5. Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister for Tertiary Education
What role does she see for adult and community education in the upskilling and retraining of people seeking to make themselves more employable during the recession?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Tertiary Education) Link to this
This Government is committed to funding adult and community education that directly supports further study or leads to employment outcomes. Our commitment to adult and community education is demonstrated by the fact that over the next 4 years we will spend $124 million on the sector.
Hon Maryan Street Link to this
Why will parents who proactively seek to take parenting courses be denied access to them because the Government has cut funding not only to parenting courses but also to all other adult and community education courses?
That member is not correct. I am advised that parenting courses currently receive funding from a whole range of different social service agencies, including district health boards. Schools that have received adult and community education funding for parenting courses will be able to engage with the Tertiary Education Commission through the funding process over the next couple of months. I suggest that the member, instead of scaremongering out there in the sector, advises those services to contact the Tertiary Education Commission immediately.
Hon Maryan Street Link to this
Why, after a meeting of educational professionals in March that recommended increasing the number of parenting courses available, did the Minister decide to overrule that recommendation by reducing, not increasing, the number of courses, as a result of the cuts to funding for adult and community education?
I repeat the answer that I gave to the member previously. Parenting courses are funded through a whole range of different social service agencies. The best thing those organisations can do is talk to the Tertiary Education Commission about funding for next year.
Colin KingI have seen a report from the member who asked the primary question calling for the funding changes to be reversed. That is typical of the Labour Party, because there is no mention of how it would be paid for. [ Interruption] Members opposite do not like it when we tell the truth about them. They have not come up with any way of paying for it. All they have come up with is debt. In fact, we can only assume that they want us to borrow more in order to—[ Interruption]—put it on the bill—exactly. The previous Government left debts in education. It left unfunded promises. This Government is not prepared to continue borrowing to fund.
Catherine Delahunty Link to this
Tēna koe. Tēnā koutou katoa. What would the Minister say to the former adult education students whom I met in Canterbury on Friday, who told me that participating in so-called “hobby” adult and community education courses led directly from a total lack of confidence to running a business and employing staff? [ Interruption]
Mr SPEAKERWhat I would say to those people is that they may well still have those opportunities. They should talk to the people who run the courses, because, in fact, those courses could still be available. Correspondence has come into my office—form letters, I think we call them—from people around the country who are taking courses such as How to Look 10 Years Younger, and Continental Cakes. These people say that they are taking these classes to increase their skills, improve the quality of their lives, and learn something new—and that is to be applauded. But they also say that they would be able to attend those classes even if the course fees were to increase substantially. So I would tell the people whom the member mentioned to talk to the people running those courses, because they may well still be prepared to run them, and those people can pay a little bit more and attend them.
Hon Maryan Street Link to this
What does it say about this Government’s education priorities when it can find $35 million for private schools at the expense of accessible adult and community education courses for more than 400,000 New Zealanders?
I am pleased that the member asked that question, because what it says about the Labour Party is that its spokespeople cannot get their stories straight. The member asks that sort of question, when Labour’s education spokesperson says “that the government’s decision to increase private school subsidies has opened a can of possible savings or at the very least opportunities for reallocation based on fairness and equity.” On the one hand, the Opposition’s education spokesperson is in favour of supporting private schools, and, on the other hand, its tertiary education spokesperson is looking to take the funding.