PPTA conference

E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā hau e whā. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. 

Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today.

I'd like to acknowledge Kate Gainsford, PPTA President; my fellow speakers and workshop presenters

Since I last spoke to you a year ago, New Zealand has experienced significant changes as well as significant challenges.

Our Government was elected last November with a strong mandate for change, and a passion for education.

We have much to be proud of in our education system. New Zealand's top students are among the best in the world. Our students achieve as well as or better than students from other countries in core areas such as reading, mathematics and science. 

However, our system continues to under-perform for specific groups of learners.  While we compare well internationally with other OECD countries, we have greater disparities between our high and low achievers. Attainment gaps start at a young age, and often persist as students progress through the school system. 

Around a third of school leavers fail to obtain NCEA Level 2 qualifications or higher. 

And our education system consistently under-performs for our Māori and Pasifika students.

All of our education priorities and initiatives focus on students and that is how it should be.

Government is concentrating on what will work better for our students. We need to raise achievement and improve results, if we want to lift the economic performance of our country and raise the living standards of New Zealanders.

Our Government's overarching priority is to lift educational achievement and progress for all students in New Zealand. We have six priority outcomes in education, all focused on lifting student achievement.

All of these work towards equipping our nation's children and young people with the knowledge, skills and values to be successful citizens in the 21^st century.

We want to ensure that:

• every child has the opportunity to participate in high quality early childhood education
• every child achieves literacy and numeracy levels that enable their success
• every young person has the skills and qualifications to contribute to their and New Zealand's future
• relevant tertiary education is provided to meet student and labour market needs
• Māori enjoy education success as Māori
• and that the Ministry is capable, efficient and responsive in achieving education priorities.

The challenge we have is addressing these priorities with the backdrop of one of the most challenging economic environments in over 60 years.

The effects of the global recession mean the government is facing 10 years of budget deficits, which is why we need to focus on reducing Government expenditure and on increasing New Zealand's productivity.

There are very tight economic constraints in all Government portfolios. Despite this, Budget 2009 gave $300 million more to education, raising the total education spend to $10.8 billion a year. That's the highest annual figure ever, by any government.

But we must make sure we get maximum performance from our education dollars.  In a harsh economic climate we have to prioritise where the funding goes. I know you'll be aware this has affected some adult and community education courses.

Remember, this government is still investing $124 million in adult and community education over the next four years.  

But we just don't have the money to fund recreational and hobby courses. We need to invest in literacy, numeracy and foundation skills, and we must invest in those young people who are the most vulnerable in a recession - a third of those currently unemployed are under 25, many are unskilled, many are Maori and Pasifika and many of them are male. The Tertiary Education Commission will make an announcement very soon on which schools have been selected for funding to provide ACE courses in 2010.

Our children and young people are this country's most important investment. Education funding is therefore being spent in areas which will make the biggest difference for them.

Among the highlights for education in Budget 2009 was:

• $523.3 million in operating and capital funding, over four years, to expand and future-proof existing schools and build new ones.
• Additional frontline funding for raising achievement in our schools including $80.1 million in additional funding for day-to-day school operations; $36 million to support National Standards in literacy and numeracy; $16 million to fight truancy; and $34 million to improve schools access to high-speed broadband. 
• There was additional funding to improve the education of students with special needs and behavioural issues including $51 million extra for the Ongoing Reviewable Resourcing Schemes and $8 million to help manage disruptive pupils. 
• $69.7 million will improve access to early childhood education (ECE) by expanding 20 hours ECE to playcentres and kohanga reo and removing the six-hour daily limit. 
• Budget 2009 also secured funding for several significant cost pressures, where funding had not been provided for by the previous government.
• This included $169.1 million in 2009/2010 to pay increases in teacher salaries, and $70 million over four years to cover salary increases for school caretakers, cleaners and ground staff.

We can't hide from the fact that our economy is under considerable stress from imbalances built up over the past decade.

This was, in part, created by public sector wages increasing well beyond the cost of living, and well beyond private sector wages.

The cost of living is going up 1.9%, yet many public sector employees, including teachers, have received pay increases well above this increase.

Teachers received a significant gain of a four percent pay rise in July.

