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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (23 September) . . Page.. 3128 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

You would be aware that we have about 3,500 government teachers, and that in excess of 1,600 staff trained in the last 18 months, I think, is very significant. Certainly, it is quite crucial in ensuring that staff do have adequate skills in this computer age. In regard to information technology, I refer you to the answer I gave Mr Osborne on what this Government has been doing about putting computers and information technology into schools generally over the last couple of years. Rather than going through that again, I think you can check it - - -

MR MOORE: No, I have not said that. By way of a supplementary question, Mr Speaker: I am surprised that the Minister did not give me more detail on training, because training is the factor I was interested in. Yes, you have provided in 18 months some training to almost half the staff in schools. That coordinates nicely with the figures the survey found. Do you consider that adequate training for teachers in this area and, if not, what are you going to do about it?

MR STEFANIAK: Mr Moore, I think you can see that we have already done a lot in the last 18 months and we will continue to do so. Certainly, this Government realises, I think far more than anyone else who has been in this place, the importance of information technology. We also realise the rapid changes that occur, and that is why we are looking at such things as upgrading some of our systems on a regular basis without the need for new computers. We are constantly looking at new approaches to ensure that we can have the best of training, the best of equipment, in our schools. That is something that is ongoing with this Government, and we are looking to develop further policies in relation to that.

As to training, I again stress what we have done in the last 18 months. There will be continued and improved emphasis on that. Might I also note that one of the recent great innovations, which a bunch of teachers and also some people in the Education Department central office were involved in, led to a national award. It relates to training students in the use of computers, using computers as a tool for education, and assisting classroom teachers, who may not have a huge knowledge of the computers themselves, in how to use information technology as a useful educational tool. It is those sorts of things that we will continue to develop. We will continue to develop new ideas and innovations, because information technology, as you are well aware, is a constantly changing field.

Mr Moore: We have not heard from Mr Hird. He got it right, did he?

MR SPEAKER: Order! That is not within the purview of the Minister's portfolio responsibilities.

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