5. CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National—West Coast - Tasman) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
What recent milestones have been reached in connecting rural schools to ultra-fast broadband?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) Link to this
Last week I visited Te Kura o Ōmaio, which is on the east coast of the Bay of Plenty, as part of an event to mark the first three rural schools in New Zealand being connected to ultra-fast broadband. Here we connected via the internet with my colleagues the Hon Steven Joyce at Henderson Valley School, west of Auckland, and Chris Auchinvole, who was at Granity School on the West Coast. It was a fantastic opportunity for these children to meet with other students around the country and to ensure that they have the same opportunities as those who live in urban areas. This is the first step in connecting our rural schools to ultra-fast broadband; 748 rural schools will be connected directly to fibre.
When I visited Te Kura o Ōmaio the children connected live with the other two schools. They started with an astronomy lesson, and then went on to learn and talk about Matariki. It was absolutely great to watch the students from all three of those schools interacting with one another and talking and learning from each other. They were also identifying huge opportunities. In fact, the students at Ōmaio told me they want to learn Spanish, and they are investigating linking up with some schools in Spain to help them with that. This is a huge leap forward for these schools and provides the tools for much-improved learning in the 21st century.