7. ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tāmaki) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
Why has she released the report of her workforce advisory group for public discussion?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) Link to this
Last year I appointed a workforce advisory group to give me independent expert advice on the future of the teaching workforce. The group has produced a report called A Vision for the Teaching Profession, which I released earlier this month. I have released the report because I believe that this is a great opportunity to have an open discussion about how we can attract and train the very best teachers and ensure that they stay in the profession.
Submissions can be sent to the Ministry of Education by mail or email until 6 August. The report and a discussion document have been made directly available to schools and education sector groups. Both documents are also available to the wider public online. The Government will consider the advisory group report and outcomes of this consultation process later this year.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
Has she read and understood the report; if so, what was the main recommendation?
Yes, I have read and understood the report, and I have released it along with a discussion document asking for public input.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. It was a pretty simple question: I asked what the main recommendation was.
Mr SPEAKERIn fairness, I think that, unlike the question asked by the Leader of the Opposition yesterday, this question had two parts. The first question asked whether she had read and understood it; the second question asked what the main recommendations were. The Minister chose to say that she had read it and understood it, which meant that she had chosen to answer the first part.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
Does she agree with the main recommendation of the Education Workforce Advisory Group that 3 years is not long enough to do a quality basic teacher education programme?
I realise it comes as some surprise to the Opposition, but one releases a report with a discussion document for public consultation in order to get other people’s input into an issue. That is exactly what we have done. I do not want to pre-empt that public discussion about a very important issue like the training of our teaching force.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I took your advice from the previous question and I asked, I think, the straightest question I could: I asked whether she agreed with it. She could have said that she did not have an opinion, that she agreed with it, or that she did not agree with it—