Page 3115 - Week 07 - Thursday, 30 June 2011
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and witnessed the delight of children as they experienced the orchestra. It is fantastic that the initiative of the CSO to provide four specialist concerts for students with a disability can now continue. Arts are sometimes seen as an extra or a luxury part that we cannot afford. But the CSO program represents how much students can learn while having a lot of fun. The benefits of a music program for students with a disability are well known. I am glad that through the entrepreneurial skill of the CSO, they are able to provide this varied program with modest funding from the ACT government. I would like to also thank the minister. I did lobby him on this particular item, and I am pleased to see that it did receive funding.
Canberra is a knowledge city and our promotion of the higher education sector is important to our economic future. International education in Canberra is the second largest export industry, accounting for $260 million in 2008-09 from the 10,000 students that choose to study in Canberra. The cultural and social advantage of these students’ presence is also considerable. The education sector in the ACT is also an extremely valuable part of a clean economy.
This budget provided a $6 million grant over nine years and a repayable loan of up to $23 million to the University of Canberra. This will enable the refit of Cameron Offices in Belconnen, a project designed to meet the growing demand for student accommodation.
It is important that this government continues to support the University of Canberra’s success in attracting students. While this funding injection is welcomed, it is also important to make sure that the university is able to meet its projected accommodation requirements rather than just playing catch-up.
Education in Australia, and indeed in the ACT, is in interesting times. We await the outcome of the Gonski funding review and the possibility of a new era in education funding. In the meantime, 65,412 students attend schools across the territory, with 59 per cent of them attending one of the ACT’s 83 public schools. We are fortunate in having the best overall educational outcomes in the country, something that I suppose we could expect if you look at our relatively high level of affluence and parental education. While this should be celebrated and needs to be supported into the future, much of the hard work lies with those who are disadvantaged or those students with disability. We need to keep a very close eye on disability education and also the achievement gap.
The most telling feature of society is the way we treat our most vulnerable. With regard to education there have been many reports and inquiries into disability and disadvantage, including those conducted by this Assembly. Much has been said, while often less has been done. I do believe this government has made important first steps with regard to disability education.
The Greens included the inquiries into students with a disability and the achievement gap in the parliamentary agreement. We are pleased that both have reported back to the Assembly. The disability inquiry enhanced the work that Greens MLA Kerrie Tucker did over 10 years ago. In relation to the educational achievement gap inquiry, we have progressed the work of Kerrie’s contemporary, Greens MLA Dr Deb Foskey.
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