4. Question No. 4—EducationJAN TINETTI (Labour) to the Minister of EducationQuestion No. 4—Education4. JAN TINETTI (Labour) to the Minister of Education: What is the Government doing to support schools to manage the impact of COVID-19?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): The Government is supporting schools with links to cases and schools in general by making sure that the most up-to-date information is provided to them. Another special bulletin went out on Friday evening to all schools and early learning services across the country reiterating the key facts about COVID-19 in New Zealand. The bulletin set out the agreed protocol that the Ministry of Education and regional health services have—in particular who will help schools through each stage of the process if a school or someone associated with a school comes into contact with COVID-19. Principals and school leaders have also been provided with templates that they can use to send information to their parent communities to reiterate the current facts around COVID-19 and the key health messages.Jan Tinetti: What support is the Government providing specifically to supporting schools in Auckland with links to cases?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: There are currently four schools in Auckland with links to cases. The Ministry of Education with support from Auckland Regional Public Health Service are in frequent contact with the four principals in all of those schools to help them with any queries. Ministry support teams have also been offered to other schools to help on the ground if needed. Information has been provided to the wider Auckland regional schools to ensure there is transparency and that everyone is getting the same messages. The key message for parents to hear is that in the case of all four of these schools the advice from Health is that it is safe for students to be at school and that those students have not been exposed to COVID-19. As has always been the case when a child is unwell they should not go to school.Jan Tinetti: What is the Government doing to support the most accurate information going out to concerned parents?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The Ministry of Education are working with Auckland Regional Public Health Services to provide tailored communication in a timely manner for parents where that is needed. Government agencies are responding with the latest evidence on COVID-19 and it's important that everybody in public positions reaffirms this information. We understand and appreciate that parents will voice their concerns but the very best thing that parents should be doing is getting accurate information from experts.Jan Tinetti: What feedback has he seen from principals on the Government's support for schools over the last week?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I have seen some positive feedback from a very unlikely source in fact. Auckland Grammar's principal Tim O'Connor a known advocate for the Government has said—SPEAKER: Order! Order! No irony.Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: —ha ha!—that the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health have been superb in the advice that they have been giving to schools. I do want to take this opportunity to thank all four school principals for the degree of professionalism they have shown in responding to these cases. It gives great confidence that our education system will be able to respond in that way if there are other cases.