Sick kids can't learn

"It's time for the Government to wake up and admit that growing inequality prevents thousands of kids from getting the most out of their education," says Labour’s Education Spokesperson Nanaia Mahuta.

"Many families are struggling to pay rent and power bills and those essential commitments do not leave much money left to buy food.

"For some families, getting into a pre-paid electricity plan like Mercury Energy's glo-bug pre-pay plan has created further hardship.  If a family gets into arrears, when they top-up their account an automatic deduction goes towards arrears rather than addressing immediate electricity needs.

"This often means that disadvantaged children are living in cold damp conditions.  They get sick and are unable to go to school and fall even further behind.

"The Government cannot simply sit back and ignore the stark reality that 270,000 children are living in poverty - more must be done.

"Success in education cannot occur in isolation.  If children are hungry and sick their chances in life are severely compromised.

"Labour's plan to partner with community organisations to provide food in decile 1-3 schools is an important start.  Warm, stable affordable housing can also help.  Targeted employment initiatives for vulnerable and low income families will go a long way to making a real difference.

"Hekia Parata may be in lock-down mode in her portfolio but she should look above the parapet and convince her cabinet colleagues that they need to take addressing poverty and inequality seriously,” says Nanaia Mahuta.