Page 1920 - Week 07 - Thursday, 31 May 1990
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The other thing that the Alliance Government is firmly committed to is school based management, a system which allows schools to make important decisions about the management of their resources. I went to a meeting last night at a school where I discussed with the principal afterwards issues such as that and he gave strong endorsement to that concept of school based management. He asked me why we were taking so long; why this was not being promoted more quickly. I indicated the need for the school community to be consulted about the way in which this would occur and that was why there had been some reluctance to press ahead too quickly.
I should put on the record that the Council of Parents and Citizens Associations is not entirely enthralled with the idea, but I believe that the indications from others in the community are that we need to proceed with a model such as this with all speed because it is an important way of again reducing the hierarchical nature of our educational system.
Mr Moore asked whether education was overfunded. Certainly, the answer to that must be no; but, as I said before, we have to consider not just whether we are spending money on education but what it is within education we are spending money on. Personally, I resent wasting money in this area. I resent spending money on things that do not directly contribute to the quality of education and I believe we have to ensure that, if we are spending money in particular areas, we do so in a way which directly enhances the quality of the education in the system.
Even those opposite in the Labor Party would acknowledge that, because when they were in government they saw fit to cut education spending. They saw fit to reduce spending on aspects of education, apparently in the belief that they could do so without affecting the quality of education. I assume that they would not have made those cuts if they did not believe that. We also believe it is possible to cut without reducing quality. The issue is not whether we do that; the issue is how.
Mr Berry: But why do you want to cut it when you do not know how much you want to save?
MR HUMPHRIES: I will come back to your point, Mr Berry. Mr Moore also made reference to a "brain drain" in education. I fully endorse that comment. There is a brain drain. There is a need to enhance the quality of teaching and of teachers and therefore it is necessary to look at ways of doing that. Obviously, we cannot get away from the question of money; we simply have to offer teachers better money. There are meetings in Melbourne tomorrow when education Ministers will discuss that very issue and the ways in which we can provide that kind of enhanced model. I have to say that the ACT is very well placed in that regard because in many respects it is the best paying State for teachers. (Extension of time granted)
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