Mr HIGGINS - 2014-03-26
Can the minister update the House on the government’s reforms to the education system to improve results, especially those in the bush?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. He is committed to schools in his electorate. As I mentioned in my previous answer, the NT spends the most money per student, but we have some of the worst results.
Ms Fyles: Must be going to cut something, talking about all of this money you are spending.
MR CHANDLER: When we came into government, we set about investigating why, as a responsible government should.
We have drawn on research saying bolstering the early years yields the best outcomes. This provides a solid foundation for future learning. To reflect this, we refocused our staffing formula for 2014 on the early years, which has resulted in 63 extra teachers in Transition, Year 1 and Year 2 classes.
Change is something we will all struggle to adapt to; the opposition has. They struggled going from government to opposition. People struggle to adapt from time to time, but the roll-out of this formula has been successful, with no major issues.
I thank schools for their cooperation through this process. It has been so successful those opposite have struggled to make up problems, which is remarkable, because they have never let the truth get in the way of a good headline before. Bruce Wilson’s Indigenous Education Review draft report has completed its consultation program. We have received 112 written submissions and over 500 people have attended community meetings. Bruce and his team held 15 meetings in different areas of the Territory to get feedback from the people it will affect.
I was pleased to hear from the member for Nhulunbuy that she was able to attend both the meetings in her electorate. Equally, I was disappointed Gerry McCarthy missed the meeting in Tennant Creek. Bruce tells me of some strong debate, which is what I wanted to see from the draft report. There is overwhelming support for the majority of the recommendations, and I look forward to reading the final report due in the coming weeks.
Last month, I released a discussion paper about reviewing the Education Act, which is now 35 years old. The overall process includes 15 weeks of consultation, which I see as the key component, because we want to hear from principals, school councils, teachers and parents about how we can modernise the act. Concerns have been raised in this House that this review is some kind of buck-passing exercise, to transfer responsibility from department individuals. I refute those claims. I believe more decisions should be made at the school level, but the increased autonomy can bring better outcomes.
I will not dilute the responsibilities of the department or the minister. This government has taken responsibility for education; we have a plan to improve results and we will continually be rolling out the plan, despite the tirade of misinformation and arrogance from those opposite.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. He is committed to schools in his electorate. As I mentioned in my previous answer, the NT spends the most money per student, but we have some of the worst results.
Ms Fyles: Must be going to cut something, talking about all of this money you are spending.
MR CHANDLER: When we came into government, we set about investigating why, as a responsible government should.
We have drawn on research saying bolstering the early years yields the best outcomes. This provides a solid foundation for future learning. To reflect this, we refocused our staffing formula for 2014 on the early years, which has resulted in 63 extra teachers in Transition, Year 1 and Year 2 classes.
Change is something we will all struggle to adapt to; the opposition has. They struggled going from government to opposition. People struggle to adapt from time to time, but the roll-out of this formula has been successful, with no major issues.
I thank schools for their cooperation through this process. It has been so successful those opposite have struggled to make up problems, which is remarkable, because they have never let the truth get in the way of a good headline before. Bruce Wilson’s Indigenous Education Review draft report has completed its consultation program. We have received 112 written submissions and over 500 people have attended community meetings. Bruce and his team held 15 meetings in different areas of the Territory to get feedback from the people it will affect.
I was pleased to hear from the member for Nhulunbuy that she was able to attend both the meetings in her electorate. Equally, I was disappointed Gerry McCarthy missed the meeting in Tennant Creek. Bruce tells me of some strong debate, which is what I wanted to see from the draft report. There is overwhelming support for the majority of the recommendations, and I look forward to reading the final report due in the coming weeks.
Last month, I released a discussion paper about reviewing the Education Act, which is now 35 years old. The overall process includes 15 weeks of consultation, which I see as the key component, because we want to hear from principals, school councils, teachers and parents about how we can modernise the act. Concerns have been raised in this House that this review is some kind of buck-passing exercise, to transfer responsibility from department individuals. I refute those claims. I believe more decisions should be made at the school level, but the increased autonomy can bring better outcomes.
I will not dilute the responsibilities of the department or the minister. This government has taken responsibility for education; we have a plan to improve results and we will continually be rolling out the plan, despite the tirade of misinformation and arrogance from those opposite.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016