Ms FYLES - 2014-08-20
You are so out of touch. Your government has maintained for months that only 35 teaching positions have been cut. The true figure revealed during estimates was 125 teachers and 60 support staff are gone from our schools. Student learning outcomes and behaviour management in schools need these 185 positions reinstated. Why are you risking the future of our children while bolstering your department by $33m to provide you with advice? Why is your government continuing to cut teacher numbers from our schools?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, you can keep trying to peddle the $33m argument, but a range of functional areas have come back into the Department of the Chief Minister through portfolio changes, not the least including the Office of Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment, which was with the Department of Business and is now with the Department of the Chief Minister.
With regard to education, we unashamedly are working towards improving education standards and outcomes in the Northern Territory. We have taken on three important reviews on new ideas to improving educational outcomes for our kids.
We heard a statement from the Minister for Education yesterday, or the day before, about the participation rates and outcomes in NAPLAN testing. There has been an increase in the participation rate of NAPLAN - and Pete would be the best person to give you those exact figures. But the NAPLAN outcomes show the Northern Territory is a long way behind the rest of the country. We need to identify ways to do things much better to ensure kids in the Territory get better outcomes and we are not afraid of doing that.
You talk about resources going in; we need resources to deliver the core curriculum and the components around educating students. Fundamentally, we need new ways of doing business because there are kids who are not achieving educational outcomes.
For instance, take the first question about SEAAOC. We talk about developing jobs, enterprises and business opportunities in all parts of the Northern Territory. Those jobs will not be useful if we do not have kids coming out of the education system capable of taking the jobs. Fundamentally, that is what we have to work towards. It is a pathway or a life cycle for these people, to ensure the best opportunities of health, housing, telecommunications and infrastructure.
We are trying to build a new paradigm for people in the Northern Territory and education is part of that. The model of education being delivered is not quite right. I am thankful the Minister for Education and other ministers have spent time looking at our education models from around the country. One model they are looking at is Direct Instruction, seeing how we can get a single platform of education modelling, particularly in remote areas of the Northern Territory ...
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question. Why are you continuing to cut teachers and support staff from our schools?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Chief Minister, get to the point.
Mr GILES: I am keen to learn about the investigations around Direct Instruction and how we can provide a linear model of education, particularly in remote areas, to ensure when kids change schools they can keep up with that education model. What is happening at the moment is not delivering the education outcomes our budget wants, we as individuals want or the community expects. That is why we need fundamental reform.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, you can keep trying to peddle the $33m argument, but a range of functional areas have come back into the Department of the Chief Minister through portfolio changes, not the least including the Office of Asian Engagement, Trade and Investment, which was with the Department of Business and is now with the Department of the Chief Minister.
With regard to education, we unashamedly are working towards improving education standards and outcomes in the Northern Territory. We have taken on three important reviews on new ideas to improving educational outcomes for our kids.
We heard a statement from the Minister for Education yesterday, or the day before, about the participation rates and outcomes in NAPLAN testing. There has been an increase in the participation rate of NAPLAN - and Pete would be the best person to give you those exact figures. But the NAPLAN outcomes show the Northern Territory is a long way behind the rest of the country. We need to identify ways to do things much better to ensure kids in the Territory get better outcomes and we are not afraid of doing that.
You talk about resources going in; we need resources to deliver the core curriculum and the components around educating students. Fundamentally, we need new ways of doing business because there are kids who are not achieving educational outcomes.
For instance, take the first question about SEAAOC. We talk about developing jobs, enterprises and business opportunities in all parts of the Northern Territory. Those jobs will not be useful if we do not have kids coming out of the education system capable of taking the jobs. Fundamentally, that is what we have to work towards. It is a pathway or a life cycle for these people, to ensure the best opportunities of health, housing, telecommunications and infrastructure.
We are trying to build a new paradigm for people in the Northern Territory and education is part of that. The model of education being delivered is not quite right. I am thankful the Minister for Education and other ministers have spent time looking at our education models from around the country. One model they are looking at is Direct Instruction, seeing how we can get a single platform of education modelling, particularly in remote areas of the Northern Territory ...
Ms FYLES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing order 113: relevance. It was a very direct question. Why are you continuing to cut teachers and support staff from our schools?
Madam SPEAKER: It is not a point of order. Chief Minister, get to the point.
Mr GILES: I am keen to learn about the investigations around Direct Instruction and how we can provide a linear model of education, particularly in remote areas, to ensure when kids change schools they can keep up with that education model. What is happening at the moment is not delivering the education outcomes our budget wants, we as individuals want or the community expects. That is why we need fundamental reform.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016