Yang JianDr JIAN YANG (National): The previous speaker Chris Hipkins gave us a picture of gloom and doom but the reality is just the opposite. It is just the opposite. We have a very very hard-working and innovative Minister of Education. Our families and children should be very grateful we have such a capable Minister. As I said here earlier—a few weeks ago—education is a huge responsibility for any Government. In New Zealand we have a million children going to school. These kids are the future citizens and future workers. They are the future of New Zealand. For that reason the Government has been investing heavily in education and also we have been working very hard to make sure we have a modern education system that reflects New Zealand today and in the future. This bill is yet another example of our effort. The Education Legislation Bill is an omnibus bill as the Minister said. It aims to improve administrative and also governance arrangements for education entities and also funding organisations. The bill enables a principal to manage more than one school. That is very important. Both of my girls went to Newmarket Primary School in Auckland. It was a great school with a great principal. Whenever I recommended the school to someone I would always say that the school had a very good principal. So we all know that principals are extremely important to schools and to students' achievement. However not all schools are able to recruit or retain great principals especially small schools and schools in isolated rural areas. For that reason we may need to expand our ways of getting great principals for those small schools in isolated areas and this is the option. The bill enables the boards of schools to agree to—to agree to—a principal managing more than one school. It is an option. It is not compulsory; it is an option. It depends on the will of the boards of schools. That is very important. Some schools may not agree to a principal managing more than one school. However some schools would say: This is good for us. It is good for the school and good for the community." That is why we need to have this innovative way of solving the problem. I would like to congratulate the Minister on that. Another area is minimum school opening hours. Schools are seeking more flexibility simply because they need a flexible timetable to adjust to to cater for or to care for their particular students. The bill allows schools to vary their hours so long as it will not result in less school time for students in this particular school than for students in other local schools. However to do so school boards of trustees must meet the requirements that are currently placed upon them by the Minister of Education. More importantly school boards of trustees must adequately consult not only parents staff and the local community but also "any other person who the board considers may be affected". This is an option again and also it will not be done without adequate consultation. So "any other person who the board considers may be affected" could include local and regional councils and school bus operators. Another point is about licensed home-based early childhood education (ECE) providers. This bill will enable these people to offer ECE and an out-of-school care service at the same time to children aged 13 and under. This change provides flexibility for families with preschool and school-age children as their children can be cared for together. Simultaneous care is currently an unregulated activity and the proposed amendment would allow Government oversight of that. It is also important to note that this is subject to limits on child numbers the maintenance of stringent adult to child ratios and existing regulations around safety and the provision of quality learning environments. The Ministry of Education will continue to monitor home-based ECE services and will intervene if the health and safety or the quality of learning of any enrolled child is being compromised. To quote the Minister Hekia Parata: "These changes and others in the Bill are all about providing more flexibility throughout the education system for the benefit of students parents schools and other education providers." National's unrelenting focus is on raising achievement for all our students. Thank you."