Kia ora koutou katoa

As Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education we have a clear purpose: We shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent outcomes.

Achieving excellence is the goal that every education system should strive for – educational success supports personal, social, and national wellbeing and prosperity. What excellence looks like will not be the same for everyone – but every ākonga (learner) deserves no less than to be surrounded by people who have the very highest aspirations for them, and a system that is set up to support them to be their very best.

A relentless focus on equity is critical in the New Zealand context. Our education system has been characterised by persistent disparities in outcomes for groups of our students, including Māori, Pasifika, disabled, and students from low socioeconomic circumstances. Focusing on equity means improving how our system recognises and responds to the diverse circumstances and needs of ākonga, so that each one receives the support they need to succeed.

Equity and excellence need to go hand in hand. We cannot achieve excellence without tackling issues of equity, and we will serve no-one well if we treat equity as an end in itself without keeping sight of excellence for all.

The pursuit of equitable and excellent outcomes should inform everything we do – from policy decisions to the way we organise ourselves, to the way we work. This starts with being clear on our roles and responsibilities – essentially what we’re here to do as a Ministry.

I want to acknowledge the significant efforts we’ve made over recent years to strengthen our work as a Ministry and better position ourselves to deliver on our purpose. We’ve grown our connections with local communities, focused on taking practical action to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, enhanced our cultural capability and our ability to put ourselves in the shoes of others, stepped up the use of data and evidence to inform our work, and we’ve developed new expertise and services in areas like curriculum and leadership in line with decisions from the Review of Tomorrow’s Schools. It’s important we do not lose sight of these valuable shifts and that we build upon them.

And build upon them we must, because our education system is not yet consistently delivering on the promise of equity and excellence. As system stewards, we need to be prepared to hold our share of accountability for this reality and consider what we should be doing more of, or differently, to shape a system that does deliver equity and excellence. We are already asking different parts of the education sector to make changes in how they are operating to raise education outcomes for all ākonga. The Government has a significant agenda for education covering early learning through to tertiary and has set clear targets for school attendance and achievement. We have shifted to start delivering to this agenda, but we are facing some headwinds in our current configuration. I see an organisation made up of people absolutely committed to our purpose, but I also see an organisation under strain as people try to balance our current ways of working with what is now needed of us. It is timely to consider how we are operating to effectively support efforts to deliver the best for all learners.

I think we need to be clear about our core role and build towards avoiding duplication so that we can focus our efforts and resources on doing our core work really well. You have also told me, and I have observed for myself, the need for greater clarity on roles and responsibilities across the Ministry, so that work does not fall between the cracks and accountability is clear.

In tackling the challenges of equity and excellence we do not have all the answers within our organisation. We need to be deliberately outward-looking and driven by evidence and data. We need to collaborate with the sector, iwi, NGOs, other government agencies and key stakeholders to build a shared understanding of our context and where the greatest needs and opportunities exist. We need to be curious about what’s happening with education internationally, and ready to learn from different education systems and perspectives. Importantly, we need to use data and evidence to identify trends, direct efforts, and tell us what is having an impact. We then need to be prepared to adapt and refine our approach accordingly.

We need to continue to improve our services by better organising ourselves and our work around the needs of ākonga. We have the opportunity to clarify the services, supports, and regulatory actions we need to provide – who they’re for, when they should be delivered, and how they will influence outcomes. In Learning Support, for example, we are seeing growing need driven by societal changes and the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Significant investment through Budget 25 provides both the opportunity and the duty to think about how we set ourselves up to deliver learning support to the children who need it.

We also have the opportunity to recognise the growing importance of digital and data-driven solutions in how we deliver services and how people expect to receive them. Digital solutions are reshaping the world we live in – providing opportunities and challenges for our ākonga, the wider sector, and in our workplace. We need to find ways to integrate and leverage AI technologies, both in our work and in achieving learning outcomes. We have the potential to address workload issues, support efficient data- driven decision making, and enhance access to information and learning, among many other opportunities.

Of course, adjustments to our structure are not enough on their own. These need to be supported by a strong organisational culture and behaviours. Thank you for your input into shaping our organisational ngā mātāpono or principles. We’ve arrived at four ngā mātāpono that underpin the strength and integrity of our Ministry: manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, whanaungatanga, and kotahitanga. These ngā mātāpono, provide a foundation for the leadership behaviours I am expecting people to display. These behaviours are about our people being accountable and driven, transparent, curious and connected, and focused on building capability and caring about the Ministry.