11. Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South) to the Minister of Education: How many of the reports or briefings that she has received on national standards refer to increases in teacher workload, and what is the best estimate of that increase in workload expressed in hours per term in 2010?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister of Education) : I have received an extremely large amount of advice about national standards since November 2008. I am advised that—

Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I do not think that my speaker is working. I cannot hear the Minister.

Mr SPEAKER: I ask members—

Hon Paula Bennett: That’s because you don’t have a speaker there any more.

Mr SPEAKER: I am not sure that the honourable member realises that a point of order is being considered and silence is required. In case she overlooked that fact, I will overlook the breach on this occasion. The Hon Trevor Mallard has made a reasonable point. There was a lot of noise, and even I found it difficult to hear the Minister.

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: I have received an extremely large amount of advice about national standards since November 2008. I am advised that many of those reports have some reference to teacher workload, but it has not been possible to search every report to determine a specific number that refer to potential workloads. What I can tell the member is that the Ministry of Education has provided me with consistent advice that teachers who are following best practice should not experience an increased workload as a result of national standards. The national standards are about setting goals for students, using formative assessment, and providing regular progress reports to parents in language they can understand. That is core business for all teachers and for all schools. It is not an optional extra.

Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I have here a reply to a written question, dated 15 March, which indicated that the Minister had had 24—

Mr SPEAKER: Order!

Hon Trevor Mallard: I ask you for a little tolerance, Mr Speaker.

Mr SPEAKER: No, no; the member is disputing the answer by way of a point of order, which he cannot do. He has further supplementary questions, which he can use if he believes that what the Minister has told the House may be incorrect, or whatever. But to litigate it by way of a point of order is not on.

Hon Trevor Mallard: In light of her answer, which I received on 15 March, and which indicated she had had 24 reports or briefings on national standards, I ask whether it was too much work for her office to look through those in order to work out how many of them refer to teacher workload.

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: I repeat that I have received an extremely large amount of advice on national standards since November 2008. The primary question does not refer simply to the ministry’s advice; it refers to reports or briefings that I have received. I am saying I have received an extremely large amount of advice, and the ministry has worked through as much of that advice as it possibly can in the time available since my office received the question at 10.45 this morning. In that time it has identified just two reports that note that teachers may claim an increased workload. I am happy to table a full response to the question once all reports have been worked through, but until that time I cannot give an accurate number, and I would not want to mislead the House.

Hon Trevor Mallard: What was her estimate of the increase in teacher workload when she made her decision to go ahead with national standards in their current form?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: The estimate we made was that teachers who were using good assessment information to inform their teaching and reporting well to parents would see little increase in their workload. Teachers who are not doing those things will have to start doing them—it is core business for teachers. But I have to say to the member that we have actually reduced some of teachers’ workload. For instance, they will not have to hand out “Wassup!” badges, they will not have to act as fruit monitors to deliver fruit to schools, and they will not have to round up kids who have popped across the road to get a pie, because we have rescinded the nanny State tuck-shop regulations.

Allan Peachey: What support is available to teachers to assist them to implement the national standards?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: The Government has committed $26 million this year to professional development and support. That includes the provision of information workshops, self-review tools, school training visits, in-depth work with 7,000 to 8,000 teachers, support for provisionally registered and overseas-trained teachers, and funding subsidies for teachers to access postgraduate qualifications in literacy and numeracy. The ministry has also published extensive online and printed support materials for teachers, principals, and boards of trustees.

Hon Trevor Mallard: If there is no change for the majority of teachers, as she indicated in her answer to the penultimate supplementary question, what difference will the majority of parents see as a result of her change to national standards?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: The majority of parents in New Zealand support the introduction of national standards because they know that they will give them, for the first time, good information about their child’s progress, in plain language. The fact that that member has to keep asking that question shows—

Mr SPEAKER: The member’s question was very simple. It asked what difference parents would see. It does not deserve a political attack like the last bit of the answer; there was nothing political in the question.

Hon Trevor Mallard: What change will parents see when their children are in good schools that have been reporting well already?

Hon ANNE TOLLEY: The change that those parents will see is the progress of their children against the national standards.