Hipkins Chris: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHipkins Chris: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 29 July 2015. Volume:707;Page:5425. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka) to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by her Government’s commitment that if partnership schools don’t succeed “the Government will be just as quick to close them down as we have been to establish them”; if so how much taxpayer money is expected to be received by the Whangaruru partnership school between 28 May 2015 the date the Ministry recommended the termination of its contract and 1 January 2016?Mr SPEAKER: My office has been advised this answer may be slightly longer than normal.Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education):Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Yes; the decision to allow Te Pūmanawa o te Wairua to continue operating was made in the best interests of the kids. These are not just any kids; these are some of the most vulnerable kids in our country who face a bleak future if they are unable to gain educational qualifications. I want to give them every chance possible to do that. The Ministry of Education did not recommend termination of the school’s contract but it did advise me following the specialist audit that the grounds for termination existed should I choose to do so. As I have already stated to terminate in the middle of the school year would not be in the best interests of these kids. Te Pūmanawa o te Wairua will continue to operate under its contract and will therefore receive $412000 per quarter. This is the money that would have been spent had these kids attended other schools. In addition the kura may receive up to $129000 following discussions with the Ministry of Education which will allow for implementation of its remedial plan and to fund external expertise. Finally the board of the school is very aware that I have reserved the right to terminate the agreement before the end of the year if I am not satisfied students are receiving the standard of education they deserve and need.Chris Hipkins: Did she receive and read the report from the Ministry of Education dated 28 May 2015 that states: “We recommend that the Minister of Education … agree to issue under clause 25 of the Agreement the Sponsor with the attached notice proposing termination of its Partnership School Agreement;”; if so how does she reconcile that with the comment that she just made saying that she never received a recommendation to close the school?Hon HEKIA PARATA: I did read that report and the reason the member has it is that I made it publicly available. At the time that the ministry was writing that report on 28 May the ministry was concerned that those who were in charge of the school were resistant to the kinds of changes that were needed to ensure that these kids were given a better education. Since then the board chair has been changed. Since then they have accepted the appointment of a trustee with an education focus. Since then there is an appointee who will deal with the business side of things. Since then there is a new educational leader. Am I prepared to go further for these 39 kids in the hope that they might get a better education? Yes.Chris Hipkins: So she did get a recommendation—Mr SPEAKER: Order! Just ask the supplementary question.Chris Hipkins: Did she receive advice from the Ministry of Education that the ministry considers that the performance failures are not capable of remedy; if so what evidence did she rely upon when she made the decision to ignore that advice and keep the school open?Hon HEKIA PARATA: Yes and the answer—the very full one I just gave to the first supplementary question—explains why I chose to take a different course of action. At the time that advice was proffered it was clear that the governance and management of the school were not delivering what was required for the kids. Now I am satisfied that with the new governance and the new educational leadership we will have more optimism that these young people will get educational qualifications. [Interruption] And your colleagues crowing beside you who have seen Pasifika education go up under this Government because we have gone the extra leg should be applauding that rather than crowing over there.Chris Hipkins: If the well-being of the students in question are indeed the Minister’s primary concern did she receive and read the advice from the Ministry of Education: “The Ministry already has measures in place to transition students attending the school to other schools.”; if so why is she saying she needed to keep the school open in order to give those kids an education?Hon HEKIA PARATA: Yes I both received and read—and considered and deliberated and discussed—the report of 28 May and I made the decision I made based on the answers I have already given in the previous two supplementary answers.Chris Hipkins: Why should the public of New Zealand have any more confidence in her decision to ignore the advice from the Ministry of Education to close the school than they did in her decision to ignore the Ministry of Education’s advice not to open the school in the first place given the litany of failure that has followed?Hon HEKIA PARATA: I completely understand that the member cannot differentiate between advice given in one set of circumstances and advice given in another set of circumstances. But I think the public should have confidence that this Government has been prepared to go the extra mile for kids who are the most vulnerable. This has been demonstrated not just in the education sector but across our whole social sector approach. We are prepared to make bigger efforts because we want these most vulnerable kids to get the best chance possible.Chris Hipkins: Can she now guarantee that every taxpayer dollar the school has received as well as the $1 million more that they are expected to receive for the remainder of this year will be spent appropriately and for the benefit of students’ education?Hon HEKIA PARATA: As with the other $10.8 billion in Vote Education that is entrusted to boards of trustees across the country I cannot make guarantees of that nature but I am confident that every school sets out to do the best that it possibly can and I expect that of this school and we will be monitoring it. [Interruption] We will be monitoring—what a sad sack those members are.