Page 3123 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 24 August 2005
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I recognise that Mrs Dunne is concerned about the impact of the closure of the school on students and while I accept that the closure of Ginninderra district high school will have some adverse impact on the current student body and may also have an adverse impact on other schools in the area, I reiterate that that does not necessarily mean that the decision is wrong. It is possible that the decision to build a new school has merit and that the adverse impact on current students could be remedied by better transitional planning if the students and their families felt involved in the decision and supported the proposals for change. Likewise, if the proposal for change had broader community support, any potential adverse impact on other schools in the wider community could be minimised.
We need to think about the impact on the other schools that are going to take in these children. I have already heard anecdotally from students I know in some of the schools where students will be going that there is a resistance, as there so often is, to accepting students in later years. It is hard for those kids; we need to acknowledge that. It is unfortunate that the decision appears to have been taken without due consideration being given to the impact on the current students. As a result they are feeling, with justification, opposed to the changes. The kids at Watson high—the school I chose for my kids in the 1980s—held rallies and marches in an endeavour to keep their school open but it was eventually closed.
The current student body is the group most affected by the decision to close Ginninderra district high school and there is a real danger that they will be disadvantaged. I have heard the Chief Minister dismiss student protests against the closure of the school as an indication of a successful education system and a healthy democratic process. He has taken credit for the students’ protests but has not responded to their concerns. We see this as paternalistic and patronising, and I disagree with his position. He is taking credit for the fact that the students are standing up for themselves. He admires their articulate expression; but he does not listen to what they have to say. Protests by students at Ginninderra district high school indicate dissatisfaction with the way this government makes decisions without engaging those affected. The fact that we now have students who feel let down by the government and by the education system is not a good outcome for our education system.
I concur with the view of the Foundation for Young Australians that active citizenship is developed through participation and decision-making, and it is important that the process actively balances young people’s social rights and responsibilities. Gerison Landsdowne, in his address to the United Nations in 2002, said, “It is through learning to question, to express views and have opinions taken seriously that young people develop skills, build competencies, acquire confidence and form aspirations.”
This is a cyclic process. The more opportunities for young people, the more confident and experienced they become so they can participate in larger opportunities. I think it is time the government acknowledged that this has not occurred in relation to the Ginninderra high decision and that, instead, students are feeling left out of the democratic process. The government should have consulted with the students prior to making any decision. The government prides itself on its consultations with young people; and indeed some of those have been good. The students at Ginninderra high are also young people and they should have been afforded the same respect.
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