8. Question No. 8—EducationHon NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) to the Associate Minister of EducationQuestion No. 8—Education8. Hon NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) to the Associate Minister of Education: Is she confident she is delivering on her promises around additional learning support for children? Hon TRACEY MARTIN (Associate Minister of Education): I want to thank the member for asking this question today because this morning I addressed the new learning support coordinators that are here in Wellington for the first of three induction forums. So far 505 of the 623 learning support coordinators have registered to attend an induction forum and they will begin work this term. This morning at the forum I also had the pleasure of launching a new kete of resources to strengthen support for students with dyslexia and improved and extra tools for the new learning support coordinators as they start in schools this year. Can I acknowledge Matt Strawbridge from Dyslexia Potential who created Dyslexia Potential to show our children with dyslexia that this is their superpower and not a negative. Hon Nikki Kaye: Can she confirm that she has failed to deliver the 623 coordinators promised by the Prime Minister by the beginning of this year in light of her answer? Hon TRACEY MARTIN: What I can confirm is that at this stage we have 505 of the 623 learning support coordinators registered for the forum. At this stage because there has been only two weeks of the school year and we have not had any payroll data in we can't say whether we have met the 623 or we are sitting at over the 80 percent mark. But what I can say to the member is that as soon as we have the payroll data and as soon as the schools that are still advertising for learning support coordinators get in contact with us the Ministry of Education will move in and assist them as soon as possible to put learning support coordinators on to the ground. Rt Hon Winston Peters: Mr Speaker—SPEAKER: Nikki Kaye—she's allowed two and then the member will have a turn. Hon Nikki Kaye: Can she confirm that 623 new learning support coordinators are in school as per the Prime Minister's promise last year? Hon TRACEY MARTIN: As I just mentioned to the member there's been only two weeks of the school year. Until the payroll data is in I cannot confirm or deny whether there are 623 coordinators but I can say to the member that 505 learning support coordinators—experienced teachers—are on the ground now. We have over 86 percent of our schools inside the new learning support delivery model. We've put $133.5 million into Ongoing Resourcing Scheme funding. We are moving forward. Rt Hon Winston Peters: How many of those positions were filled before the present Government and the Minister came to power? Hon TRACEY MARTIN: There were absolutely zero of these positions when this Government came into power because the National Government at that time refused to accept this as a recommendation of the inquiry by the Education and Science Committee into dyslexia dyspraxia and children on the autism spectrum. Hon Nikki Kaye: Does she take responsibility for the months of delay before schools knew what the allocation was the inequity of the allocation and the broken promise that the Prime Minister has made? Hon TRACEY MARTIN: I reject all parts—SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume her seat. The member will ask the question without the unauthenticated addition to it. Hon Nikki Kaye: Does she take responsibility for the months of delay before schools knew the allocation and the inequitable allocation that the Government provided? Hon TRACEY MARTIN: I reject the basic premise of the question. Hon Nikki Kaye: How does she reconcile the Prime Minister's promise that every school should have one coordinator with statements by education officials in the last week that there is no work or time line on this? Hon TRACEY MARTIN: When the first 623 learning support coordinators which was an investment of $217 million into this area by this Government—when they were first launched I made it perfectly clear that for the first 623 we would be perfecting the job description making sure that when we rolled out the rest of the learning support coordinators we would have it right that we would have the job description right and that we would have the delivery model right both for urban and rural and Māori medium and English medium. So there is work going on. It's being done by the 505 learning support coordinators who are going to be on the ground and then the rest of the learning support coordinators will be rolled out as we perfect the way to do it. Hon Nikki Kaye: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The Minister's answer was just definitive around the 505. It sort of makes a mockery of all of the answers—SPEAKER: Order! I think that if the member had been listening to the previous answers she indicated that there were 505 at some conference or briefing or something like that but she was not aware of whether the others—and she can't be aware until the payroll data is there. I was going to criticise the Minister actually for something else and that is that her answers were going on for far too long. But it does require people to listen. Hon Nikki Kaye: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I would ask you Mr Speaker to go back and listen very carefully and look at the transcript and look at the exact answer that the Minister made. The point the Minister was making was that it wasn't possible to confirm or deny definitively that number right throughout the question and then in the last question she then chose to rely on that number and I would ask you to reflect on that transcript. Hon Grant Robertson: Speaking to the point of order—SPEAKER: No no. I don't need any more. Look as both members know I have some experience in this area. I roughly know what people are talking about. I also have some experience with counting. I heard the Minister say there was at least X and it might be Y but you won't know it's Y until such time as the payroll data is in and to suggest that the Minister's misleading when she has oversupplied information which is actually consistent I think is unfair. Hon Nikki Kaye: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. SPEAKER: It better not be the same story again. Hon Nikki Kaye: I seek leave to table the unpublished transcript by the Ministry of Education that has different figures to the Minister. SPEAKER: At the? Hon Nikki Kaye: At the annual review which has not been published yet. SPEAKER: When was the annual review? Hon Nikki Kaye: Last Wednesday. SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that? There is none. It may be tabled. Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Rt Hon Winston Peters: On the question of counting Minister how many of the 623 coordinators did the Hon Nikki Kaye call for before they were established? Hon TRACEY MARTIN: Zero. SPEAKER: Order! No there's not responsibility for that.