4. Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister for Tertiary Education
What does she say to the over 53,000 people who signed petitions seeking reinstatement of funding to night classes delivered through high schools and community groups about their future lack of access to second-chance education, including literacy and numeracy skills, resulting from her funding cuts?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Tertiary Education) Link to this
Fifty-three thousand? That is about twice the number of people who know who Phil Goff is. The Government remains committed to adult and community education. That is why in these tough times we are investing $124 million in adult and community education over the next 4 years. But we have made the decision to prioritise some funding towards 2,000 places under the Youth Guarantee for the young people of New Zealand, who are the most affected by an economic recession.
Mr SPEAKERI apologise to the member. The House is being quite noisy. I accept there are issues that members feel strongly about, but when I call a member to ask a question, I ask that the interjections cease on both sides, please.
Hon Gerry Brownlee Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. You equally call on Ministers to answer questions, but you do not seem to apply quite the same rigour to the way in which the Opposition members barrack during Ministers’ answers. It does not really bother us, because we watch the TV and we know—
The Leader of the House will resume his seat. I think it does not take a lot of thought to realise that if an answer is provocative the Minister cannot expect the Speaker to prevent the other side of the House from responding. However, I accept that I have allowed a bit more noise than I usually do, and I apologise if that has caused a problem. I will try to tighten up on it a bit.
Hon Maryan Street Link to this
Does she now agree that if she cannot see the significance of 53,000 New Zealanders signing these petitions, and if she does not listen to their concerns and reverse the decision to cut funding to adult and community education courses, she will be failing communities all around New Zealand and failing as the Minister for Tertiary Education; if not, why not?
The member asking the question has asked those questions in the House for months now, and the answer is the same. Providing second-chance opportunities for people in the community is a priority for this Government, which is why we are providing $124 million to adult and community education. But second-chance learning also occurs at universities, polytechs, wānanga, and private training enterprises. They all got an increase in funding in the Budget.
Allan PeacheyOne of the primary drivers was the $521 million of unfunded commitments that the member asking the primary question, as Associate Minister for Tertiary Education in the previous Government, left for the incoming Government to find. We had to find half a billion dollars worth of unfunded commitments out of the tertiary budget before we started.
Darien FentonIs she aware that there will be no adult and community education classes north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 2010; and what representations have her colleagues made to her about this?
A number of people have raised a number of issues around the changes that we are making to adult and community education. In fact, I met with representatives of Wellington High School, including the Spanish teacher, who was concerned that his classes, taken by people who had since written to him from Chile and Bolivia saying how helpful the classes were, would not be able to continue. The taxpayers cannot continue to support the funding of such hobby courses. Literacy and numeracy are the focus for the $124 million of adult and community education funding that this Government is supporting.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. My colleague Darien Fenton asked a question about services in the area north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, which most people refer to as Auckland. The Minister, in her reply, told us what a Wellington provider thought. She did not answer the question, which asked whether there would be services north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.
If that was the only question asked, that would be fine. But I invite the member to listen to the supplementary questions being asked. The supplementary question asked what representations the Minister had received on the matter. In the Minister’s answer she talked about representations she had received on the matter. The example she gave later on did not relate to Northland, but she had already answered. She only needs to answer one part of a supplementary—
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. The member asked about representations. She asked about representations from colleagues. That question was not addressed.
The Minister answered the question. She said she had received a number of representations on the matter. I think that anyone would assume that she was talking about what the member had asked her about. We do not need to get as pedantic as that. As far as I am concerned, she answered the question.
Hon Damien O’Connor Link to this
Does she think it is acceptable that there will be no adult and community education classes in the whole of the West Coast - Tasman electorate?
The Tertiary Education Commission has not yet finalised that matter. It is my understanding that the initial discussions have been held and it has not yet been finalised; that is coming in the near future.
Chris HipkinsDoes she think it is acceptable that no secondary schools in the Hutt Valley will even be applying for adult and community education night classes next year; and has she communicated the details of her funding cuts to National list MP Paul Quinn, who told a public meeting in Upper Hutt that those who claimed that the funding had been cut had their facts wrong?
This Government is investing $124 million in adult and community education. That does not have to be provided through schools; it can be provided through a variety of tertiary institutions. I say again that the final decisions have not been made and they will not be made until a few weeks from now.
Kelvin DavisWhat will be the impact of reduced adult and community education provision on Māori, who frequently access these classes as a route back into formal education?
There are a lot of myths about adult and community education. Māori will benefit from the new focus on literacy and numeracy; I am not quite sure how supporting classes in ukulele playing and tie-dying silk scarves will help many Māori back into formal education.
Carmel SepuloniWhat will be the impact of reduced adult and community education provision on Pacific Island parents who rely on these classes to equip them to understand what their children are learning at school, to improve and increase parenting skills, and to improve their English?
Again, I say that there are a lot of myths about adult and community education. Those parents will benefit from the focus on numeracy, literacy, and foundation skills; again, I am not sure that the taxpayer’s continuing to fund hobby courses on things like Moroccan cooking, ukulele playing, belly dancing, make-up, and how to better one’s relationships will do those parents any good at all.