Page 990 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 May 2020

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… across one term there will be close to three and a half weeks of learning lost in numeracy for children from low socio-economic backgrounds, similar for Indigenous students and about half that from language backgrounds other than English. In numeracy, it’s about 13 weeks across a full school year of learning that will be lost basically … for literacy and reading skills it’s slightly lower but it’s still about nine to 10 weeks.

They are sobering facts indeed. Education expert Professor John Hattie said in a recent article that while time away from school may not result in devastating learning outcomes, equity is a far more concerning factor. He said:

Students who come from well-resourced families will fare much better than those from lower resourced families. The effect of home resources is powerful. I have rarely met a parent who does not want to help the child, but some do not have the skills. Remember, we made schooling compulsory because teachers are better at teaching than parents.

I have serious concerns about the educational wellbeing of children from our migrant communities: children whose parents do not speak English well, who find it difficult to navigate permission slips, let alone navigate a plethora of online platforms to supervise their children’s learning whilst not understanding the instructions. This is asking them to do the impossible. I know because I have been there.

I finish with the words of some of the numerous parents who have contacted me in severe distress at what they are seeing happen to their children’s education. One said:

My husband and I are both essential workers; our children are 5 and 6 years old. I visited the allocated safe and supervised school site for our children and was enormously disappointed to see children sitting in classrooms with headphones on and simply clicking through online packages. The hub school model is not the face to face education that our children deserve.

Another said:

My children did not have access to or know where to access hand sanitiser; my Year 2 student spent most of his time playing on a chromebook with about 15 mins of actual learning; my year 5 student waited for nearly an hour to get help to access the hub school wi fi. He also has a respiratory and heart condition which the hub school knew nothing about.

There are many more, but there is one overriding truth: all these issues, difficulties and distress could have been avoided or at least ameliorated had this government heeded medical advice, listened to parents, and supported teachers to do what they do best—teaching our children, inspiring and directing their learning in a face-to-face, engaged environment.

I will address Ms Berry’s proposed amendment in the summing up.

MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development, Minister for Housing and Suburban Development, Minister


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