Page 1619 - Week 06 - Thursday, 3 May 1990
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I commend the thrust of Mr Humphries' statement on education. Despite the rhetoric that has been flying around Canberra for the last few weeks vilifying Mr Humphries and the Alliance Government, it is pleasing to note that our Minister values the quality of our education system. In fact, in his statement he said, "The Government has no intention of weakening the first-class system the city now has". Mr Speaker, I and my colleagues in the Alliance Government are also committed to that philosophy. I am sure that you will find, as time develops, that that will be the case.
In this reorganisation of the education system we seek to ensure that the slack is taken up but also that education facilities, particularly with regard to curriculum development and the programs that can be run in schools, are available and are properly implemented to the best of the system's ability. Our schools, particularly our primary schools with the very small numbers that we have in our system, are clearly not able to provide that sort of service. So what we are providing is an opportunity to reorganise and refacilitate the education of the children of the ACT.
We are well aware that Commonwealth governments, both Liberal and Labor, over the years have allowed a system to develop in this town that is clearly very difficult for a new self-governing body to afford. As I go about the community, they are the sorts of messages that are coming across to me. The people out there understand that there is some room for change in the system. They acknowledge that there will be a requirement for some changes in the structure of the education system. They are not silly, Mr Speaker, and I am sure the members opposite know that as well.
Despite the hype and hypocrisy which have been evident in the media recently, that same form of rationalisation and budget cutting must take place, as schooling accounts for some 24 per cent of recurrent expenditure. It is unfortunately inevitable that the school system must bear some of this burden.
In spite of these unpleasant financial constraints, I wish to support the initiatives and concern raised by the Minister in his statement. Of particular interest to me are the issues of community participation and school based management. The fact that parents, teachers and students are encouraged to be fully involved in the determination of education programs and services can only be of benefit to the quality of education offered to our children.
However, I offer one word of caution. It is important to remember that the parents' involvement in this type of community and school based operation is voluntary; they have a limited amount of time. I am sure that when these programs are considered the members of the bureaucracy and the Minister will take this factor into account.
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