Page 690 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 28 March 2006
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community has endorsed our vision for Canberra’s future and how this vision, with the support of the wider community, is being realised.
It is the people who will determine how a city will grow. It is important that we, as elected representatives and as members of the community, support all individuals in reaching their full potential. The ACT has continued to lead Australia in education, training and lifelong learning—the key priority of our social plan. Results across ACT schools speak for themselves, whether in literacy and numeracy benchmarks or international results in science and maths.
In 2005 the ACT year 3 assessment program reading results were particularly pleasing, with 96 per cent of students above the national benchmark. Year 5 indigenous students have shown a considerable improvement in numeracy results. The most recently released national science assessment results indicate our year 6 students are performing significantly above the national mean in this important area.
A strong public education system requires investment. Leading the country takes strong commitment and constant innovation. Our decision to proceed with the building of the $45 million state-of-the-art school in west Belconnen demonstrates the government’s commitment to public education. The new school will provide the young people of west Belconnen with unparalleled educational facilities and opportunities. It is a significant investment in the future not only of its students, but also the whole community.
One example of our commitment to improved community learning facilities is the new Kippax Library. Since 1978 the Kippax Library has been housed in a temporary facility, so it was well and truly time for the people of west Belconnen to have a much larger and vastly improved $3.5 million purpose built facility. More than $500,000 has been spent boosting the library’s collections with new books, audio and video learning resources. As a result of this investment, there has already been a three-fold increase in the number of people using the services offered through the library.
By the end of the year Civic, too, will boast a magnificent new library as part of $40 million investment in the Civic Square cultural precinct. The government recognises the importance of investing in the early years to optimise long-term outcomes for our children. We have invested in new and improved services for young children and their families in the ACT. This considerable investment includes a new purpose-built child and family centre at Gungahlin, due to open in mid-2006. The permanent Tuggeranong Child and Family Centre will open at Anketell Street later this year.
We have extended our partnerships with community groups, not-for-profit organisations and educational and research institutes to offer a range of programs that strengthen the health of our community. Today I would like to highlight specific health initiatives introduced over the past year. They include the new $9.75 million specialised sub-acute rehabilitation psychogeriatric unit being built at Calvary Public Hospital; the expansion of the Aboriginal midwifery access pre and post-natal support program; the newborn hearing screening program extended to Calvary and John James hospitals; the new Winnunga Nimmityjah hearing and health program and the new fall prevention programs designed to reduce the incidence and often devastating impacts of falls suffered by older people.
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