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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 07 Hansard (Tuesday, 29 June 2004) . . Page.. 2990 ..

demountable classrooms put together with a standard nine or 10 foot ceiling; they do not have a stage and they do not have any place where they can put up a climbing net or climbing frame, or run any of the things that most schools take for granted.

The minister claims that she took it upon herself to make this decision. I think, Minister, it was a bad decision. Certainly there were students at Melrose High School who needed things, but the need of the children of Hall is at least as great, if not greater, because they have no facilities. They might be fewer in number but their needs are just as great.

I have also received a number of representations from parents and citizens associations across the electorate. They are from a number of the Kaleen schools—Kaleen High School, Maribyrnong Primary School and a couple of others whose names escape me at the moment. These associations have written to me and, I suspect, to other members with their concerns about funding in the 2004-05 budget. I would like to share with members some of the issues raised by the parents and citizens associations of some of our government primary and high schools about the budget. They write to me and say:

We would like to express our dismay at the small increase in funding for new initiatives for government schools in the 2004-05 ACT Budget and the Government’s failure to follow up on the educational equity component of the ACT Social Plan.

The Budget provides for increased funding of $4.3 million to support new initiatives relating to IT, repairs and maintenance, students with disabilities and indigenous students.

I might add that $4.3 million does not look as if it will go very far over all of those things. It continues:

This represents only about a 1.5% increase in funding. I/we believe that increased funding for new initiatives of over $20 million (an increase of over 7%) is needed to address outstanding issues in the government school system.

It is a major concern that the major priorities to improve education equity identified in the Government’s Social Plan have been ignored in the Budget. The Social Plan sets the goals of improving equity in education by improving completion rates to Year 12 and increasing literacy and numeracy achievements of students ‘at risk’. None of the new Budget programs directly address these goals.

There are many students in government schools who have not reached crisis point, but are at risk of not achieving adequate school outcomes to sustain them in adult life and further learning.

The major area of learning need in the government school system is in high schools. Over 10 per cent of Year 9 students are not achieving adequate literacy standards. There is a large disparity in outcomes between the highest and lowest performing students. About 50 per cent of high school students do not like being at school. Some 20 to 30 per cent of students drop out of school before completing Year 12.

There is also a need for greater learning support for students at risk of not achieving expected outcomes in the upper primary years and in colleges.

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