Mr BARRETT - 2015-02-25
How is the Country Liberals government ensuring students across the Northern Territory have access to quality education?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. He is a stringent supporter of students and education in the Northern Territory.
The new Northern Territory Open Education Centre is a remarkable project. The construction tender for the project goes out this week on Thursday 26 February. This major investment in infrastructure will ensure more than 600 students, no matter where they live in the Northern Territory, can receive a good education.
It is an $11.6m purpose-built facility; for the first time we have a facility built around technology, not the other way around. It will provide education for Years 10 to 12 and will be built at the Darwin High School. It will provide a brand-new frontage between the high school and the middle school.
It is a 2100 m2 three-story building which was designed by design consultant group MODE, which draws on the best practice from areas in Australia and New Zealand.
The INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG Project is contributing $3.3m; I thank INPEX for that. This is part of its $90m package of social and environmental programs to support the local community. It was put to Sean Kildare yesterday. Sean said that whilst INPEX and this project has a big impact on the Darwin area, they wanted to be sure it left a legacy across the Northern Territory. We support and thank them for their contribution to this great project.
A new NTOEC is desperately needed. The centre originally operated from an old building in Chrisp Street, Rapid Creek. It is more than 30 years old and is no longer suitable for the vast needs of secondary senior distance-education students.
I am excited about this project for a number of reasons. It will provide first-rate modern technology and a great educational opportunity for more than 600 students across the Northern Territory. There is also potential for us to provide education programs in Timor-Leste. The government of Timor-Leste is very interested in learning more about this and being directly involved in what we can provide. The bigger a project is – and the bigger a school is – the more opportunities it has to provide a vast scope of education. This is good news for students and for the Territory.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Blain for his question. He is a stringent supporter of students and education in the Northern Territory.
The new Northern Territory Open Education Centre is a remarkable project. The construction tender for the project goes out this week on Thursday 26 February. This major investment in infrastructure will ensure more than 600 students, no matter where they live in the Northern Territory, can receive a good education.
It is an $11.6m purpose-built facility; for the first time we have a facility built around technology, not the other way around. It will provide education for Years 10 to 12 and will be built at the Darwin High School. It will provide a brand-new frontage between the high school and the middle school.
It is a 2100 m2 three-story building which was designed by design consultant group MODE, which draws on the best practice from areas in Australia and New Zealand.
The INPEX-operated Ichthys LNG Project is contributing $3.3m; I thank INPEX for that. This is part of its $90m package of social and environmental programs to support the local community. It was put to Sean Kildare yesterday. Sean said that whilst INPEX and this project has a big impact on the Darwin area, they wanted to be sure it left a legacy across the Northern Territory. We support and thank them for their contribution to this great project.
A new NTOEC is desperately needed. The centre originally operated from an old building in Chrisp Street, Rapid Creek. It is more than 30 years old and is no longer suitable for the vast needs of secondary senior distance-education students.
I am excited about this project for a number of reasons. It will provide first-rate modern technology and a great educational opportunity for more than 600 students across the Northern Territory. There is also potential for us to provide education programs in Timor-Leste. The government of Timor-Leste is very interested in learning more about this and being directly involved in what we can provide. The bigger a project is – and the bigger a school is – the more opportunities it has to provide a vast scope of education. This is good news for students and for the Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016