Mr BURKE - 1995-05-24
Can the minister confirm or deny that there are plans to move Year 7 students into high schools in Darwin?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, no, there are not. You do wonder, Mr Speaker, where some of these rumours come from.
Members interjecting.
Mr FINCH: My colleague is suggesting that it may be that the member for Nhulunbuy ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: I think that that is where the line about the 10% cut to education came from, but one can never be sure on these matters. Nevertheless, it was a matter of some
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concern to the independent schools when I met with them the other day. They had heard this rumour that we intended to move all Year 7 students in Darwin into high schools. That was a topic debated some time ago following the Cameron Report. At that stage, after very careful deliberation, this government decided to maintain the status quo. In Alice Springs, Year 7 students are in high schools and are doing quite well in a program that includes a mixture of access to specialist teachers and facilities, along with the normal pastoral care approach that would be expected for primary students. That program is working quite well. In Darwin, the decision was to continue as things are, and Year 7 students will remain in primary schools.
If a survey were to be taken across the Territory, the attitudes would be probably about 50:50 towards that situation. I am sure that a survey conducted in the Darwin region would demonstrate that the great majority of parents would want the status quo to remain unchanged, and that would be the case in Alice Springs also. Thus, the answer is simply no.
Page 595
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, no, there are not. You do wonder, Mr Speaker, where some of these rumours come from.
Members interjecting.
Mr FINCH: My colleague is suggesting that it may be that the member for Nhulunbuy ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: I think that that is where the line about the 10% cut to education came from, but one can never be sure on these matters. Nevertheless, it was a matter of some
Page 594
concern to the independent schools when I met with them the other day. They had heard this rumour that we intended to move all Year 7 students in Darwin into high schools. That was a topic debated some time ago following the Cameron Report. At that stage, after very careful deliberation, this government decided to maintain the status quo. In Alice Springs, Year 7 students are in high schools and are doing quite well in a program that includes a mixture of access to specialist teachers and facilities, along with the normal pastoral care approach that would be expected for primary students. That program is working quite well. In Darwin, the decision was to continue as things are, and Year 7 students will remain in primary schools.
If a survey were to be taken across the Territory, the attitudes would be probably about 50:50 towards that situation. I am sure that a survey conducted in the Darwin region would demonstrate that the great majority of parents would want the status quo to remain unchanged, and that would be the case in Alice Springs also. Thus, the answer is simply no.
Page 595
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016