Page 1587 - Week 06 - Thursday, 3 May 1990
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Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Detail Stage
Clause 1 (Short title)
Consideration (on motion by Mr Connolly) adjourned.
EDUCATION
Ministerial Statement
Debate resumed from 21 March 1990, on motion by Mr Humphries:
That the Assembly takes note of the following paper:
Education - Ministerial statement, 21 March 1990.
MR WOOD (11.45): At the outset I must say that I face something of a conceptual problem. When I look at schools I see children, I see programs, I see activities. But, judging from comments that have been made recently, when the Government looks at schools it sees buildings and grounds, it see assets, it sees something to be sold.
When I look at schools I see the learning that goes on in them. I trust that I can impart some of my concepts to the Government, especially at this important stage when the future of so many schools and so much learning in this Territory is threatened. I am sorry the Minister is not here. I voted with others here to give him leave of absence. He is where he should be, and I do not question that at all, but I wish he were here, because later I will have some specific questions to ask him.
The paper that he proposed, which we now debate, said it was concerned with a number of issues and with objectives for 1990. It does raise a number of issues - important issues on their own, but not central to the quality of education, not a significant part of the debate going on in the community.
As to objectives for 1990, there were few indeed. I found it a surprising statement. It was the Minister's first statement on education in this Assembly, but it was not a landmark paper. He did not take the opportunity to express the Government's wide view of policies or of philosophies. He did not have to, of course, but I thought it would have been more appropriate to do so, especially in view of the fact that while he was reading that paper there were vital
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