8. ANNE TOLLEY (National—East Coast) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
Does he have confidence in the Ministry of Education; if so, why?
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Education) Link to this
Yes, but I am sure the Ministry of Education, like all of us, can always do better.
Why did the ministry’s non-attendance prosecution trial, launched in 2004, see just four prosecutions last year and only 24 in total over the last 4 years, when it released truancy figures last year showing that under a Labour Government truancy had increased by 20 percent since the beginning of that trial, which sees 31,000 truants absent in any one week?
Once again, the House is presented with some statements by the member that, under scrutiny, do not bear up to the facts. The fact is that boards of trustees choose to prosecute parents, and there have been approximately 24 cases where parents have been prosecuted on the decisions of boards of trustees. As for the truancy figures the member quotes, they have been disputed and addressed in this House on a number of occasions by me. She has simply made the figure up. In fact, we cannot possibly know how many students were truanting, because it was not until this year that we established an electronic enrolment scheme that would finally tell us, for the first time ever, how many students were missing from New Zealand schools.
Hon Marian HobbsHow has the Labour-led Government, through the Ministry of Education, delivered for all New Zealanders?
The Labour-led Government has increased funding for education by a whopping 72 percent since it has been in Government. This huge additional investment has enabled us, since 1999, to introduce 20 free hours of early childhood education for all 3 and 4-year-olds and increase teachers’ pay by 40 percent. We have employed more than 5,000 additional teachers above raw growth, built 34 new schools and 1,500 new classrooms, tripled funding for industry training, and introduced Modern Apprenticeships and no-interest student loans. We have invested an amazing $4 billion extra a year into the education system. This is a very solid record of achievement that stands in stark contrast to National’s dismal and mean record in the 1990s of bulk funding, demoralised teachers, and grossly indebted students.
If the Minister is serous about cracking down on truancy, why does his ministry not know how many truancy prosecutions were taken by schools last year or how many district truancy workers there are on the ground throughout New Zealand; and why has the ministry’s crackdown on truancy in problem regions resulted in only 24 prosecutions in the last 4 years?
On the one hand, the member says that we do not know how many prosecutions there are, but then, on the other hand, she quotes the figure of 24, which I gave just a couple of minutes ago. I remind the House that boards of trustees make the decision to prosecute parents. Prosecution is the final stage of a very long process of trying to get kids back to school. Of course, boards would be reluctant to reach that point without trying other things like mediation and intervention. In the end, though, that is a decision for the boards, not for the Ministry of Education.
Why is it that a Government that talks tough on truancy does not know how many prosecutions there are, does not know how many truancy officers there are, and itself prosecutes only 24 cases in 4 years on its new streamlined process, yet it watches over a 20 percent increase in truancy, which is climbing to 31,000 truants in any one week here in New Zealand?
Where does the member get the figure of 31,000 from? Does she simply make it up? I remind the House again that for the very first time ever at the end of this year we will be able to tell how many students have been truanting in New Zealand. We have never been able to know that before. Why will we be able to know it? Because this Government has invested in an electronic enrolment system that every school in New Zealand is now on. We have invested in education. We have not bulk funded; we have not cut funding for education. We believe that education is the key to lifting all New Zealanders to their full potential.
The Minister asks where I get my information from. I seek leave to table the report from the ministry showing that 31,000 truants in any one week—
Madam SPEAKERI seek leave to table the Minister’s answer to written question No. 1434, which shows that the ministry does not collect any data on how many front-line truancy officers there are in New Zealand.
I seek leave to table the answer to written question No. 1436, which shows that the ministry does not collect any numbers of the prosecutions—