Auckland Report Back - Education

Hon Heather Roy, ACT Deputy Leader
Monday, July 26 2010

Hon Heather Roy speech to ACT Auckland Report Back Meeting; Mecca Café, Newmarket, Auckland; Monday July 26 2010.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your warm welcome.  It is a pleasure to be here tonight.

We are fast approaching two years as part of Government and, when I find a spare moment to reflect on what ACT has achieved since the 2008 election, I am always very pleased with our accomplishments. 

For a small Party the headway we have made in Local Government, Consumer Affairs, Law & Order and many other areas is significant.  We are also making advances in Education, and I would like to share our progress with you this evening.

Education is where we have the opportunity to make a real difference, and this was certainly my intention when I launched the Aspire Scholarships last year.  Aspire is an initiative I am very proud of since becoming part of Government.  It marks my first steps in providing greater choice to families in education.

The Aspire Scholarships provide students from low-income families with funding to attend an independent school - an opportunity they would not have otherwise had.  In its support of the initiative, Treasury commented that the scholarships ensure funding is well targeted and contribute to the Government's goals of increasing choice for disadvantaged students.

I receive numerous letters from parents, teachers, principals - even students themselves - sharing the success they are having at their new schools.  At one school, an Aspire student recently came top of the class in a maths and science test and now has ambitions to become a vet.

Perhaps the story I find most moving is about a young ballet dancer who is now attending an independent arts school here in Auckland.  After being bullied at his previous school he is now in his element amongst other performers, musicians and artists.  At the beginning of the year, his parents moved the entire family from Whangarei to Auckland just so he could attend the school.

It is wonderful to hear about these students' success and the difference the Aspire scholarships are making to their education and future.

ACT has always placed great importance on education because we know so much depends on having well-educated, competent citizens capable of making a productive contribution to New Zealand society.  When I see how well so many of our young people are doing, I am encouraged about New Zealand's future.  They are having success in a multitude of areas, from sports to the arts and from history through to technology. 

Unfortunately, not every student is sharing in this success.  One in five students leaves school without basic literacy and numeracy skills; a large minority of students are failing to obtain any formal qualification; and on any given day 30,000 students are truant.

The Education system is not preparing these students for the bright future they deserve.  Clearly, we need to do better.
 
ACT has long held that the way to lift the standards in education - both the achievement of our students and the performance of our schools - is through school choice.

For ACT, choice in education means families having the freedom to select the best school for their children, based on educational quality, school ethos and the needs of their children - not based on central planning or a particular ideology.

Choice in education also means schools having freedom from Government so they can engage their students in innovative ways - through diverse curricula, timetabling and staffing arrangements.  Choice is important to parents, to children, to society on just about every front yet we limit the options available to families when it comes to selecting the best school for their children. 

The problem essentially, is the rigid way we think about the provision of education and the accessibility and affordability of schooling options.  The system currently operates as a series of isolated types of schools.  We have state schools, state integrated schools and independent schools, special schools, Rudolph Steiner and Montessori schools, home educators and so on.

Instead of dividing the sector into these separated silos, we need to think of education as a continuum of provision and remove the barriers that restrict parents from matching their children to the most suitable option. 

Parents should have the freedom and the funding to send their children to whichever school they like - the one that best suits their child.

Far too often, we hear of the extraordinary measures parents have taken to obtain the best education for their children.  They rent houses in particular zones; take a second job to pay tuition fees; or send their children to live with relatives who have access to particular schools.
 
Schools also face barriers when trying to meet student need.  I have spoken to several principals who have to turn hundreds of students away every year despite a willingness to educate them.  Others have voiced their frustration at being unable to provide flexible timetabling or a range of programmes to engage all their students in learning - not just those suited to NCEA.

If we are serious about raising the standard in education then the focus needs to shift, away from navigating red tape and onto our students.  Our young people should be centre-stage in education not ‘the system'.

In the lead up to the 2008 election, ACT and National pledged to increase choice in education.  Following on from these promises the National-ACT Confidence and Supply Agreement made provision for an Inter-Party Working Group for School Choice.  The group, which I chaired, was responsible for reporting on policy options to increase parental choice and school autonomy.  Throughout 2009, we reviewed current education practice in New Zealand and best practice overseas.  The group, made up of National, Maori and ACT Party MPs, reported earlier this year.

As I am sure you can imagine six MPs from three parties can make for some challenging debate.  As usual, ACT wanted to take things further and this resulted in the group releasing two reports based on our work together.

The first of these, Step Change: Success the Only Option, is supported by all three parties.  The report proposes providing greater school choice to those students not being catered for in the current system.  The working group identified these students as the 20 percent currently failing and the five percent who are gifted and talented.  Our initial step in progressing this programme is to establish a taskforce to work through the finer detail for implementation.
 
ACT's report, Free to Learn is much more ambitious.  We propose changes to the entire system that will benefit every single student, not just those at either end of the spectrum. 

We propose allowing a range of providers to enter the market according to demand; encouraging popular schools to expand; providing information to parents on school performance; funding that follows the child; innovative programmes that engage diverse groups of students; competitive property arrangements; and competent teachers in every single classroom.

Our recommendations are founded on competition, accountability and innovation because it is these principles that will generate the incentives to raise standards. In a competitive environment, schools will have to offer a quality education to attract students and secure the funding that follows. 

Schools will be accountable to parents not government for their results.  If they fail to deliver parents will have the ability to send their children elsewhere.   Principals and teachers will be encouraged to think outside the square in their provision of education as innovation enters the sector.

In Free to Learn, we rethink the provision of education.  We propose a school system that revolves around the student with teachers and parents leading learning, not Wellington-based bureaucrats. 

School choice policies have always been considered a little radical.  It is interesting - and very encouraging - to see a growing number of countries adopting these.  We have been following with interest the progress made in the UK as Michael Gove implements the Conservative's education policies.  These mirror closely our recommendations in Free to Learn.

Since being appointed two months ago Gove has set about providing greater freedom to schools in terms of curriculum, staffing and timetabling, and he is making provisions so parents and teachers can establish their own schools.  He has also cut three education departments, including the General Teachers' Council and the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, because they add no value. And there is even more to come.  Gove is developing a per-pupil premium to deliver extra funding to the most disadvantaged students, and legislation is being prepared to give teachers greater power when dealing with disruptive behaviour.

The Conservatives, like ACT, want to raise student achievement and they want parents and teachers to be in control of education.  It is refreshing to see our recommendations being realised - our only regret is that it is not happening here in New Zealand.

As we see through the remainder of this year, work towards the 2011 elections and plan beyond, ACT will continue to progress choice in education.  It is imperative that every student in New Zealand receives a quality education.  Greater parental choice and school autonomy will provide the necessary incentives and impetus to achieve this. 
 

ENDS

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