Recent settlements have also seen a significant growth in the number of allowances for teachers.  In an economic recession these increases are no longer realistic and cannot be maintained.

The reality is that from 2011/12 I need to save $50 million from the overall salaries budget.  That equates to approximately 1.5% of the total salaries budget. 

Right across the public sector there is the same message - further pay increases, over and above those received in recent years, are out of line with realistic expectations.

I am passionate about lifting the performance of our education system and I am committed to this goal. However, in the current economic climate, we need to find ways to work smarter, better and make every dollar count.  That challenge rests on all of us.

The National Government was voted in with a mandate to raise literacy and numeracy levels of our children from a young age.

Literacy and numeracy skills lay the foundation for learning in every area of the curriculum - from primary, through intermediate, to senior schooling.

Government is committed to implementing National Standards in primary and intermediate schools, starting with English-medium schools next year. National Standards will lift student achievement by providing clear expectations of what students should be able to achieve in literacy and numeracy and by when, and will help inform and improve teaching and learning.

Students' performance against the Standards will be reported to parents in plain language from next year. We have good evidence on the important contribution parents can make to their child's educational progress. Plain language reporting to parents will make it easier for parents to support their children's learning. We know this is what parents want. Last week we released details of the consultation on Standards, during which over 5,000 parents and family members attended face to face meetings or made written submissions.

Parents told us they want to easily understand how their children are progressing, along with practical assistance and support from schools. As one parent put it, they want to know "the good, the bad and the ugly".

The introduction of National Standards in primary and intermediate schools should, over time, reduce the numbers of students entering secondary school with unmet literacy and numeracy needs.

We want to see all students start secondary school with excellent numeracy and literacy skills; more students leaving school with higher qualifications; and parents, families and whānau having a clear picture of how their children are doing at school.

We also want to strengthen the interface between secondary and tertiary education systems.

Too many young people are leaving school without qualifications; or they are failing to complete qualifications; or they complete tertiary qualifications, which don't lead anywhere.

We need to allow for more flexibility and innovation, to ensure that young people are supported in their progress through education and into employment.

Last week I announced that 28 tertiary providers will be funded to deliver 2000 student places next year as part of our Youth Guarantee. The Youth Guarantee aims to keep 16 and 17 year olds in education who might otherwise be left behind.  As we know some students can be more motivated in non-school settings. The Youth Guarantee provides free study towards school-level qualifications in polytechnics, wananga and private training establishments.

$52.7 million in funding is being provided over two years, for the 2000 full-time equivalent student places created in 2010 and 2011 as part of the Youth Guarantee.

The ultimate aim is to make the scheme available to all 16 and 17 year-olds.

When we look at the school leaving statistics, and the stories behind them, it is clear that for some young people, the current school system itself is simply not the best fit.

This government doesn't believe that simply raising the school-leaving age is the answer to early school leaving. Rather, we believe in broadening the options available to young people at school so they can pursue meaningful qualifications while remaining part of the schooling system.

Trades Academies will provide to school-aged students opportunities to undertake trades and technology programmes. They will be based on partnerships between schools, tertiary institutions, industry training organisations and employers. Currently we have 11 plans for Academies that are now at the stage of putting together a business plan. Included amongst these are some truly innovative proposals.

We have committed to having an initial five Academies established by 2011. These could be based in schools or in tertiary institutions or they could be virtual, and infact two of the 11 proposals under consideration are indeed virtual!

Just last week I confirmed $1 million in initial funding for the new tertiary high school at Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT), the first programme of its kind in New Zealand.

It's planned that students will be dual enrolled at their school and at MIT, meaning they'll maintain strong links to their school and to school activities while studying towards a work-related qualification.

I acknowledge that these flexibilities pose challenges for the education sector, and in particular for secondary schools, as we grapple with dual enrolments, funding and teacher qualifications. However, we simply cannot continue to allow students to fail or disengage with education. 

The importance of ICT to our students can't be over-emphasised. Government's $34 million boost for broadband in schools is another critical investment in New Zealand's future.  Ultra-fast broadband has the potential to enhance the teaching and learning experience for students and teachers in every New Zealand school.

Fourteen schools are to receive major upgrades to their ICT infrastructure, in the first stage of this initiative, with more to be announced in the New Year.

