Sitting date: 14 October 2025

EDUCATION AND TRAINING AMENDMENT BILL (NO 2) SECOND READING

Hon ERICA STANFORD (Minister of Education): Madam Chair, I present a legislative statement on the Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2).

DEPUTY SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

Hon ERICA STANFORD: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I move, That the Education and Training Amendment Bill No. 2 now be read a second time.

This Government is focused on lifting student achievement and closing the equity gap in schools. We say it all of the time. This bill requires school boards to treat educational attainment as their prime, paramount objective. It ensures initial teacher education and teacher discipline and competence processes are fit for purpose and provide clearer processes for managing industrial action within the school system.

Alongside this, this bill has a real focus on the Government's priorities to improve student attendance. We know that attending school is strongly linked to achievement, and, to support this, the bill requires all schools to have attendance management plans in place that consistently responds to and addresses the diverse underlying causes of non-attendance and return students to school. It also requires universities to protect and promote academic freedom and freedom of expression within the university.

There are many important proposals in this bill, and I want to thank the members of the Education and Workforce Committee for their careful consideration of their bill and their suggestions to strengthen it. And also thanks to all of those submitters who took the time to make submissions on the bill and share their thoughts and suggestions. The committee received 714 submissions and heard 42 oral submissions, and the number and type of submissions showed that New Zealanders care deeply about our education system and the outcomes it delivers for learners, families, and communities.

The Education and Workforce Committee have recommended some excellent changes to the bill. My colleague Minister Seymour will speak to the changes on the attendance management plans, and my colleague Minister Reti will speak to the freedom-of-expression changes. It's my pleasure to now speak to the other key proposals in the bill.

This bill simplifies school board requirements so that they have a more streamlined set of expectations. The key proposal is the repeal of section 5 of the Education and Training Act. This relates to my ability as a Minister of Education to issue a statement of national educational and learning priorities, which places unnecessary obligations on boards that are duplicated elsewhere. There are already stronger mechanisms in the Act, such as section 127 and curriculum statements, that set compulsory objectives and strategic direction for school boards.

One of the proposals in this bill which generated a lot of interest was on the amendment to the school board objectives. This proposal amends section 127 so that a board's paramount objective in governing a school is to ensure that every student at the school is able to attain their highest possible standard and educational achievement. Making educational achievement the paramount objective focuses boards on what matters the most. I want schools to focus on getting back to the basics and getting them right so that all learners have the knowledge, skills, and competencies they need to reach their full potential.

Some submitters supported this proposal and agreed that schools need a sharper focus on academic progress. Others were not supportive and were concerned that this was too simplistic and risks undermining a more holistic approach to education. I believe that New Zealand's learners deserve to attend schools where their attainment and their educational achievement is the highest priority, and I acknowledge submitters' concerns and understand that some may think that the focus on educational achievement may demote other objectives, but to meet their paramount objectives, schools must continue to meet the other essential and supporting objectives.

This bill also adds a new attendance objective into section 127. It requires boards to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the school's students attend the school when it is open. Students cannot achieve when they are not at school and this new objective will strengthen the focus of school boards on their attendance obligations. Another new objective is that boards should ensure that their school uses good quality assessment and aromatawai information to monitor and evaluate student progress and achievement.

I understand that school boards will need to time to implement changes to give effect to these objectives effectively and I'm pleased that the committee has recommended amending the date to which school board's next strategic plans take effect from: from 1 January 2026 to 1 January 2027. This additional time will enable boards to consult with their communities and properly reflect the new board objectives in their strategic plans.

Another important proposal in the bill involves changes to initial teacher education and improvements to the Teaching Council disciplinary and competence process. Students receive great education and achieve success when schools have a strong strategic vision and quality teaching workforce, and I'm committed to ensuring that we attract, train and retain great teachers. That's why this bill proposes to strengthen initial teacher education through greater Government involvement and standards for teacher registration, and practising certificates and approvals of initial teacher education programmes. These changes strengthen the processes the Council is required to follow. This is critical, because teachers have a very strong influence on the educational success of learners. The quality of teaching is one of the most important factors influencing educational outcomes. That's why the bill also makes changes to the Council's disciplinary and competence processes to ensure that they are effective. It's essential that the system supporting teachers are robust and fit for purpose, and I want to thank the Teaching Council for their support of these proposals, which will help support its functions and strengthen the education system.

Another key proposal in this bill is increasing the amount of days' notice that unions must provide before they strike from three days to "no less than seven days". Parents, caregivers, and whānau have expressed that they need time to make alternative care arrangements should their school decide to close because of a strike, and I agree. I think that schools need more time to determine how to manage the potential disruption of strikes to students and their families. Some submitters were concerned that this could limit workers' right to strike, but let me clarify: this only applies to the notification that unions must provide before conducting a strike. It does not limit workers' rights to engage in lawful industrial action. Rather, it just provides more time, and more reasonable time, for families and schools to arrange alternative care to ensure students safety and wellbeing.

Finally, the bill makes a number of necessary changes to provisions on issuing principal eligibility criteria, international student fees, and the use of national student numbers for researchers. These amendments simply help maintain the health of the education regulatory system and ensure that law and practice remain well aligned. Again, I want to express my thanks to the committee once again for their recommended changes and to the members of the public who made submissions.

The bill is just another step towards improving student achievement and attendance objectives, developing a workforce of the future, and establishing a knowledge-rich curriculum. New Zealand learners deserve an education system that helps them to achieve their very best potential. The bill supports a robust education system that this Government is focused on achieving. With that, I commend the bill to the House.

DEPUTY SPEAKER: The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. today. Thank you.

The House adjourned at 12.55 p.m.

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