3. Question No. 3—EducationHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 3—Education3. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of Education: Does he stand by all his statements and policies on education?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): Yes.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he stand by his statement in the House last December I want all kids to be attending school regularly and I won't accept any target that's below that."?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Absolutely yes. We do have an attendance problem in New Zealand. Student attendance in schools has been trending down since about 2015. Between 2019 and 2020 it started to turn around but then COVID-19 came and since then the attendance challenge has continued. We need to get kids back in school. Not being in school is one of the biggest barriers to student achievement.Hon Paul Goldsmith: What was the target for regular attendance he agreed with his ministry for the last year that they have reported on?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: That will be reflected in the annual report of the ministry. I don't have that with me at the moment. But the key thing is we need to be doing everything we can to get every child attending school regularly. The measures are problematic—the measures are problematic. One of the issues that you have with this is if a family and this is increasingly happening in wealthier families take their kid out of school for an extended family holiday such as an overseas trip—not happening so much at the moment but has been happening—then actually they don't meet the attendance criteria. On the other hand a child that is arriving at school regularly late potentially leaving early may well meet the attendance criteria and that's not necessarily helpful. So I'd caution the member that we all need to be careful around what we regard as the most important measures here.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he not know what target he agreed with his ministry as to regular attendance?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I don't have all of the Ministry of Education's performance targets memorised. I do recall though that one of the issues with the particular target the member has in mind is that it sets a particular threshold for the amount of time a student needs to be in school. That is quite a high one. And one of the challenges with that as I've indicated is that that will sometimes mean that absences that are justified or excusable are captured.Hon Paul Goldsmith: What good does it do for a Minister to say "I want all kids to be attending school regularly and I won't accept any target that's below that." when he has agreed a target of just 70 percent with his ministry when he can't remember what that target is and—SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! No no. The Minister's not going to answer it. The member didn't sit down when I called him to order. The question's finished. The member may have a further supplementary if he wants one.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Mr Speaker I was looking the other way. How can I have seen? SPEAKER: Well I don't think anyone for a long time has accused me of having a quiet voice. As I stood up the member looked away. I considered that deliberate and if he didn't hear me that's his problem. Further supplementary Paul Goldsmith.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Well point of order Mr Speaker. I'd like to know how I'm supposed to judge whether you've stood up when I'm looking the other way.SPEAKER: By using your ears. Question No. 4—Hon Paul Goldsmith: Point of order.SPEAKER: No. Question No. 4 Ginny Andersen. Ginny Andersen: Thank you Mr Speaker—Hon Paul Goldsmith: Mr Speaker I have another supplementary.SPEAKER: No you don't. Ginny Andersen: Thank you Mr Speaker. My question is—[Interruption] My question is to the Minister of Housing—Chris Bishop: A point of order. Can I just ask why Mr Goldsmith was prevented from asking a supplementary question then?SPEAKER: Because I ruled that he would not have one after he took a point of order which he knew was out of order."