Minister responds to parent engagement report

Education Minister Hekia Parata says the Government has accepted the 18 recommendations of the Education and Science Select Committee’s inquiry into engaging parents in their children’s education.

The Government’s response to the inquiry report, which highlights the important role that parents play in the educational success of their children, was presented to the House of Representatives today.

“I know that there are parents all over the country doing everything they can to engage in their children’s learning and I want to acknowledge them for that.

“We’re seeing good results from existing parental engagement initiatives, such as the Incredible Years Parent Programme and Pasifika PowerUp, but we want to do more to build on this progress.

“The involvement of parents is critical to kids being able to do their best so we’re committed to supporting initiatives to empower all parents and whānau to get engaged in their children’s learning as partners in education.

“There is a lot of important work happening to strengthen the teaching profession. The Investing in Educational Success initiative focuses on raising teaching quality to raise student achievement.

“It’s now time to further strengthen the other key partners in education success – parents and whānau,” says Ms Parata.