Page 1980 - Week 05 - Thursday, 3 May 2012
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disadvantaged. The ACT Greens want a vibrant and viable education system that is secure in its ability to compete in this ever more deregulated environment, particularly at that tertiary level.
I list all these points not just to provide a running commentary, but to highlight to members here today that we live in interesting times. When I speak of education I think of students, teachers, parents and caregivers. Of course, I also think of funding, buildings and the local economy, as well as lifelong learning, career development and social inclusion.
In recent times we have had many motions and debates on education in this place. I have stood to speak on issues of school infrastructure and school funding, among other issues. I have called on the old parties to find new ways of thinking. Just yesterday we saw heated debate about out-of-date, out-of-touch and soon to be redundant funding methods which quickly—and, I must say, predictably—descended into unproductive “us versus them” finger pointing and name calling.
At the risk of repeating myself, I once again point out that at the highest level across the country, every stakeholder, regardless of religion, philosophy or political persuasion, can agree on one thing—that the current system of commonwealth and local funding is flawed. Every peak body representing teachers, education professionals and academics and every youth advocacy and representative body all want one thing: greater investment in all of our schools.
Yet today the Greens have been the only political party that has echoed Mr Gonski’s call for an immediate injection of $5 billion into education and the only party to recognise that the figure will probably be closer to $10 billion.
We have always supported fair and equitable funding for all students. This is perhaps the distinguishing feature of the Greens’ policy. We are calling for better funding for students—not for systems, not for sectors, but for the students: students facing significant disadvantage and students seeking to excel. We stand for better support in schools for students with disability, no matter where they go to school. And we stand for educational achievements to be free from barriers of socioeconomic status.
It is the educational outcomes that we are fighting for. Standards are slipping, and we cannot afford to let them slip any further.
We have called on the Assembly to review the fact that students with English as a second language receive limited support even when they have below or well below average language proficiency. The amendment moved in my name yesterday in a motion on schools funding called on the government to seek assurances of fair and equitable funding for all schools. This is really where the debate is at the moment. It is about ensuring that every student, regardless of their ability, regardless of where they go to school, is going to get a fair go, is going to be able to reach their educational potential.
We know that funding in education is not a luxury; it is an investment in this country. It is important that the way that Gonski rolls out is not going to disadvantage students
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