8. ANNE TOLLEY (National—East Coast) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
Is he satisfied that the Ministry of Education is spending taxpayer funds wisely; if so, why?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA (Associate Minister of Education) Link to this
Yes; the recently released school-leaver statistics show that that is indeed the case. Each year since the National Certificate of Educational Achievement was introduced in 2002, the rates of achievement have been lifting. More students are getting the qualifications they need, and fewer and fewer are getting left behind.
Why does an education report from 11 April 2008 show that the Minister of Education was the one who had to approve, and did approve, the spending of nearly $60,000 on badges with phrases such as “Wassup!” and “Nice!” on them; badges that have been rubbished by the education sector, which wants money to be spent on the teaching of students, rather than on useless promotional badges?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
That was one part of Ka Hikitia, which is a system-wide strategy aimed at improving the performance of Māori students. Ka Hikitia is based on clear evidence of what will make a difference to Māori student outcomes. And those interesting phrases are used by the majority of youngsters in this country. They understand what they mean, even if some people in that member’s party struggle with them—just like they are struggling at the moment with the truth.
Hon Mark BurtonHon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
The Government announced today that 87 new schools will benefit from the latest round of funding for information and communication technologies professional development, bringing the total number of schools involved since 1999 to 1,744. This Government has committed $408 million to information and communications technology since 1999, and a further $65.3 million in Budget 2008.
Dail JonesIs the Minister satisfied that the Ministry of Education is spending wisely the funding for 20 free hours’ early childhood education; if so, will he ensure that it is urgently extended to playcentres and to those sections of kōhanga reo that are not fully benefiting from the scheme?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
Forty percent of kōhanga reo are now using that early childhood education funding. Playcentres are a different issue. But there is huge uptake by nearly 80 percent of all preschool children in any preschool education forum.
Why is it that, under his watch, the Ministry of Education contemplated spending $7,000 on origami pyramids with motivational statements on them to promote Ka Hikitia, but, instead—apparently, because it could not think of enough motivational statements to cover the pyramids—decided to spend $56,000 on similarly useless, but eight times more expensive, gimmicky badges; and can he explain how Māori achievement levels will be lifted by Japanese folding pyramids or badges with “Wassup!” on them?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
At the end of the day, that is one part of that strategy. There are several things that this Government is involved in, such as TeachNZ, Team-Up, Mission-On—those things that the general public support.
Can he confirm that his ministry spent almost $70,000 on checklists and word-find puzzles to, supposedly, fight bullying that were labelled “an absolute insult” by one principal, and that are being stacked in the corners of classrooms and in recycling bins around the country, because cards and notices do nothing to stop bullying?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
The feedback on Ka Hikitia has been amazing. It has been very supportive. Some principals—very, very few—and schools have returned the material. But in relation to the anti-bullying cards, I am surprised that that member, who preaches platitudes about getting rid of violence, dares to say that whatever effort is put in is no good. The pocket card is just one part of the Government’s wider strategy to tackle disruptive behaviour in schools. The total budget was $81,200, which included the development, printing, distribution, and launch; 675,000 cards were printed at a cost of 12 cents each. If that is the way to get into kids’ heads to stop them from bullying and creating violence, then we will do it; we will do anything to help cut that out in schools. What is that member’s policy?
Why did the Ministry of Education have five communications staff in 1999, but in 2008 it has 35 communications staff, plus contractors at a cost of almost $2.5 million a year; is this extra spin expenditure to convince schools that they do not really need more money for teaching rather than the ministry spending money on websites, Japanese paper-folding gimmicks, and cringe-worthy statements like “Wassup!” on badges?
Hon PAREKURA HOROMIA Link to this
It is surprising that that member does not believe that support—financial, or in whatever form—for websites is OK in this modern day in relation to education. The Ministry of Education’s total staff numbers—excluding the 1,380 staff who transferred to the ministry from Special Education Services in 2002-03 and the 78 staff who transferred from Early Childhood Development in 2003-04—have increased by 302 since 2004. That is a 15 percent increase in staff, which is good support for the education that our children need.
Madam SPEAKERI seek leave to table the report to the Minister of Education asking whether the badges saying “wassup” and—
I seek leave to table answers to questions that show that communications staff have increased from five to—