Page 567 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 March 2014
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here to develop meaningful, lasting relationships with all sectors and really work out the best way to support all of our students, regardless of their social, economic or, for that matter, religious background.
Education is an issue that should be bringing people together. As mentioned, the “I give a Gonski” campaign recently finished its Australian tour with a breakfast here in Canberra at Richardson Primary School. It was great to be there with my federal colleague Senator Penny Wright, the Australian Education Union and my fellow MLAs Mr Gentleman and Ms Berry to hear again why the funding reforms are so needed, in particular the need for the full six years as agreed by the participating states and territories. As Dr Jim McMorrow stated in his recent report to the AEU:
Failure to implement the comprehensive reforms put forward by the Gonski panel and embedded in the architecture of the Australian Education Act will more than disappoint the large numbers of teachers, parents and students in our schools. It will also mean missing the once in a generation opportunity provided by the Gonski review to settle one of the country’s most intractable and divisive areas of public policy.
They are very powerful words. To actually get an outcome to a debate like this that has gone on for many years, done through the work of an independent panel like the Gonski review that was really focused on the needs of students, is an extraordinary opportunity, and to see it unpicked in such an ideological manner is very distressing.
Issues like numeracy and literacy, the basic building blocks of so much of our current curriculum, need dedicated and focused programs to really support those students who may, for a range of reasons, require an extra bit of help. Staffing profiles, workforce development and parental engagement are all issues that are best planned for in the long term.
Students’ needs should be defined in relation to their educational outcomes, the positive experience of learning, community inclusion and the gaining of the vital skills needed for their future adult life. These needs go far beyond NAPLAN tests, leagues tables and PISA scores. While it is indeed necessary to measure progress, a quality education is also about recognising each child as an individual that should be offered every chance to learn and grow to the best of their ability in a positive and enriching environment.
I am happy to support the motion here today in the ACT government’s ongoing implementation of the NERA, calling on the commonwealth to honour its agreements and striving to offer the best education we can to all ACT students. I think that is the objective we need to remain focused on. We need to try and step away from discussions about whether certain political parties have a vendetta against certain types of schooling systems. That is not what this is about. This is about getting a funding model that benefits all students in Australia and gives them all the opportunity to get the education they need.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra) (5.46): I will start by going to what the Gonski review was actually about. I know Mr Rattenbury touched on that a bit, but I am going to go to the web page, because there seems to be some confusion about the Gonski campaign. Saying that the Gonski campaign has gone way past its use-by date is
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