Page 1841 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 2 May 2012
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decisions, especially in the areas of maths and science at the university level. We need to get much larger numbers of young people studying maths and science, particularly young women.
The investment we make in our children and our young people today is an investment in the true sense of the word, an investment in the future. We will see a net profit from this, and we will see that future net profit financially and socially.
I would ask all members to remember that Gonski called for at least $5 billion to be put into the education system. That was not into part of the education system; it was not one sector against another: it was for the whole education system. The ACT Greens support now, and have always supported, high quality, fair and equitable education for all of our children and young people. We plan on working collaboratively with the other parties in this place to ensure that the proper investment is made in our local schools, an investment that also enriches our local communities.
The time for endless arguments about confusing and what will be old funding models is over. That is why I will not be supporting the full motion put by Mr Doszpot. I will be supporting a significant part of it, but I will be also supporting amendments that have been put forward by the government. We must put the focus of this debate onto the people in schools—the teachers, the students and the families. The arguments should be about educational outcomes, life skills, work preparedness and social inclusion—the whole gamut of things that schools do to enrich not only the children that attend them but also their families. Now it is time to look to the needs of every child and young person in our community and create a world-class education system across all sectors, one that we can be proud of, one that is inclusive of all, and one that delivers the best possible environment for learning.
At this point, I will move the revised amendment that has been circulated in my name. It is an amendment to Dr Bourke’s amendment to Mr Doszpot’s motion. I move:
In subparagraph (2)(d), after “implemented”, insert “and provide fair and equitable funding to all schools.”.
I have moved this amendment because it is very much in line with what I have just been talking about. We should be getting past those old sectorial types of debates. We need to be looking at, overall, a world-class education system regardless of whether you choose a religious school—a school with a particular Christian philosophy, for instance, or one with an Islamic philosophy—a community-based school such as Blue Gum, a Steiner school, a local government neighbourhood school or one of the many other types of schools that are on offer in the ACT.
We need to look at the whole system. We need to look at the fact that parents do make choices about where their children will be educated, for a whole range of reasons. What we need to ensure from here on in is that we do look at Gonski. It is complicated. It is going to be hard work. We need to make sure that we are going to get the right deal for all schools in the ACT regardless of the sector they sit in—whether it is the Catholic, government or independent sector. We need to make sure that schools do not go backwards in their funding. I know that there is concern in
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