2. Hon BRIAN DONNELLY (NZ First) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
On what basis was the list of students drawn up whose New Zealand birth certificates, certificates of citizenship, or passports were required during last year’s roll audit of Kamo Intermediate School in Whangarei?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) Link to this
I am advised that, as is standard practice, the names were chosen at random by the auditor, who has extensive experience in auditing schools-related funding claims.
Hon Brian Donnelly Link to this
How, in a Northland school with only 4 percent of its roll new-immigrant children, could the following list be described as a random selection: Sun Jung Kim, Ja Yeon Kim, Phillip Kwok, Suzanne Kwok, Wen Lee, Hollins Packijarajah, Melissa Wong, Karlis Zvirgzdins, Matiss Zvirgzdins, Jimmy Hei Hei, Miae Kang, Bhagwat Lal, Indigo Bouras, Yi Tin Lin, Ping-Yu Lin, and Karl Fountain?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I do not know what the names of the rest of the pupils in the school are; they may well go on in the same fashion that the member outlined. But I can advise the member that I am advised that those names were chosen at random by the auditor, who has a lot of experience in auditing schools-related funding claims.
Hon Brian Donnelly Link to this
How does the Minister believe the parents of Melissa Wong, who is a third-generation New Zealander, feel about her being picked out on suspicion that she is illegally attending school, simply because of her name?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
If that was the case, then of course I would feel the same as those parents would feel: that that is not a good idea. But I want to say it is common practice that a random group of students is picked, and, from what I am told, that is what happened in this case.
Hon Brian Donnelly Link to this
Would the Minister consider the list an example of his Government’s policy of ethnic exclusivity, or are students being selected for special scrutiny on the basis of presumed ethnicity?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
What members need to understand is that the audit was about people checking passports, birth certificates, and so on. What we found was that 17 students at the school could not be accounted for. The school was asked for more information. The list dropped to three students. Those three students are now fee-paying students, and the rest are registered at the school in the normal way.