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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 03 Hansard (Wednesday, 10 March 2004) . . Page.. 942 ..

those children who have not yet paid for the course materials and ask them to leave. I have heard of many cases like this; this is actually happening in our schools. Over the years we have seen school excursions become increasingly integrated with classroom learning and it is really important that students have the opportunity to get out into the real world, out of the classroom, to learn in a very exciting and vibrant way. But, if they cannot afford to go on those excursions, they miss out when that learning comes back into the classroom. They do not have that background knowledge to help them make the rest of the learning understandable.

These students have trouble keeping up and they slip behind in their marks. We need to assist these students and give them, some of the most disadvantaged students in our community, reason to stay at school. We know that when students miss out they become isolated from their cohort. They see little reason to go to school because they feel that they are not progressing with their education and they are not making any friends.

Nationwide, almost 28 per cent of students miss out on school excursions due to poverty. The statistics do not allow a breakdown for the ACT specifically but, based on demographic profiles and other statistics about poverty in the territory, it is safe to say that at least 10 per cent of ACT public school students are missing out. Indigenous students are much more likely to fall into this category, further exacerbating the difference in educational outcomes of non-indigenous and indigenous students.

To those students who are at risk of dropping out, the incentive of school based vocational courses quickly becomes a disincentive when they are told they cannot continue the course because they have not made arrangements to pay for the course. During briefings I had on the Education Bill, I was assured that when schools are the registered training authority and are offering VET courses, that, like everything else, is meant to come under a voluntary fee system. But a few quick phone calls to students and parents clearly identifies that this is not the reality in our schools. Students are missing out on vocational opportunities because they cannot afford to pay the course costs.

Camps and excursions, apart from their educational value, are a vital bonding experience for students, and it is detrimental for student development if they miss out on excursions that the majority of the students have participated in. We all know that many schools organise some quite expensive trips, overseas trips, for groups of students. It is not these trips that I am suggesting should be funded by the education department. The kind of excursions that I am arguing should be eligible for funding assistance are the day trips or the school camps such as those that are organised to help year 7 students get to know their class mates and teachers or to help year 10 students as they move through to adulthood and college.

In fact, Canberra High are about to go on their year 7 bonding camp and there is a big sign out the front of the school which says something like “We value relationships, year 7 camp” and then the dates. Imagine what it feels like to be the kid who starts, brand new, year 7 at Canberra High and cannot afford to go on that camp. How are they going to bond with the rest of their classmates? Where is the relationship to be valued for those young people? There are already some support mechanisms built into our schools, and a good principal will know which kids need assistance and will make arrangements. But this relies largely on the availability of the funds and the good will of the principal.

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