﻿Mr SPEAKER: Question No 8, Chris Hipkins.
CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka)
to the Minister of Education: Does she believe that partnership schools
should report NCEA results using the same methodology
as state schools; if so, why hasn't this been the case so far?
Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education):
Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: Kia ora, kia ora, kia ora.
Hon HEKIA PARATA: Kia ora. It is not a question of belief;
it is a question of fact. The member opposite is incorrect in stating
that State schools are required to report their NCEA results;
they are not. Partnership schools have a higher accountability framework
in exchange for a higher level of flexibility, and are, therefore,
required to report their results. As there was no reporting regime
for schools when the partnership school model was developed,
the Ministry of Education provided an initial accountability model
to take into account the point-of-time reporting regime required.
As per the education report released under the Official Information Act,
which the member has a copy of, the calculation has been reviewed,
and round-three contracts that were recently signed calculate
the performance measure for partnership schools
on the same basis as provided on the Education Counts website.
Chris Hipkins: Why did she award performance bonuses
to partnership schools last year on the basis that they had achieved
their performance targets, given the Ministry of Education has now
advised her that had their performance been measured
using the Education Counts methodology, which every other
State school in the country is measured based on,
at least two of them would not have met the criteria to get
their performance bonus?
Hon HEKIA PARATA: They are not performance bonuses;
they are an amount held back. They were awarded on the basis
that at Vanguard Military School 91.4% achieved NCEA level 1
and 60% achieved level 2, and Te Kura Hourea o Whangarei
Terenga Parāoa achieved 77.8% and 55.6%, respectively.
Ron Mark: What about Whangaruru?
Hon HEKIA PARATA: The Whangaruru partnership school did not meet
its performance standards and has been closed. Partnership schools
are characterised not only by their flexibility, but by a requirement
in the contract that 75% of their roll should be the kids
who are least served by the existing education system.
They are also characterised—as all other schools are—by choice.
No parent is forced to send their child to a partnership school,
but they do so because they fear that their children have not
been successful in the other options. Their children are doing better,
on average. There is more work to do. But if we looked at State schools as well—
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Bring the answer to a conclusion.
Hon HEKIA PARATA: —we would also find failure there.
We do not give up on any child.
Chris Hipkins: Why does she have confidence in the integrity
of the information being supplied by partnership schools
in their performance reporting, given that one school,
which reported that 93.3% of its leavers had achieved NCEA level 2,
found that its results dropped to just 6.7% when it was assessed
using the same methodology on the Education Counts website
that State school performance is measured on?
Hon HEKIA PARATA: I want to answer that question in two parts.
The particular school that the member is referring to failed.
We have closed it. In terms of the first part, I have no indication
that the sponsors are deliberately misreporting their results, and, secondly—
Carmel Sepuloni: Waste of money, and you're using kids as guinea pigs.
Hon HEKIA PARATA: —we have a unit in the Ministry of Education
dedicated to working with them— and the member next door to the member
asking the question should know that Pasifika kids are actually
getting a good deal with these options.
Carmel Sepuloni: Really? Really?
Hon HEKIA PARATA: Really—ask the parents who have chosen to send them there,
rather than having the Opposition deciding where they should be sent.
Chris Hipkins: Why does she have confidence in the performance information
being supplied by partnership schools, when one of the partnership schools,
which reported a 100% NCEA pass rate at level 2, and thereby exceeded
its performance target in its contract, was reassessed
and found to have only had a 60% pass rate at NCEA level 2,
and therefore had not met its performance contract?
Hon HEKIA PARATA: The reason that the member can ask these questions
is the utmost transparency with which we run all schools in NZ,
and every 3 months we release this data. If the member looks closely
at the table on page 6, he will see reported results—
Chris Hipkins: Yep—got it right here. Right there.
Hon HEKIA PARATA: —exactly right— and there is a further column
that has those recalibrated against the Education Counts website.
So I can assure the member we have a Ministry of Education
working with sponsors to ensure that they are indeed reliable data
and that they are comparable.
Chris Hipkins: Why should the public have confidence
that partnership schools' performance is being rated on the same basis
as State school performance, when the criteria that she used to award
their performance bonuses last year was different to the criteria
that State schools are measured by, and schools that had been deemed
to have met their performance criteria did not meet
their performance criteria when assessed on the same basis
as every other school?
Hon HEKIA PARATA: First of all, it is "different from", but anyway,
to go to the substance of the question, this is a model evolving,
in the same way as other models— kura kaupapa, for instance,
the development of nga whanaketanga e pa ana ki nga take matauranga.
We are developing performance data with them as well,
to better capture it. I have confidence, and the public
should have confidence, because we report very clearly
on what is happening. We account for every dollar.
Actually, partnership schools have a much higher accountability framework.
They are contracted. They are required to report quarterly.
We provide that information for the Opposition,
because it is the only issue they seem to have questions on in education.
Mr SPEAKER: Question No 9.
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