Page 3253 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 18 October 2006
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The fact is there are forces moving against them, not least of which is the fact that we have fewer children now than when these schools were built. In an education system built in the 1970s to accommodate about 55,000 children, we now have 35,000 students and more schools. The bottom line is that, because of the ageing population, declining student numbers and the choices parents are making about which schools to send their children to, some tough decisions need to be made.
I draw the attention of members opposite to the most recent edition of the national journal of the Planning Institute of Australia, Australian Planner. In that journal, there is a very useful article on the changing demographics in Canberra suburbs. It has been prepared by an officer of the Planning and Land Authority and peer-reviewed and is now in the journal of the Planning Institute of Australia, Australian Planner. There he does a very detailed analysis of the changing demographics in Canberra’s established suburbs.
He finds that, even when suburbs go through renewal, as we have seen, for example, in areas such as the inner north of Canberra and parts of Woden, as the original occupants leave and new families move in, the number of school-aged children is still significantly below the original populations. Even where renewal takes place—and renewal will take place in all of our suburbs over time—the school-aged population is well below the original capacity that was built into those suburbs when the neighbourhood school was first built.
That to me, when I looked at it the other day, is a very telling argument about the incredible level of overcapacity in our system. Our suburbs are well planned. But they are well planned to a degree which has an extraordinary level of overcapacity when it comes to the provision of neighbourhood schools in every suburb. The issues of renewal in our suburbs bear out in a compelling way that, even when renewal takes place, the number of school-aged children is well below the capacity within the suburb.
That to me, speaks volumes about the demographic challenges which our city faces and which will continue over the next 10 to 20 years in particular. That, to use the cliche, is really the bottom line. Ageing population, declining student numbers, choices parents are making and lower levels of fertility overall are all driving the demands that we now must address in our education system.
In many cases, the school communities would prefer to retain the status quo, but that position is simply not sustainable. We need to take an honest look at the situation, invest in infrastructure, invest in information technology, address the issue of closures, decide that some closures and some amalgamations will be necessary and therefore maintain in the ACT a quality education system accessible to all—not a system of half-empty buildings, echoing corridors and a lack of facilities in those half-empty schools, depriving students, young people, children and their families of the opportunities they should have available to them in a public school.
It is fair to say that the community itself is engaging in a serious discussion on this matter. My colleague Mr Barr has a clear obligation under legislation to carefully consider all the factors related to the management of schools across the ACT and a clear obligation, in assessing the response to proposals in 2020, to have regard to a very broad range of factors before a decision can be taken.
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