Hon. Hekia Parata: Amid the mortar we offer a bouquet

Insights Newsletter
28 October, 2016

Science has it that you are more likely to remember the minute details of losing money, losing friends, and receiving criticism than you are about winning money, making friends, and receiving praise.

This may explain recent editorial furore and media commentaries recounting all the failures of the Minister of Education, Hekia Parata, following her announcement that she will not be contesting in the 2017 elections.

Last month, Oliver Hartwich, Eric Crampton and I met with the Minister to talk about our report on school underperformance. Parata struck me as someone intolerant of complacency. I was impressed by the level of detail she commanded about the Ministry’s work and she sure kept me on my toes about details in our report.

That the Minister has had wins and losses, in a tough and often hostile environment, is no surprise. However, during five years at the helm, Parata challenged ideas that made the sector stagnant and led changes that would transform the education landscape.

Her legacy will be that of putting students first by promoting school partnerships, school accountability, and parents’ choice.

A select few wins are worth recounting lest the sector forgets.

First, the Minister won buy-in from teacher unions (after a few tweaks) to implement the Investing in Educational Success (IES) scheme. IES enables school-to-school collaboration as well as the progression and rewarding of effective teachers and principals.

The scheme also recognises the potential of incentives to get top leaders into poorly performing schools – often small schools.

Currently a principal’s salary is based on the size of their school roll rather than the size of the educational challenge. Under IES, capable principals can earn an additional $50,000 a year for taking up the challenge to turn-around a struggling school.

Partnership schools and online learning schools are wins too. These policies enable parents to choose the most suitable education for their children. This somewhat by-passes the restrictive zoning rules imposed on parents and successful schools.

Finally, Parata oversaw the recent passing of the Education Legislation Bill.  The Bill enshrines in law greater flexibility for schools. Among other provisions the Bill gives school boards the option for a capable principal to lead more than one school.

It may be true that we are more likely to recall negative events than favourable ones but it is important to give credit where it’s due. Minister Parata’s legacy of unapologetically putting students first should not be forgotten.  

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