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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 3255 ..
MS TUCKER (continuing):
impacting on the students. In fact, sometimes I get the feeling that there is some kind of a blaming approach. If a child is in a home environment which is not supportive, it is not of much use, and it is not constructive, for teachers to think that that student is coming from this loser of a mother or father.
Debate interrupted.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Wood): Order! It being 5.00 pm, I propose the question:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr Humphries: I require the question to be put forthwith without debate.
Question resolved in the negative.
Motion
Debate resumed.
MS TUCKER: If anything is going to encourage teachers, and school boards as well, who are also constantly having to address these social issues in their schools, to consider ways of addressing the particular needs of these types of students, that can only be good for the community as a whole in the long term, as well as for those individual students. So, I support Ms McRae's motion today. I think what she has raised is really important. I would like to see the Government acknowledge this oversight in a way that is meaningful and that will help progress the discussion on literacy in this particular area, because I think it is very important.
MR MOORE (5.02): Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I think this motion by Ms McRae, as amended, raises some very important issues, but I also think it is an interesting way to do it. I am of the mind that, if a discussion paper is put out, it is a great opportunity for people to raise the issues within the discussion paper and then to give it back to the Government. Ms McRae has put a slightly different tone on it. She is saying that the Government did not do a good enough job and they should use their resources in order to deal with this particular issue; but I think you can do that in response to a discussion paper. You can say, "When you prepare the final paper, can you not see that you have left this big gaping hole?", and I think the Minister would concede that there is a hole there. That is why we have discussion papers.
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