National Association of ESOL Home Tutor Schemes Conference 2000

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. It's excellent to see that the theme for this year's conference is Linking Communities and how that relates to the provision of ESOL to newly arrived migrants and refugees in terms of the Home Tutor services around the country. You will see from my comments today, how timely this is in terms of government thinking on migrant settlement and refugee resettlement.

I am aware that I have been invited to speak this morning as Minister of Immigration, which means I have a particular interest in those you teach.

However, I have another hat, which creates my specific interest in you as those who teach: and that is my role as Associate Minister of Education. One of my delegations is Adult and Community Education, including adult literacy.

There are aspects of both my responsibilities that I want to address today. And I would like to begin with an overview of the Immigration Portfolio.

After the experience of the last decade, I felt that an important first step was to restore stability to the policy settings. That is why I have simply rolled over last year¡¦s migrant target. The second, and more critical step, was to replace the fixation on numbers entering the country, with a commitment to ensuring positive settlement and resettlement outcomes.

It did seem to me that the previous administration¡¦s interest in migrants and refugees ended as soon as they arrived in New Zealand. The failure to develop an integrated settlement policy and a well-structured consultation framework, meant that policy lurches became the order of the day. There was not even the understanding of, let alone a commitment to, the need to strengthen or link communities.

Consultation would have warned of the potential impact of the various policy changes, and an integrated settlement policy would have been able to both anticipate problems and move quickly to address other problems as soon as they became apparent. Instead we ened up with a ¡§tap on/tap off¡¨ approach.

I always use the example of the $20,000 English Language Bond, that was designed to turn off the tap, but in effect destroyed family confidence and harmed NZ¡¦s international reputation.

The bond of course has gone, and has been replaced with the pre-purchase of English language lessons. I am watching this closely, as I don¡¦t want to see this become a mere cost of entry, with no follow up in terms of access to appropriate ESOL options.

Between July 1999 and the end of March this year, the NZIS collected $1.5M for ESOL pre-purchase. This has been passed onto Skill NZ, which disbursed $200,000 during the same period.

I acknowledge that there is a time lag between payment and uptake, but I will be ensuring that officials monitor uptake, so that we don¡¦t have another policy disaster on our hands. Accessing ESOL is vital for those who do not have sufficient English skills to become involved in their community.

I recall a story of a married woman, who was afraid to go out of the house because she couldn¡¦t speak a word of English. She couldn¡¦t watch TV, listen to the radio or read newspapers, so even her own home was not the sanctuary it would have been in a different environment. As a result, she became depressed, to the point of attempting to take her own life. I acknowledge that this is an extreme example, but it does show how vital communication is in terms of living a fulfilling life.

Recently I announced that half a million dollars of the migrant levy will be allocated to the development of pilot migrant settlement programmes in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. I am interested in seeing a range of options developed, in a collaborative way between agencies building on existing services.

The first thing I did when I became Minister of Immigration was to cancel the call for expressions of interest for a tender of RMS¡¦s services. It seems to me that the last thing we need is agencies competing against each other for funding, when an integrated approach is required. The other aspect of the tender process was the potential for destroying the volunteer networks that lie at the heart of RMS. In my view volunteers are the strength of the service because they convey a personal and human interest to the new migrant or refugee.

This year¡¦s Budget for the first time provides funding for orientation programmes for families of refugees.

As you know, those that arrive under the quota have a 6-week orientation period at the Mangere Reception Centre. However, the same does not apply to family members who come later. These programmes will be established in Wellington and Christchurch so that orientation occurs where they will be living.

Before I refer to education, I want to comment on Ethnic Affairs.

As part of her commitment to migrant communities, Helen Clark has appointed the first ever Minister for Ethnic affairs, the Hon George Hawkins. He is the voice of ethnic communities at the Cabinet Table.

Settlement represents a continuum, so providing for an integrated settlement policy does not sit solely with NZIS or Ethnic Affairs, and we are working on that as a preliminary matter.

Many members of ethnic communities are in fact born in NZ, so immediate settlement issues are not relevant to them. On the other hand, maintaining inheritance languages and culture is of high significance, but falls outside the immigration portfolio.

For me settlement begins before the decision to move to NZ is made. The decision will usually be one of the most far-reaching decisions anyone could make, as it often involves breaking familial ties and travelling great distances. Such decisions are not easily reversed either.

If expectations exceed reality, then settlement outcomes are invariably poorer. If families expect to find work and don¡¦t, then not only are their expectations dashed, but they can suffer a reduced standard of living, as well as embarrassment or humiliation that can be quite cultural in nature. If lack of English prevents integration then life can become unbearable.

It is for these reasons that I believe that NZIS must be held accountable for the initial settlement experience as well. But as we move along the continuum the emphasis shifts to strengthening ethnic communities within wider NZ society.

We have been working on this for several weeks now, so it won¡¦t be long before we get a sense of the direction, but whatever the outcome, I will work with the Minister of Ethnic Affairs to ensure that there is an integrated settlement programme is in place.

I should also note that I have launched this week a discussion document on options for creating enforceable standards for immigration consultants ¡V it¡¦s on the website, and I would welcome any input you may be able to contribute.

I would like to talk about education now. When I look at the multiplicity of funding mechanisms for ESOL, I see a case-study of the fragmentation I have been expressing concerns about.

The Ministry of Education puts the following approximate amounts into ESOL directly :

„h $10M Compulsory School Sector
„h $2M National Association Of ESOL Home Tutor Schemes
„h $1.2M Mangere Reception Centre for refugees
„h $200,000 Wellington Multi-cultural Centre for Learning & Support

Indirectly, the Ministry of Education funds ESOL through the Pacific Island Education Resource Centre, community education through schools and tertiary providers.

As already mentioned the NZIS collects the pre-purchase money and passes it onto Skill NZ. The Department of Work & Income puts about $1.8M into ESOL training. And Skill NZ puts about $4m into TOPS & Youth Training programmes.

I was actually horrified to see the mish-mash of funding mechanisms, which probably doesn¡¦t make it easy for providers or learners alike.

With respect to Adult and Community Education, I will be announcing shortly a working group to define this sector, and to develop a policy and funding framework. This is long overdue.

Work has also begun on developing an adult literacy strategy. In many respects ESOL sits within both of these reviews, however, I will make sure it is not lost. I have separated out Adult Literacy because I want to see it as part of the NZ Literacy Strategy. The more I think about it, the more I am beginning to believe that ESOL would be best approached from the same angle. Anyway, the two reviews will enable the most appropriate approach to emerge, and ESOL teachers will be involved in this work.

Can I conclude by thanking you for the work you do. I know most of you do much more than teach English, and that there are many more voluntary hours over paid ones in this sector. The Home Tutor Schemes exist because people care enough to volunteer their time.

You are often the first friend that many of our new New Zealanders make. For our many migrants and refugees, you are the first link into a new community. I am pleased to be able to have this opportunity to thank you on behalf of the NZ Government for making a real difference in the lives of these people, for assisting them with the communication skills they need, and for doing, so much more.