Page 1400 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 1 May 1990
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MR DUBY: Mr Speaker, why should I need to make a ministerial statement when I am asked a question and I have the details here?
MR SPEAKER: Order! It has dragged on too far.
Literacy Skills
MS MAHER: My question is directed to the Minister for Health, Education and the Arts. An article in the Canberra Times dated 25 April refers to the high rate of illiteracy in adults in our society. It says:
The Australian Army has now joined the list of employers, educators and training bodies to condemn the appalling literacy of Australian school-leavers.
Can the Minister tell the Assembly the measures that are being taken to ensure that our school children are not leaving school with poor literacy skills? What is the ACT Government doing to contribute to the International Year of Literacy?
MR HUMPHRIES: I thank Ms Maher for her question, which is a very good one. I am also pleased to note that the Leader of the Opposition has an interest in this matter, according to the newspaper report on the weekend. It will come as no surprise to those who have followed issues concerning literacy in the ACT that the Alliance Government is strongly committed to promoting and maintaining literacy levels in our education system.
The Department of Education already offers a number of special programs for students experiencing difficulty with literacy. We have the reading recovery program for year 1, the learner assistance program for high school students and the English as a second language program. As well, we have resource teachers placed in a number of schools assisting all teachers to teach literacy skills to their students more effectively. We have programs such as the early literacy in-service course, the Canberra illiteracy program, the language for understanding across the curriculum program, all of them enhancing teachers' skills in literacy.
As Ms Maher pointed out, this is the International Year of Literacy, and it puts a special onus on us to address the particular problems of illiteracy which we face, including determining the level of illiteracy in our society. The Government is presently in the final stages of preparing its green paper on literacy and numeracy, which I hope will be released this month and which will provide the basis for widespread community discussion on these issues. I hope the Leader of the Opposition will take part in that. We
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