Page 4025 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 16 Sept 2009
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Despite the doom and gloom of Mr Doszpot and the ongoing harping, I would like to go again to satisfaction and say some more words about students and parents around satisfaction. Following the announcement of Towards 2020 decisions and the closure of three preschools and several primary schools, the annual satisfaction surveys of staff, parents and students showed continuing high levels of satisfaction with the public schooling in the ACT. Nine out of 10 primary school and eight out of 10 high school parents and carers expressed satisfaction with their children’s school and education. In addition, nine out of 10 school staff expressed satisfaction with their workplaces.
It is important to note that almost half of the primary schools surveyed that year had enrolled students from schools or preschools that closed at the end of 2006. One survey included a school that was closing at the end of 2007 and four schools had changed or were to change their year-level structure or amalgamate with another school.
So let me just say that Towards 2020 satisfaction gets nine out of 10, eight out of 10 and nine out of 10 from students, parents and staff. These are the people within our school communities. It is a survey from the school community itself, reporting extraordinary, overwhelming satisfaction with the ACT system.
Whilst we do have a comprehensive policy and program in place, there is always room for improvement. That is why we are delivering 70 new teachers to lower average class sizes to 21 and to promote individual learning. That is why we are delivering 21 new specialist literacy and numeracy teachers to train and coach all teachers in the ACT. That is why we are increasing the number of Indigenous student and teacher assistants working in ACT schools. We are delivering more teachers to assist students with English as a second language and we are providing each school cluster with a quality teaching contact teacher.
Parents know it: quality teachers are a significant factor in their children’s education. The quality of the school cannot exceed the quality of the classroom teacher. There is plenty of work to do. The ACT Labor government will continue to deliver quality teachers to all ACT public schools.
Personal explanation
MR DOSZPOT (Brindabella): Madam Assistant Speaker, I seek the right of reply under standing order 47. I have been misrepresented by Ms Burch.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ms Le Couteur): Mr Doszpot.
MR DOSZPOT: Misrepresentation seems to be a contagious syndrome in the right faction of the Labor Party. The fact is—
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Doszpot, can you please just stick to the facts at hand rather than giving an essay.
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