Nimon KatieEducationKATIE NIMON (Chairperson of the Education and Workforce Committee): Thank you Mr Chair. It's a pleasure to stand up and speak to the education sector annual reviews just acknowledging obviously the first annual reviews of this 54th Parliament. The process was fairly spread out comparative to normal times which made for a bit of a lengthy process for the Education and Workforce Committee. I think regardless the committee did very well to hear from a wide range of education sector organisations. There was a robust line of questioning shared quite well between both the Government and the Opposition. I also note that the committee heard from both the Minister of Education and the Associate Minister of Education—given the nature of the portfolio spread—as well as the Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills which provided a good overview of not only what has happened in the last year that this period is reviewing but also the strategic intent which has been outlined by the Standing Orders.What I'd like to do is take the committee of the whole House through an overview of what was discussed given that there will be some questions following my time here. So it's very helpful for me to give an overview for those listening or watching from home. Of course we had the priorities of the education sector but just to let those listening know the agencies and organisations that we heard from were: the Ministry of Education the Tertiary Education Commission the Education Review Office the New Zealand Qualifications Authority Education New Zealand Education Payroll Limited and Network for Learning—some in-depth some in a standard review format some in a review briefing format and some pro forma. Of course it's worth noting that the time reviewed was during the time of the former Government which did make for an interesting hearing process but that has none the less been robust.We focused a lot on student achievement talking about structured literacy talking about a refreshed and NCEA addressing student achievement and charter schools. We focused on the administrative pressures on education providers and funding in the sector. We focused on vocational education with Te Pūkenga university and then of course the fees-free scheme which was of great interest to the committee. Additionally when we focused specifically on the Ministry of Education of course there was a question on financial performance but most interestingly on non-financial performance. Some of the more interesting or major issues that were considered by the committee were early learning and the pathway to school—and of course early learning and its regulatory requirements which will be of no surprise to most people. Additionally: providing learning support refreshing the national curriculum supporting teachers to deliver that curriculum and those outcomes addressing student achievement and quite interesting to the committee declining school attendance. Obviously that covered not just attendance via what you would typically think of but also school transport and how that fitted in as well. We talked about investing in the workforce within education empowering school leaders and principals; not surprisingly property the National Education Growth Plan property maintenance and enabling a devolved system.Of course of high interest but not discussed in length was the cell phone ban in schools supporting Māori learners the healthy school lunches programme and how the ministry interacts with the Tertiary Education Commission. Of course with the Tertiary Education Commission as well there was a significant amount of interest in regional responsiveness to industry as well as the review of vocational education which has been a significant part of not only the last year that we have reviewed but also years prior. So as well as that many things that the Tertiary Education Commission are working on—as I mentioned prior fees-free and then of course equitable learner outcomes was a considerable aspect of the work that was undertaken. Of course financial stability and sustainability of the tertiary sector was significant.Mr Chair I will just take the last 20 seconds to note that during this review process Fa'anānā Efeso Collins was part of our committee and was part of these hearings. So I make note that he had great interest in this subject particularly.