Page 731 - Week 03 - Thursday, 22 March 1990
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In a recent report on quality in education the major thrust is the need for the professional development of teachers but here are some problems, and I guess you are aware of them. In recent years - and it is certainly not the responsibility of your Government - the amount of resources going into professional development has been severely squeezed. The number of teachers who are advisory teachers has been severely squeezed. We are not giving the teachers now the support that the system requires and that they formerly had. It is a great problem. The style of teacher we have and their needs are not related to an autonomous body. They are related to the type of system we have. It is complementary to that system, but we are still going to need that same dedicated teacher, that same highly qualified teacher, no matter what sort of administrative structure we have.
I want, finally, to refer to a factor that was always fundamental to an autonomous body, an area in which successive councils were well-served, and that is the position of the chair of the autonomous authority. As I reflect on the various chairs over the years - and I have known them all and have attended to what they have all said - they all exercised a considerable level of independence. They all asserted the rights of the authority council to pursue policies contrary to the expressions of government or, more commonly, to the Minister of the day. This was the case whether the chair was operating under a Labor or a Liberal government. (Extension of time granted) If the Government goes down the path of autonomy, you will need to bear this in mind. You will need to nominate a chair who is in a position to criticise the Government when that chair or the autonomous body believes it is necessary to do so.
In summary, I would assert that the Schools Authority was a highly successful undertaking, very appropriate at a time when ministerial control was remote and when people in the ACT had little say in the schooling of their children. But bear in mind that the most significant changes were not directly due to that autonomous council. Bear in mind also that we now have self-government, and we would be hoping that this Assembly and its committees would be much more in contact with the ACT community.
We have a different set of circumstances operating now. An autonomous council could still operate a stilted and stifled system such as we had in this Territory up till 1974. Establishing an autonomous council does not automatically do wonderful things for you. I am sure you do not expect it will. Remember that the teachers are always the vital component in the education of this Territory. Do not forget that those teachers are basic.
Debate (on motion by Ms Maher) adjourned.
Sitting suspended from 12.40 to 2.30 pm
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