Page 377 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 13 May 1992
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greater emphasis was placed on primary education, that high schools have ended up as the poor cousins of the education system. It is time the sector received more support to meet the needs of young people.
Commitment to the high schools development program is an important issue. The problems of high schools have been well documented and must now be addressed. What is needed is a commitment by government to tackle the issues according to a firm timetable, with adequate resources to achieve actual results.
MR CORNWELL (11.01): The Liberal Party has no objection to this motion, Madam Speaker. In fact, I would like to support some of Ms Szuty's comments. I believe that she is spot-on in relation to the background of the situation in the high schools. It is quite correct that they have ended up, as she expressed herself, the poor cousins of the education system because the colleges obtained the resources that were, at one stage, to be directed, I understand, to the primary schools to reduce class sizes when the colleges were initially set up.
It is interesting to note, however, that we speak therefore in terms of the colleges getting the benefits rather than the primary schools; but nobody is commenting about the high schools, which are in the middle. I notice that the Chief Minister, in her statement on Labor's program, said:
We will develop a long-term plan for the funding and development of high schools and provide them with extra resources to tackle the increasing need for improved pastoral care, counselling and careers advice.
Obviously, I welcome that statement and hope that that promise will be kept, because I am sad to say that some previous commitments of this Government in relation to education, in my opinion, have not been kept.
Ms Szuty, the last time she addressed us on this matter, made comments on the fact that there was a move to the non-government sector in the years 7 to 10. That is perfectly true, but I suggest that it is not necessarily only because of the deficiencies, as she perceives them, of the government high schools. I think there are other reasons involved. Many people would prefer to send their children to non-government schools for their education but because of financial restrictions find it impossible to do so at both primary and high school levels. Therefore, they opt to send their children to government primary schools and then move them on to non-government high schools.
Although the move back to government colleges is not as great as the movement from government primary schools to non-government high schools, it certainly does occur. But again I would suggest that it is for other reasons. Sometimes the government college resources are better, in the view of parents. There are certainly options for specialisation and in some cases people believe that there could be an improved tertiary entrance score through the government college system. I make no observation on that; I simply pass the comment that that has been put to me by some parents.
There is no question that there have been considerable investigations into high schools in this Territory for many years. The most recent was the report - in fact, I think Ms Szuty was a member of the panel - "Drawing Together", the report by the Belconnen Region High Schools Task Force. The Schools Restructuring Task Force, whilst it was more of an umbrella inquiry, did touch on high schools.
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