Well done Hekia Parata

The Herald reports:

Education Minister Hekia Parata has launched a ministerial inquiry after a convicted sex offender was hired as a teacher.

Ms Parata said she was "extremely concerned" at the revelation when ministers were informed late last week.

The offender was convicted of a sexual offence against a minor in 2004 and the person was hired at a school as a teacher.

Ms Parata said the school became aware that the offender had multiple identities, and after reporting this to the authorities the offender's previous conviction was discovered.

The offender is now in custody.

"Parents should be able to send their children to school confident that an individual of this type is not part of the school environment," Ms Parata said.

She did not name the offender and said the matter was now before the court.

Former Ombudsman Mel Smith will conduct the inquiry and report back by the end of April.

Hekia Parata should be congratulated for taking swift and decisive action on this matter. The safety of the children in our schools should be paramount at all times.

And it would seem that the person involved has done the rounds; read on:

Ms Parata said the teacher worked at two schools, and possibly a further six schools.

"The schools that were immediately affected have been notified. School communities have been informed and the Ministry of Education is actively working with those schools. It is possible that several other schools have also been affected," she said.

"We have asked the courts to vary suppression orders so that we can work with other schools that may have been affected and they can inform parents."

She said the person was facing charges in an Auckland court for breaching release conditions. She did not comment on whether further charges were expected.

The person was under an extended supervision order.

The inquiry will look at how the offender was able to breach the system and how it can be strengthened.

"Clearly there are weaknesses in the system," Ms Parata said.

The person was registered as a teacher from 2000.

The person had been "working irregularly" in the sector since 2000, Ms Parata said.

"It is clear to us that this person has used multiple identities on multiple occasions."

The Teachers Council undertakes checks when teachers apply to be registered.

"A voluntary vetting is undertaken by police for that individual and with that individual's knowlegde and consent," Ms Parata said.

"I have this morning called in the chair of the Teachers Council and the chief executive of the Teachers Council to ask them to give me an assuarnce of the integrity of the system they are responsible for."

We are sure that the role of the Teachers Council will be a significant feature of the ministerial inquiry. Whilst it would appear that this offender has used different identities, there must be some concern over how the person was able to maintain teacher registration, and whether or not fraudulent documents were used to secure this status.

It will be interesting to see where this matter goes. But Hekia Parata has shown that she will not tolerate anything which puts students at risk, and we are sure that even the teacher unions will endorse that.