8. Hon BILL ENGLISH (National—Clutha-Southland) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
What is his response to the recent report identifying “the 25 top-performing high schools” in the Auckland region, and has he received any communications from parents about the usefulness of the report?
Does the Minister agree with this statement in the article: “With no reliable official data publicly available to rank schools, choosing the best one for your child is a hit-and-miss affair.”; if he does agree, why does he not open up the SchoolSmart website so that parents can get reliable official data?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I remind the member, in case he was not listening, that I said initially that I have not read the article, so I cannot comment on that particular matter.
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
Actually, I do not spend all my time reading magazines, as the member obviously does. To the second question, the answer is no. To the third—although I am required to answer only two—the answer is that the SchoolSmart site is available to parents who approach their schools, and I know of no parent who has been turned down.
Madam SPEAKER
Dr Ashraf Choudhary Link to this
What is the Government doing to assist parents to make informed choices about their child’s schooling?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
The Government provides a wealth of information and advice to parents through local schools, the Education Review Office, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority website, Team-Up, and the Ministry of Education. We will shortly publish a helpful guide for parents outlining questions they should ask schools when making decisions about their child’s schooling. The Team-Up website is being further developed to provide useful and usable data for parents. I also intend to do substantial new work in this area on behalf of parents and will make announcements in the relatively near future, which may settle “Mr Angry” on the other side of the House.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. It is a breach of the Standing Orders to refer to a member in anything other than respectful terms.
Hon Brian Donnelly Link to this
Is it not correct, from what the Minister has heard about it, that the Metro article reflects the conclusions of the academic study by Professors Harker and Nash of Massey University in 1998 that showed that when we rank schools on value-adding we arrive at league tables totally different from those based simply on the results of one-off national assessments, as espoused by the National Party?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
Both Mr Harker and Mr Nash are former colleagues of mine, and their work is recognised all around the world. Both of them would agree that league tables assume that students are randomly assigned to schools and can therefore be directly compared. Both would say that that is utter nonsense and that is why league tables are a waste of time.
Allan PeacheyWhat reassurances will the Minister give to the parents of those students attending secondary school in Auckland who are studying for the Cambridge International Examinations that their young people are in fact attending some of the very best schools in New Zealand?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
If I understand the member’s question correctly, the answer is that students are free to study for the Cambridge exam if they would like to, but parents will find that in order to succeed in this system it is necessary for their child to succeed in the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), an assessment process that is now, I think, winning the support of the entire education sector. I note, for example, that St Cuthbert’s, one of the private schools that is often used to reference other schools, applauds NCEA.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I refer you to a discussion you had earlier with the House and ask that the Minister actually reassure parents.
Why did a Ministry of Education official by the name of Bruce Adin release some of the data from the SchoolSmart website to Metro magazine in order to help it identify the top-ranking schools; and if the ministry can release data to , why can it not release it to parents?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I have no idea why Mr Adin—whoever he is—acts in the way he does, but parents can get access to the SchoolSmart site simply by talking to the school and then receiving that information in the context of the school, which is the best way to get it.
Why did the Minister tell the House some months ago that the School Trustees Association was one of a number of education groups that agreed that the SchoolSmart information should be kept secret, when in fact the School Trustees Association has asked him and the ministry for access to that information and has been turned down?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I did not say that anybody was asking that it be kept secret. What I said was that education groups agreed that this information should be accessed through the school, as the best way of doing it.