations or closures. If those kinds of changes are necessary it is better to begin planning early rather than delaying until issues have become so difficult to deal with that the options are limited and communities end up being short-changed. 
Deborah Coddington 
: How can he justify depriving parents of choice on the grounds that the Government is saving money on empty buildings when in the Wellington area alone 2 years after five schools were closed buildings worth $4 million are still sitting empty and unused and are wasting away? 
Hon Steve Maharey 
: I say on behalf of the Minister of Education that the issue is one of quality of education. This is not a policy designed to save money; it is a policy designed to ensure that money that would be spent on buildings will instead be spent on teaching and learning. Although Mr Power might shake his head his Government followed the same policy. 
Lynne Pillay 
: What are the risks of not conducting area reviews? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Across many parts of New Zealand there is a primary school roll decline. That will flow through to the secondary school sector. If we do not proactively review the school network to address those changing demographics we run the risk that schools will fall over in an ad hoc manner removing parental choice and jeopardising the quality of education. That appears to be the policy being advocated by the new far-right ACT-National coalition. 
Simon Power 
: Will he guarantee that children attending rural Taihape schools currently under review will be able to continue to attend their neighbourhood schools—schools that are providing a quality education to Taihape children? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: In line with the policies followed by both the previous National Government and this Government we will ensure that those children in Taihape get a quality education and have a right to go to their neighbourhood schools. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Is not the real truth that by giving in to New Zealand Educational Institute demands the Minister has created gold-plated staffing ratios for small schools and that has jeopardised their future existence by pricing them off the market; is not that the real reason so many small schools are having to be closed under his watch? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I say on behalf of the Minister of Education that I quite often bow to the member’s knowledge in these matters but on this occasion I am sorry to say that he is wrong. The Minister of Education is not used to giving in to anybody other than the Prime Minister! On this occasion he is simply trying to ensure that quality education is there for New Zealand children. 
Murray Smith 
: Does the Minister accept that even schools in close proximity to each other like Pinehaven and Silverstream schools can have different cultures and identities that can impact on a child’s educational achievements; and if he is really interested in children’s educational achievements why will he not factor the need for a variety of school cultures into his consideration of Upper Hutt school closures? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I say on behalf of the Minister of Education that yes he does accept that different school cultures do need to be taken into account when an area review is being undertaken. If Mr Smith had bothered to reply to invitations to two briefings on this matter involving Hutt schools he might have learnt that some time ago. 
Deborah Coddington 
: As he is concerned about quality education what does he say then to people like Mr and Mrs Osborne from Ngahere who wrote to me that they want their children to go to their neighbourhood school rather than travel by bus for 3 to 4 hours a day to attend another school because the Minister wants to close the Ngahere school in the Grey valley; what is “quality education” about sitting on a bus? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I say on behalf of the Minister of Education that what I would say to those people—and if the member wishes them to ring me this afternoon I will say it personally—is that we have to ensure that we have schools that are viable so that students get a quality education and propping up schools when they are not providing that quality education is not doing that. We are not saying that that is the case at that particular school but I am saying that it is the way that this policy runs and we believe that it is the right way to go for quality.