Backing education against lack

John Hart, Green Party candidate for Wairarapa

No area of New Zealand is free from poverty and deprivation. We certainly have our fair share in the Wairarapa. We have children turning up to our schools every day that are not ready to learn. Whether they are unwell, poorly clothed or just hungry, the result is the same: Some of our kids are not reaching their full potential because they are not able to get the most out of school.

That is why the Green Party has launched our 'Schools at the Heart' school hub policy that will provide all kids in decile 1 to 4 schools with a free lunch, a free dedicated school nurse, free after school and holiday care and an onsite hub coordinator to manage the provision of these and other social services that the school community identifies they need.

Twenty-two schools and 3418 kids in the Wairarapa electorate will directly benefit from this policy, that aims to alleviate the impacts of poverty on our kids learning. Research shows that inequality is the biggest cause of education underachievement. If we can mitigate the effect of inequality then we can raise these kids' achievement too.

Research tells us that kids with poor starts in life today are much more likely to grow up into tomorrow's high-cost participants in our health, welfare and justice systems. It's easy to make the economic argument that ensuring all our kids are ready to learn is a good investment. Every dollar we invest in improving early childhood outcomes results in more than ten dollars of reduced spending later in life.

Economics aside, there is a more powerful reason to make sure our kids are fed, clothed, healthy and ready to learn: it's the right thing to do.

The simple fact is children do not choose their situations. They do not choose the place and family of their birth. They do not choose their parents' occupation, or their parents' income. Punishing children for circumstances not of their choosing is not something a caring society does.

You might say it's up to parents to feed their kids, and that the state stepping in somehow encourages more of the same. If you do, let me ask you this: If you see a neighbour's stock wandering onto the road through a broken fence, what's the first thing you do? Do you stand around tut-tutting about the state of his fence? No, you pitch in and help put things right.

So it is with kids turning up to school not ready to learn. Right now we have a moral obligation to make sure every child in New Zealand is fed, clothed and healthy when they turn up to school. It's as simple as that.

A poor start at school leads to poor outcomes down the track. Letting children suffer now, while limiting their chances later in life, through no fault of their own, is immoral. We can do better than that.