Page 368 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2012
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Sound investment strategy is basic to any business, and perhaps most importantly to government. It is time to point out some of these home truths about the making and supporting of these timely investments in schools. But such a phrase does not come naturally to mind when applying it to this government, as we have seen even this week, with failures to provide costings in health and with the sloppy process in proposed government office infrastructure plans. So one should move with caution when suggesting that this government’s investments in schools are timely or even well placed.
Frankly, quality school investment is also not an immediate tag one would place on any Labor government, given the federal Labor government’s management—or serious lack of—of the delivery of the so-called building the education revolution fund, more frequently referred to as the “bloody expensive rip-off”. Around Australia we have $600,000 canteens that cannot fit refrigerators, science labs that cannot open because they fail OH&S standards, air conditioning that cannot work because there is not enough electricity to run it, and new classrooms built without including it in the costs. And let us not forget the school that had a new school hall just in time before the school closed because of a lack of pupils.
The ACT Liberals are not alone in showing perhaps some scepticism about whether the government has got the balance right. Even the Canberra Times, in its editorial of 10 February, pleaded with the government to “let’s not forget our older schools”. It said in part:
Canberra’s newest school, Harrison, boasts an impressive range of education aids, including digital whiteboards and wireless internet coverage. It also has the latest in modern conveniences such as energy-efficient lighting, advanced ventilation systems, and reticulated landscaping fed by on-site rainwater tanks …
But what about our older schools?
What about our older schools, Dr Bourke? The editorial continues:
They do not, of course, incorporate all the facilities to be found at Harrison and the other multi-million dollar schools … but there is some anecdotal evidence suggesting that our older schools also lack adequate heating and cooling systems, play equipment, and watertight roofs.
It is not just anecdotal evidence. A cursory look through submissions to the federal government’s review into school funding, the Gonski review, shows there are many schools in the ACT with many angry parents. Leaky roofs, 1970s-style buildings and archaic computers are among the range of issues ACT parents, teachers and principals have highlighted to that review. Some schools are being forced to rent out calculators for maths classes and make students pay for broken outdoor equipment because there are no available funds and timely maintenance budgets.
Farrer primary school, Dr Bourke, had an important building at their school closed twice because the department deemed it unsafe. A building report that listed several recommendations from a civil engineer to fix moisture problems as far back as 2009
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