5. Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South) to the Minister of Education: What alternatives to her current approach to national standards did she consider before she introduced legislation on that subject?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) : I considered the approach of the outgoing Labour Government, which saw almost one in five students leaving school without the skills needed to succeed in the modern economy. I rejected that approach in favour of legislating for the ability to set national standards, to meet National’s promise to New Zealanders in the 2008 election.

Hon Trevor Mallard: How many school annual reports did she read as she was finalising this decision?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: Many.

Hon Trevor Mallard: What is her understanding of the reporting requirements for schools’ annual reports in relation to academic progress for the year 2009?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: I am very happy to answer the question, but I do not actually have responsibility for the variance reports that individual schools report. They are required to report to their communities and to the Ministry of Education, but what they actually put in those reports is entirely their responsibility.

Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. It was a pretty simple question about her understanding of the reporting requirements. The Minister got close to it at the end—

Hon Anne Tolley: I just told you.

Hon Trevor Mallard: No, she told us what she did not have responsibility for; she did not tell us what she did.

Mr SPEAKER: I hear the point the member is making. I invite him to repeat his question because he was not, as I understand it, asking about the contents of any particular report but about the requirements, which the Minister does have responsibility for. I invite him to repeat his question.

Hon Trevor Mallard: Thank you, Mr Speaker. What is her understanding of the reporting requirements of schools’ annual reports in relation to academic progress for the 2009 year?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: My apologies, I misheard the question. Schools are required to report on variances from targets that they have set against their charter, on an annual basis, both to their community and to the ministry.

Colin King: Why did the Government introduce the Education (National Standards) Amendment Bill in December 2008?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: The Government was elected with a strong mandate for change. Parents told us they wanted clear and plain-language reporting on their child’s progress at school, and they should not have to wait for that. The national standards legislation was passed in the first 100 days of the John Key - led Government, because this Government knows that raising educational standards is critical to New Zealand’s success in the modern economy.

Hon Trevor Mallard: As she has read many school reports—which she indicated to the House earlier—and understands the importance of the variance part of those reports, which of those reports did she refer to the ministry for follow-up?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: I received my warrant as Minister on 18 November, and the legislation that enabled the Minister to set national standards was passed on 9 December. I referred no reports to the ministry in that time.

Hon Trevor Mallard: Do I take it from the Minister’s response that in spite of the fact that she saw many reports as she was finalising this decision, and understood the variance requirements, none of them required further attention?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: I referred none of them to the ministry between the date of accepting my warrant and my putting the legislation through the House.

Hon Trevor Mallard: If none of those many reports that she received in that time period was bad enough to require ministry attention, what was the problem she was trying to legislate for?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: This Government was elected with a mandate to improve educational standards because almost one in five children in our education system—almost 150,000 children—is failing. They are leaving school without the skills in reading, writing, and maths that they need to succeed. That was the mandate. That was why the legislation was passed in the first 100 days.