4. Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
Is it the purpose of the funding for education in the Budget to help New Zealanders improve their skills and enable the country to emerge quickly from the recession; if so, does she think it meets that purpose?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) Link to this
The overall purpose of the Budget is to put New Zealand on the road to recovery. Our commitment to education and skills is demonstrated by the fact that despite significant financial pressures, we have managed to spend more on education than any previous Government has spent. By staying focused on quality education and training, we will ensure that New Zealand is positioned to take advantage of the economic recovery as it happens.
Hon Maryan Street Link to this
In view of the last part of her answer, how does the Minister respond to the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors Committee, which considers the university funding cuts to be so savage as to provoke it to say “Budget 2009 has dealt universities a body blow, denied students study opportunities and raised serious concerns over future Government support for the university system.”?
I disagree with the Vice-Chancellors Committee’s comments and point out to it, as I said in the House yesterday, that spending on tertiary education is to rise from $2.66 billion in 2008-09 to $2.78 billion in 2009-10.
Aaron GilmoreWhat reports has the Minister received on the funding that the previous Government left for the promises it made to the tertiary sector?
The previous Government’s scorched earth spending policy seems to have reached its pinnacle in the tertiary education arena. Over $500 million was promised, without any dollars being committed. Promises such as the CPI indexation into 2010-11 and commitments to increases in student support entitlements in the out-years were left unfunded. That was news to the sector, which had been told by the previous Government that the money was locked in and ready for it to use. Well, we have managed to find funding to give those tertiary institutions the CPI adjustment in those 2 years and to maintain student support.
Mr SPEAKER
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I think I can speak for members on this side of the House when I say, again, your intervention there was not helpful. The Minister was answering the question, we were interested in it, and the more she was answering the more interested we were getting.
The member has been in this House long enough to know that the Speaker is the sole judge of the length of questions and answers.
Hon Maryan Street Link to this
What does the Minister say to the Risingholme Community Centre in Ōpawa, Christchurch, which because of the cut to its community education programme will be unable to continue to provide the affordable courses it has provided until now and may have to close?
The savings in the adult and community education sector are aimed at ending Government subsidies for hobby and recreation courses and to redirect the remaining funding to courses that are focused on literacy, numeracy, and foundation skills. It was a decision for the Government to make in Budget 2009 between providing Government funding to make courses like concrete shell mosaics or gardening in the wind cheaper, and providing extra money for special education students. The member can make up her own mind on this, but this Government’s education priorities are significantly higher than the previous Government’s.
Hon Maryan Street Link to this
Which of the community groups previously funded by the Risingholme Community Centre to run courses that will not be able to be funded in the future does the Minister think run hobby courses: English Language Partners, Stopping Violence Services, the Adult Reading Assistance Scheme, or Christchurch Resettlement Services?