Page 4195 - Week 13 - Thursday, 25 November 1993
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Another one states:
Focus of the education system is on the students and this should be reflected in education budgeting and spending.
Another one says:
Support and encouragement for teachers allowing them the flexibility as professionals to do their job.
Further:
Class sizes, especially in primary schools, need to be lowered as a priority.
And still further:
Recognise that Languages other than English, drama, sports and art, for example, are an integral part of a well rounded curriculum along with the traditional literacy and numeracy skills.
I could go on. My colleague Mr Moore and I have given the Minister for Education, Mr Wood, every opportunity to talk to us, and to inform the Assembly about where the cuts would fall and what the cuts would mean for individual schools and for students. We have not been assured that the cuts will not damage individual schools and students, and we are not prepared to allow the Government to make these cuts.
The objective of my colleague Mr Moore and me has been, up until now, to try to persuade the Minister for Education and the Chief Minister to change their decision on teacher cuts; to recognise the damage to public schooling that will inevitably occur; to weigh up that damage against their need to find $1.5m; and to change their minds. We have failed. The fact that the changes have not been defined after a period of two months means to me, Madam Speaker, that the task is too hard. But we have tried. We have spoken to the Minister for Education, Mr Wood, and to the Chief Minister, Ms Follett. We have sought information about the proposed changes, and the impact on individual schools and students, from the Department of Education. We have liaised and consulted with teachers, parents and students.
During the last sittings of the Assembly I moved a motion instructing the Minister for Education to maintain all school based positions targeted in the 1993-94 budget. The motion was passed by this Assembly. The Minister for Education has ignored it, and the Government has ignored it. On Tuesday of this week my colleague Mr Moore moved a no-confidence motion in the Minister for Education, Mr Wood, which was amended by the Leader of the Opposition, Mrs Carnell, to include the Treasurer, Ms Follett, and amended further by Mr Stevenson to become a censure motion. The motion was passed by this Assembly. The Chief Minister, Ms Follett, has dismissed it. The attitude of the ACT Government to these motions, and the intransigence of the ACT Government in relation to this issue, cause me great concern.
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