6. ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tāmaki) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
What reports, if any, has she received on proposals to change the way schools provide information to their communities?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) Link to this
I have received legislation from the Labour Party education spokesperson that proposes a new Labour Party policy to amend the Official Information Act so that “school-level assessment information must not be publicly released.” This legislation, if passed, would ban schools from releasing information about how they, as a whole, or some of their classes, were doing at raising achievement amongst their pupils. Schools could be prohibited from voluntarily providing any of this information to their own school community. That is how much the Labour Party respects school communities.
What reports has the Minister received on the effect this would have on schools’ day-to-day business?
The initial advice I have received is that the legislation drafted by the Labour Party education spokesman would mean the following bans placed on schools: firstly, schools would be banned from putting information about students’ achievement levels in their school newsletter because this would be publishing information to the public, and, secondly, school reports would no longer be able to have class averages in them, which means that parents would have no idea how their child was doing against the rest of the class. That is how Draconian and secretive the Labour Party wants to be. It wants to stop schools engaging with their local communities—
Mr SPEAKERWhat reports has the Minister received on how the proposal will alter the ability of schools to engage with their school communities?
I have received initial advice that the legislation drafted by the Labour Party would mean that schools would be prohibited from providing information to their communities on how they achieved against their student achievement targets, just as many schools currently do. Parents around the country are crying out for more information from schools, and the Labour Party education spokesman has drafted legislation that not only slams the door in parents’ faces but also muzzles schools from voluntarily engaging with their communities.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
Is the Minister prepared to work with the Labour Party to improve the draft in order to achieve her wish of a trouble-free implementation of a national standards approach?
I have said to the member before that if he puts something sensible in front of me, I am prepared to talk to him. I will not pre-empt the consultation process that finishes on Friday. I will not pre-empt that process, and I will not be drawn on hypotheticals. I will not support any mechanism or legislation that muzzles schools from having ongoing dialogue with their communities and with parents.