Page 1591 - Week 06 - Thursday, 3 May 1990
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Will the Government be asked to consider reducing the length of schooling from 13 years to 12 years? Our children here go to school for 13 years. Will there be an option to reduce that to 12 years? Will there be an option to change secondary college hours from the present 9 o'clock to 4 o'clock to 8 o'clock to 6 o'clock, thus extending the school day in colleges and thereby concentrating enrolments and allowing a college on each side of the town to close.
Mr Jensen: It is an 8.30 start at Erindale.
MR WOOD: It varies. But let us ask the question: is that college day going to be expanded from seven hours to 10 hours to allow one college to close? I would like to know whether that option is being considered because I think the community wants the chance to comment. Is there an option coming up to increase class sizes? Is it proposed to close all special classes in primary schools? And with that is there an option to reduce severely special school services?
Is there a proposal for the closure and clustering of preschools? Finally - and I do not think this is serious; I think it was a proposal off the top of Mr Humphries' head - is there a proposal to make school fees compulsory? These are matters that I hear around the place. I believe they are reliable. (Extension of time granted)
There are other options that I have not brought forward because I have not verified them enough. But in due course - sooner rather than later - I hope that Mr Humphries will comment on those so that we can exclude some of them. As we are not going to get a debate from the Government, we have to run it ourselves, to feed this information back to the Government as to what may be acceptable and what is not acceptable.
There are other matters. If the Government is considering cutting into the education budget, it might give us some notice. What does it intend to do about environmental education? Will it cut the Birrigai school or close it entirely?
Mr Jensen: Read the policy, Bill.
MR WOOD: "Read the policy" - that suggests we are not doing so. Well, I thank the backbenchers or half backbenchers opposite - whatever the term may be.
Mr Jensen: Read the environment policy.
MR WOOD: Thank you. Mr Jensen says, "Read the environment policy". I appreciate that. Will the Government cut the reading recovery classes or the access that children have to reading recovery? Will it cut the numbers of teachers' aids in special schools?
Mr Kaine: No; those are your policies, not ours.
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