5. TE URUROA FLAVELL (Māori Party—Waiariki) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
Kei hea a ia i te whakanuitanga o tana kupu here i te Hui-tanguru 2006 i kī nei: “Ka āwhinatia ngā kura ki te whakatika i ngā mahi tātai a ētahi mātua”, ki te whakatau tikanga mō ngā raruraru e pā ana ki te whakauru kura, pēnei i te rīhi whare i tētahi takiwā kātahi ka nuku whare, te pānuitanga wāhi mahi hei kāinga noho i te wāhi here ā-kura, te tono a ētahi i a rātou tamariki ki te kāinga o tētahi atu hoa, whānau rānei, te rīhi kopa ā-noho rānei i te takiwā ake o te kura, kia āhei ai rātou ki te tuku tamariki ki ngā kura?
[What progress has he made in honouring his commitment in February 2006 that “schools would be helped to deal with the tactics some parents used” to solve school enrolment scheme problems, tactics which include renting a house in a zone then moving out, using a business address in the school’s zone as a postal address to get their children in, and moving their children to friends or extended family, or renting rooms in the school’s area?]
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) Link to this
What I said at the time was: “If that is something that the schools brought to us that’s something we would look at.” I also indicated that schools would be helped with such tactics if they approached the Ministry of Education; the ministry does that when schools approach it. I should note in general, though, that the boards are required to make judgment calls on the few enrolments that the present boards see as having unusual circumstances. I am confident that the boards are in the best position to be able to make these kinds of judgments, and they are assisted in this by the guidelines made available to them through the ministry.
Te Ururoa Flavell Link to this
Can the Minister explain how school enrolment schemes or school zoning protects against the polarisation of schools along racial lines?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
Enrolment schemes are part of the way that we ensure we have a fair amount of choice while we guard the quality of education in each of the schools. I say to people around the House that over many years different Governments have struggled with trying to provide a balance between choice and protecting quality, and all of us have arrived at the same answer, which is the current system.
Te Ururoa Flavell Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Tēnā koe, Madam Speaker. With respect, the Minister gave an explanation about school enrolment schemes and school zoning, but the thrust of the question was about the polarisation of schools along racial lines. I ask you to get the Minister to reconsider and give us a little bit more clarity around that part of the question.
Madam SPEAKERI thought the Minister did address the question, but if he wishes to add to his answer, then please do so.
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I was explaining to the member that the way we have worked out the balance between quality and choice has been through such mechanisms as the enrolment scheme. The issue raised by the member, of course, is not directly addressed only by such schemes; it has to do with things like the choice of housing that people make, which school they want their children to go to, and their preparedness to drive them around the city to that school. So this would be only part of the solution to it. If we were to look at the wider question that the member is raising, we would have to look at a whole range of portfolios, to look at the choices that parents make.
Moana MackeyWhat assistance does the Ministry of Education give to schools that have difficulties administering the enrolment scheme legislation?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
Schools have the power to annul enrolments if they believe that enrolments are not genuine, and some schools do exactly that. The ministry provides schools with advice and support in these cases. In one case, the ministry has worked extensively with a school to assist it with the management of its enrolment scheme, and this has seen the ministry uphold some of the board’s decisions to annul enrolments. It is a difficult issue but one that we work closely with schools on to ensure the fairest treatment for students.
Hon Brian Donnelly Link to this
Can the Minister confirm that the Government was alerted to all of these potential difficulties when it introduced balloting in the 2000 legislation, and that these tactics are employed largely by parents wanting their children to attend just a few specific schools; if so, why has it taken so long for these few schools to have available to them the additional resources needed to combat such tactics?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
The member, of course, has been around these issues for some time, and he is right that these issues have been canvassed since the year 2000. I have to say, though, that not many schools have difficulties with these areas of enrolment. At the moment, for example, I am aware that we are working with only one school around the country that is directly involved in these kinds of issues. I imagine that the member from the Māori Party is raising the debate around Christchurch at the present time, where we will have to have a discussion with schools about these kinds of issues to ensure that people are being treated fairly.
Te Ururoa Flavell Link to this
Kia ora, Madam Speaker. Following on from the statement from the Minister, what will he do to address the situation described in the comment of Aranui High School principal John Rohs, as reported in yesterday’s Press, that enrolment schemes were failing to stem white flight across Christchurch City—a phenomenon that Rohs described as parents “deserting the eastern suburbs for schools with whiter, richer students.”?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
In the view of another principal from the area who is quoted in the Press this morning, Paul Armitage, there is no better system than the current enrolment scheme system we have. As I say, it really comes down to the pretty complex issue of where people choose to have their houses, and what they are prepared to do in terms of driving their children around the city to the schools that they want them to go to. As I say, this is an area where we will probably have to take up a broad discussion with schools, just to ensure that people are being treated fairly.
Te Ururoa Flavell Link to this
Is the Minister aware of the findings of the Smithfield project in the 1990s that the biggest beneficiaries of the removal of zoning were Māori and Pasifika families, and what strategies is he developing to address the fact that zoning has resulted in a reduced ethnic mix in many schools in New Zealand?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
Yes, I am aware of those findings, but I say to the member that since then quite a lot of effort has been made to ensure that the enrolment scheme process is one that maintains choice—that is, that people can take their children to their local schools. It is only when that school reaches the point where capacity is being threatened—that is, the quality of the school is being threatened by overcapacity—that the enrolment scheme is put in. We are saying that in those circumstances we have the best possible arrangement we can have. Now it is about ensuring that communities do not fulfil the fear that the member has that we are seeing the winnowing out of people from one school to the other as we see the white flight that he is concerned about.
Te Ururoa Flavell Link to this
I seek leave to table the article from the Christchurch Press of Monday, 16 July 2007, “ ‘White flight’ skews school rolls”.