Page 5536 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 9 December 2009
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responsibility and what will continue to be delivered at a school-based level or what further options and activities will be enabled at that school-based level. Those are subjects and conversations that need to be had further as we progress through the implementation of the school-based management review during 2010.
MR SPEAKER: Ms Hunter, a supplementary question?
MS HUNTER: Minister, is the ACT government, as the employer, doing everything reasonably practical under OH&S legislation to provide high-quality PD to support teachers and assistants in implementing effective classroom management strategies?
MR BARR: In short, yes. But that is not to say that there are not always areas for improvement. As I indicated in my previous answer, through a number of the broader policy reviews we have in place in relation to school-based management, in relation to the quality teaching national partnership, in relation to a number of other areas of intergovernmental work between the territory and the commonwealth in relation to education reform, there will always be the opportunity to further review and examine the programs that we have in place and to move into new areas, particularly through a number of those national partnerships that the ACT has signed up for. We will have the opportunity to improve on what I believe is already a very strong area within our education system.
MS LE COUTEUR: A supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Ms Le Couteur.
MS LE COUTEUR: Thank you. Will new teachers be given access to the full five-day course in classroom management and structural strategies program rather than the one day that they currently receive?
MR BARR: I thank Ms Le Couteur for the question. I will seek some further advice from the education department on the practicality of that measure. Of course, rather than just looking at a five-day course, we also need to give some consideration to the pre-service education and what the training courses at our universities are able to offer in relation to the training of teachers over a four-year period. One would argue that in these important areas you would want your pre-service education to deal with these matters effectively as well. So I do not necessarily see this as simply being a case of a one-day or a five-day training course. I think it is a much bigger issue than that. Dare I say it, Mr Speaker, there is a bigger picture that Ms Le Couteur might have missed in her question.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Porter?
MS PORTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Minister, what is the current process that schools go through in order to have their professional development requests taken into consideration?
MR BARR: I thank Ms Porter. There are, of course, a number of professional development funds that operate within the ACT system. Schools have particular
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