These internal network upgrades will provide opportunities for teachers and students to make greater use of digital learning technologies and improve access to online learning tools.

As Education Minister I am committed to lifting the education system's performance for and with Māori.

Ka Hikitia, the Māori Education Strategy, aims to ensure Māori are able to enjoy education success as Māori.  It's relevant to everyone in education and it involves everyone as a concerted, collaborative effort is needed.

There is no better time to realise that Māori students, indeed all students, have immense potential for success. Our schools and our system must be culturally responsive to the diversity of the learners who participate in it.

Lifting Māori achievement is an urgent issue for the future of the students, the education system, and our country.

I'd like to talk now about student behaviour, an issue which concerns us all.

It must be said that the behaviour of most of the children in our schools is as good as any other generation of students.

There will always be incidents that are the actions of a small minority.  These incidents dominate the headlines because they are so rare in this country. Typically, these incidents are unpredictable and unrelated to the schools' practices. Typically they have their origins beyond the school gate. 

However, disruptive and challenging behaviour is present in many forms, with more frequent low level behavioural issues having just as much impact on student achievement, and student and teacher well-being, as the less frequent more high profile incidents.  The survey commissioned by the PPTA across schools in the Hutt Valley and Wellington provided data on this issue.  We need to do more.  We cannot tolerate the negative impact that disruptive behaviour has on learners and teachers. 

We clearly need a far more radical, effective, and overarching approach to address the underlying challenges.

A number of these issues were addressed as part of the Taumata Whanonga in Wellington earlier this year, which some of you may have attended.

I have asked the Ministry to work with the PPTA and other sector groups in developing implementation of the Positive Behaviour for Learning Action plan, which will be rolled out from the beginning of next year.

The draft plan was presented to me in June, but I believed it needed a tighter focus, so asked the Ministry and sector groups to have another go. The redrafted plan came to me last month, and while the sector working group finalises the details, I am working on aligning the funding required ready for implementation from the start of next year. There is no magic wand for student behaviour - it's important to get things right - and that will take time.

A programme of prevention is at the heart of this Plan. This means more effective programmes for more children, more parents and more educators.

I intend to reprioritise $45 million in spending over the next five years to support the implementation of this plan. And we will keep it constantly under review to ensure it doesn't :

a) lose focus, or b) fail for lack of resourcing.

I also intend to make sure the Behaviour for Learning Action Plan can work well with the range of other student attendance and engagement initiatives available to secondary schools. 

We have been consulting this year on Alternative Education, as well as reviewing the District Truancy Service. I expect changes to be implemented from the New Year, as we use the $4million per year funding allocated in the Budget to tackle truancy.

The Behaviour for Learning Action Plan will see at least twelve thousand parents in at-risk families supported in lifting their parenting skills through the Incredible Years Programme. Five thousand teachers will receive training in effective class room management. And at least four hundred schools over the next five years will have the opportunity to participate in a Positive Behaviour for Learning initiative.

In the next few months all schools will receive new guidelines on the prevention and management of traumatic incidents. This will be accompanied by training around managing traumatic incidents, to begin next year.

The aim is to reduce disruptive behaviour and improve student engagement and student achievement. I know that you will discuss these issues as part of your conference, and I look forward to your feedback and your involvement in this work.

As teachers, you have a most important job, second only to parenting.

Evidence tells us that the most effective way to improve educational outcomes for every student is effective teaching, and I know that as an organisation you are focused on this.

Schools must be able to employ well-trained and qualified teachers, and they must be able to manage their resources to achieve the lift in performance we need.

We need to create an environment which has the ongoing learning and development of teachers and principals at its core, and which rewards the top-performers.  We need a professional workforce. This means using our staffing resources effectively and efficiently across the system. And we need a workforce which focuses on the education needs of every student, alongside effective teaching and continuous improvement

There is much work to be done, and many challenges ahead but as I said at the outset, we have plenty to be proud of in New Zealand's education system.

I am absolutely passionate about lifting the performance of our education system and I have high expectations for every young New Zealander.

In this environment, we must find ways to work smarter, to work better and we must not lose sight of what is most important.

That is the future of our young people and the future of our country.

Thank you