Page 1977 - Week 05 - Thursday, 3 May 2012
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MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Dr Bourke, when you address the chamber in this place you do not address individuals; you address the chair. So please do not refer to Mr Coe or anyone else. If you want to make a point, address the chair.
DR BOURKE: Thank you, Madam Assistant Speaker.
As a minister, I want that tradition to continue because, unlike those divisive, sectarian members on the other side, Mr Seselja and Mr Doszpot, I want the best outcome for all students, whatever school or whatever sector they come from. The ACT government entered the teacher quality national partnership in 2009. This partnership gives ACT public, independent and Catholic systems access to $8 million to improve teaching standards, reform their pay structure and enhance the status of teaching as a profession.
The $8 million is complemented by ACT government funding of nearly $4 million from the 2010-11 budget to establish the Teacher Quality Institute. The institute, established in 2011, serves ACT public, independent and Catholic schools. Its responsibilities include teacher registration, ensuring teacher qualifications meet new minimum national standards, accrediting teacher training courses delivered in the ACT, and delivering leadership standards.
The institute will also work collaboratively with our new school centres of teacher education excellence. These centres will model better practice and enhance creativity in teacher practice. Reading, writing and mathematics are the building blocks of education.
The ACT government has partnered with the Australian government to invest in our teachers’ capacity to teach literacy and numeracy. To enable ACT children to improve their literacy and numeracy skills, the ACT has been able to access almost $6 million in Australian government funding since 2009 through the literacy and numeracy national partnership. This partnership is complemented by ACT government co-investment funding and a proportionate co-investment from the independent and Catholic sectors.
The ACT results from the 2011 NAPLAN tests show that our students are among the best in the country. Between 91 per cent and 97 per cent of ACT students achieved at or above the national minimum standard across most test areas and results for ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students showed they are continuing to improve at a rate higher than the national average. The 2009 national assessment program’s science literacy report showed that the ACT had, at 61.2 per cent, the highest proportion of students performing in the proficient range in science literacy. The mean score for the ACT was also significantly higher than that for the nation. These are excellent results and confirm that the ACT is delivering education of the highest standard.
ACT students are not only among the best in Australia; they are performing well against their international counterparts. In the latest program for international student assessment, PISA, the average mathematical literacy score in the ACT in 2009 was
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