Updating the Education Act 1989 – Education (Update) Amendment Bill

How a bill becomes law The Bill was introduced in August last year and is currently before The Education and Science Committee. The Committee received a large number of submissions from the sector and public. The Committee has just presented a report to the House, including recommendations on changes to the Bill.

Key themes in the Update of the Act

Make the achievement and learning of children and young people central to the early childhood education and compulsory schooling Parts of the Act The Bill provides for an enduring and visible strategic direction for early childhood services and schools which will be achieved by: Establishing enduring objectives for education. A Statement of National Education and Learning Priorities which will allow the Government of the day to set its priorities for education.

Strengthen the efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of schools and the schooling network The Bill aligns strategic direction setting with strong accountability by: Clarifying the roles and responsibilities for school boards of trustees. Improving planning and reporting. Creating a more graduated range of interventions to enable faster, more tailored responses when a school is struggling to ensure the achievement of its children and young people.

Enhance collaboration within the schooling network The Bill provides a voluntary enabling framework for the evolution of Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako, through: A statutory means of formalising agreements among members. Enabling members to do work for other educational services or social services that benefits other members or students.

Increase flexibility in enrolment and attendance requirements for the first years of learning There are two main aspects to this change: The Bill extends the requirement for regular attendance at school once a child, regardless as to age, has begun school. The Bill enable schools and to implement a cohort entry policy whereby new entrants would start school in groups, at the beginning of each term.

Establishing a future focused regulatory framework for online learning The Bill establishes a new framework for correspondence education (modernised to refer to “online learning”) to future- proof the Act, and enable students to study online as an alternative to, or alongside, face-to-face education. The new framework enables new providers to enter the market, as accredited Communities of Online Learning (COOL).

Eliminating seclusion in schools, early childhood education services and ngā kōhanga reo, and ensuring appropriate use of physical restraint in schools The Government has also amended the Bill through a Supplementary Order Paper to prohibit seclusion in schools, early childhood education services and ngā kōhanga reo, and to regulate the use of physical restraint in schools.

Strengthen the legal framework for managing teacher competence issues The Bill establishes a Competence Authority in the Education Council to speed up the competence complaint resolution process, and to allow the governing council to focus on its strategic governance function.

Improve the provision of careers services by the government The Bill creates a refocused Careers Service within the Tertiary Education Commission.

Other provisions of the Bill Improving the way enrolment schemes are managed. Updating and streamlining the legislative framework for State integrated schools. Updating Part 12 of the Education Act, including: Clarifying the reasons for decision making on education provision. Streamlining consultation requirements on closing or merging a school. Streamlined process for establishing designated character schools. Clarifying provisions for offsite locations. Creating a power for the Minister to require combined boards in certain circumstances. Strengthening the legal framework for managing teacher competence issues. Improving the provision of careers services by the government.