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Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Hon Dr Pita Sharples confirmed today that the Independent Review of Public Funding to Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust Board is underway.

“A lot of work has been completed to establish this independent review, with Ernst & Young commissioned to carry it out. I am pleased that this has moved forward with urgency,” says Ms Parata.

Education Minister Hekia Parata says nine people have been appointed to the Aranui Community Leadership Group (ACLG), established to lead community consultation on the year 1-13 Aranui campus announced last month.

“Members were selected following registrations of interest received from the Aranui community. The members of the group were chosen because of their experience and commitment to the community,” says Ms Parata. 

Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye says ground-breaking research released today by the Ministry of Education has found timber-framed classrooms are extremely resilient to earthquakes.

“This is good news for the education budget because we will not have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on earthquake strengthening these buildings,” Ms Kaye says.

“The research has confirmed these buildings are safe and resilient in quakes. This means that we can focus on modernising buildings to provide better learning environments.

Education Minister Hekia Parata announced today that, following an extensive consultation process, all Christchurch secondary schools will remain open because the schools are well located and provide good access for students.

However, two schools that had significant land damage, Avonside Girls High School and Shirley Boys High School, will be relocated to a new shared site in eastern Christchurch. Education officials are working to identify a site.

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Minister Dr Hon Pita Sharples have met with representatives of the Kōhanga Reo National Trust Board tonight to discuss the allegations made against them.

“While we were encouraged by the actions that the Trust has taken so far, which they have advised us of tonight, we have informed the Trust that the Ministry of Education will be commissioning an independent, specialist audit firm to review the controls the Trust has in place to assure itself that public funding is being used appropriately.

Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye today announced the first 21 schools in New Zealand to sign agreements with Network for Learning (N4L) to connect to its managed network.

“The first three to be connected by December and take advantage of Government funding for a managed network package are West Auckland’s Massey Primary School, South Canterbury’s Waimate High School and Wanaka’s Mt Aspiring College,” Ms Kaye says.

“There are 18 other schools to be connected by the end of the year.

Education Minister Hekia Parata says she will review carefully the outcome of the judicial review brought by Phillipstown School.

“We will urgently examine Justice Fogarty’s decision, and our options, including continuing consultation on the issue that was of concern to the Court.

“These are unique circumstances and, while it is never an easy decision to merge a school, it is clear that Christchurch education needs to be organised differently post the earthquakes.

Education Minister Hekia Parata welcomes the New Zealand Initiative's Report 'World Class Education? - Why NZ must strengthen its teaching profession' as a further contribution to the Quality Teaching Agenda she has established.

While the New Zealand education system performs well, with four out of five young people leaving with the qualifications they need, it is not performing for all. And there have been worrying signs for some time that it is becoming less and less competitive when benchmarked against other comparative international systems.

Education Minister Hekia Parata says that attendance at the two day OECD Ministers Meeting in Istanbul was an excellent opportunity to hear what other education systems are doing to foster relevant skills and improve employability through education. With over 25 education systems represented, it was a rich exchange of information, challenges, and approaches.

The Ngārimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarship Fund Board has announced two new education initiatives as part of this year’s 70th anniversary celebrations of one of New Zealand’s greatest war heroes.

In recognition of the awarding of the Victoria Cross to Second Lieutenant Te Moana Nui a Kiwa Ngārimu, the Board will invest $250,000 into resourcing histories of each of the Māori Battalion's four rifle companies and related initiatives.

Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye today announced a change in how schools can use their capital funding to support building bicycle or fitness tracks at schools.

“We know that cycle tracks have numerous benefits, including helping to develop safe cycling habits and building up confidence and fitness,” Ms Kaye says. “I want to make it easy for schools that want to promote exercise to engage students in lifelong healthy habits that also help with their learning.

E ngā mana, e ngā reo, rau rangatira ma, tēnā koutou katoa.

I’m delighted to be here with you today. I would like to acknowledge the kaumātua for their welcome. 

I would also like to acknowledge the PPTA executive including your president Angela Roberts.

We are all here because we believe in improving the lives of young New Zealanders.

Every day I meet so many people who are passionate about education and the ability of our education system to improve the lives of young New Zealanders.

Education Minister Hekia Parata has invited a delegation of education sector leaders to travel to Hong Kong and Singapore in mid-October to look at jurisdictions in the Asia Pacific region which are rated highly in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings.

Education Minister Hekia Parata will attend the OECD Education Ministers’ meeting in Istanbul on “Fostering Relevant Skills and Employability through Education”.

The meeting is one of a few international education forums which has a high attendance by Ministers of Education. Over 30 Ministers of Education are expected to attend.

“This is a forum to share good practice and discuss challenges faced by leading education systems across the world.

Education Minister Hekia Parata announced today that the Government is partnering with the Universities of Auckland, Waikato and Otago to provide new postgraduate level initial teacher education (ITE) qualifications from next year.

“The Government is focused on strengthening the teaching profession as a central part of a larger strategy to lift overall education system performance. Improving the quality of ITE provision is an important element of that strategy,” Ms Parata says.

Education Minister Hekia Parata has today corrected the report that said the ‘Government could step in and take over schools if students marks aren’t good enough.’

“School interventions happen for a number of reasons related to educational performance. Previously, they have been due to safety, HR or financial issues, which are easier to recognise as there have always been measures in place to determine if there is a problem,” Ms Parata says.

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye today announced a plan to transform the way school property is delivered to better support 21st Century learning environments and improved outcomes for students.

“Just as importantly, it will free up sector leaders, principals and their boards, to focus on the main business of schools – raising achievement,” Ms Parata says.

Education Minister Hekia Parata today met with Phil Harding, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF) to discuss action to strengthen confidence in New Zealand’s high trust model of education.

The Minister initiated the meeting following public comments made by Mr Harding that he believed there were examples of unprofessional assessment and teaching practice in some schools that might affect the reliability of schools’ National Standards data.

The Government is putting an extra $6 million into technical support and training to ensure the end of year/start of year process in the school payroll runs smoothly.

“The end of year/start of year is the most complex annual process in the school payroll and will be a significant test of the improved performance of Novopay,” Minister Responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce says.

Minister Responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce today released the reports on complaints and notifications in regards to Pay Periods 11 and 12 of the schools’ payroll.

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister John Banks today announced the first Partnership Schools | Kura Hourua.

Minister Parata says Partnership Schools offer a new, innovative and dynamic approach to engaging students in education.

“They will help young Kiwis be the best they can be by helping raise aspirations and encouraging them to succeed,” she says.

Education and Pacific Island Affairs Minister, Hekia Parata, welcomed the opportunity to discuss Pasifika education matters with Samoa Education Minister, Hon Magele Mauiliu Magele.

“New Zealand is a Pacific nation and we have a vested interest in strong relationships in our Pacific neighbourhood, including in the education status of all Pasifika people both here and in the Pacific nations themselves,” says Ms Parata.

The largest Pasifika community in New Zealand are Samoans who make up almost half of the Pasifika population in New Zealand.

Tēnā koutou katoa, Kia orana, Taloha ni, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Talofa lava, Mālō e lelei, Ni sa bula vinaka, and greetings to you all.

Thank you for inviting me to be part of this feast of education expertise.

The Minister of Education Hekia Parata has confirmed that resources will be available to support one principal in each of the greater Christchurch learning clusters, to spend up to a day a week working across the schools and early childhood services in the cluster to further develop and implement their learning plans.

Around 35 clusters of schools and early childhood services have been working together over the last ten months, to progress community level collaborative activity, as part of the greater Christchurch education renewal programme.