Mr KURRUPUWU - 2012-12-05
Can you tell the House of the government’s plans to give parents information about the performance of their children at school?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. Education is the gift that keeps on giving for our children. It is the foundation upon which the Northern Territory has been built. I am very proud to be the new Minister for Education in the Northern Territory.
We want our children to be skilled, to be in line for high-paying, rewarding jobs that really make a difference to the Territory and to those future adults in our community. They must have a good education.
The former government left us with a legacy of very high absenteeism and low attendance rates which will continue to be a struggle for this government to fix - another problem the former government left us which we will endeavour to fix.
Education is like a race; while every competitor should be praised for competing, so too should every competitor strive to do better. We are committed to providing Territorian parents with information they need to make an informed decision on the selection of a school for their Year 12 children.
Rather than face a long wait as we try to develop from scratch a specific Northern Territory government rating system, the Territory government has decided to work with the Northern Territory Board of Studies to move towards the excellent South Australian Certificate of Education model. This model will allow Territory parents to compare the academic and other performance of schools. It is logical parents will select the schools which deliver the best results. Anything that can be done to help parents and students achieve the best results should be pursued.
The former government ignored the established practice of releasing student data through the relevant appropriate authority. The Northern Territory Board of Studies has decided to copy the information release processes used in South Australia starting from next year. This is good news. We have invested in this new data release process and it is good news for all Territory families. The sort of information that will be released will include aggregated student achievements in particular subjects and learning areas. It will also show overall school achievements in many areas.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. Education is the gift that keeps on giving for our children. It is the foundation upon which the Northern Territory has been built. I am very proud to be the new Minister for Education in the Northern Territory.
We want our children to be skilled, to be in line for high-paying, rewarding jobs that really make a difference to the Territory and to those future adults in our community. They must have a good education.
The former government left us with a legacy of very high absenteeism and low attendance rates which will continue to be a struggle for this government to fix - another problem the former government left us which we will endeavour to fix.
Education is like a race; while every competitor should be praised for competing, so too should every competitor strive to do better. We are committed to providing Territorian parents with information they need to make an informed decision on the selection of a school for their Year 12 children.
Rather than face a long wait as we try to develop from scratch a specific Northern Territory government rating system, the Territory government has decided to work with the Northern Territory Board of Studies to move towards the excellent South Australian Certificate of Education model. This model will allow Territory parents to compare the academic and other performance of schools. It is logical parents will select the schools which deliver the best results. Anything that can be done to help parents and students achieve the best results should be pursued.
The former government ignored the established practice of releasing student data through the relevant appropriate authority. The Northern Territory Board of Studies has decided to copy the information release processes used in South Australia starting from next year. This is good news. We have invested in this new data release process and it is good news for all Territory families. The sort of information that will be released will include aggregated student achievements in particular subjects and learning areas. It will also show overall school achievements in many areas.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016