Page 931 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 27 March 1990
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1989, under self-government. We should congratulate the professional leadership of the new Department of Education for managing that considerable shift with equanimity and constructive continuity.
I especially note the section on pages 6 to 7, which reflects briefly on the transition from one governmental system to another. Dr Willmot's open letter is worth stressing, and I would like to read it very quickly into Hansard because it relates to us. It states:
We can all consider the new conditions in which our schools and their communities will work under self-government. Schools will be more than ever under the notice of not only the immediate communities which they serve but also of the general ACT constituency and its legislature.
Of course, we are bearing this out here today. It continues:
The ACT will be responsible for the effectiveness, the viability, and the standards of its way of life as never before. All who provide its services, including public education, will have a direct incentive to meet the highest possible standards of accountability for performance.
Of course they are accountable to us, as we are accountable to the citizens of the ACT.
Further in his letter, Dr Willmot rightly points out our continuing national and even international role as Australia's unique city State, and therefore the special functions of our Department of Education.
Further in that section, I would like to note and applaud several points, some of which I select for comment; there are three. He points out the special task of guiding our students to an understanding of the special nature of Canberra in relation to both the Commonwealth and the States, and I hope the schools have a good understanding of what we try to do here. Secondly, the report states:
... internationally, ACT schools can develop a positive approach to the continued study of certain European languages ...
Debate interrupted.
ADJOURNMENT
MR SPEAKER: Order! It being 9.30 pm, I propose the question:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
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