Page 3233 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 21 September 1994
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Children with Learning Difficulties
MR BERRY: I was struggling to rise to my feet after Mr Cornwell because, when I was asking a question of the Minister for Education and Training, I wanted to point to the fact that Mr Cornwell identified 17 schools he thought ought to close; but I did not get the opportunity. I thought I would raise it anyway. Madam Speaker, my question to the Minister for Education is in relation to children in the ACT who are experiencing learning difficulties. I would ask the Minister to point out to the Assembly and to the people of the ACT what the Department of Education is doing in relation to these children.
MR WOOD: Madam Speaker, as always, given the spread of abilities in society and in our schools, there is a need for some students to have additional treatment and sometimes very specific additional treatment. Consequently, the department monitors each program, has a look and sees what is working and how well they are working, and from time to time changes direction to ensure that we are delivering the best services to those students.
At the present moment the department is introducing on a trial basis a needs based learning assistance program to support students with learning difficulties in literacy and numeracy from kindergarten through to Year 10. The program will focus on student learning needs and learning outcomes. In the past, funding had been provided to both primary and high schools to support students for separate reading recovery, learning advancement and learning assistance programs. The new model of learning assistance will encourage a more integrated approach for students and will provide primary schools, in particular, with more flexibility to meet the students' needs. Sometimes the programs in the past were rather isolated, perhaps just too specific, and did not cover the whole context of the student's learning. In the 1994-95 budget, the Government is providing additional funding of $300,000 for early intervention support in primary schools. This funding will enable schools more adequately to support their students who may be experiencing some learning difficulties.
Cannabis Hemp Plant
MR STEVENSON: My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning, Bill Wood, and concerns the environmental benefits of the cannabis hemp plant. Here, of course, I do not refer to the illegal plant that has a very high drug content but to the legal varieties that are legalised throughout the EEC countries. Because that requires less chemical insecticides and fertilisers than conventional crops, yet returns a pulp yield per hectare four times higher than that of native forests, can the Minister see the benefits of the use of the plant and its production within the ACT, notwithstanding the fact that you can make clothing out of it, including jackets like this one that I have on?
MR WOOD: Madam Speaker, I have to say that I am not fully informed on all aspects of the issue that Mr Stevenson raises, but in anticipation of a debate shortly I have gathered some information. I believe that it has been fairly long known and well used in the past that the material Mr Stevenson mentions does make a good fabric and has been used for paper. Mr Stevenson has given me some information to suggest that it has been long used in history. Certainly, environmentally, if we could reduce our reliance on
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