Page 2770 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 17 September 2014
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We do not want a repeat of what we are currently seeing, and that is schools closing and less than 10 years later overcrowding in that very same area. And when schools are so old, serious examination of how best to restore, replace, rebuild needs to be done and not have the case, as we saw with Taylor primary, when storm damage forced a very good but nevertheless very expensive rebuild. There should also be an absolute priority that every school classroom has appropriate and effective heating and cooling systems that involve more than just windows and blinds that can be opened and shut as required. It is terrific to have schools like Gungahlin College in our stock but we cannot leave behind pupils in schools and colleges that are so much less resourced.
When we have schools in such need, is it really a sensible option to proceed with a train set that few people need, fewer people want, and in a town that simply cannot afford such whimsies? Education is one of the most important functions of government. In the ACT it also commands one of the largest budgets, but those hundreds of millions of dollars are at risk if the education of our children is being delivered in run-down schools without heating and cooling and in overcrowded classrooms. It is time this government got their priorities right: education, health and a host of other issues before something like the light rail we are talking about. I commend this motion to the Assembly.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Disability, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Racing and Gaming, Minister for Women and Minister for the Arts) (10.18): I thank Mr Doszpot for bringing on this motion and giving me an opportunity to talk about our schools, the work that the directorate does in building and maintaining our schools and the planning that goes in to school capacity. Let us be very clear from the get-go. I move the following amendment that has been circulated in my name:
Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:
“(1) notes that:
(a) recent Education and Training Directorate projections show the continued growth of ACT public schools and the continued confidence ACT families have in the public education system;
(b) this work shows that, in each of the four school networks, school capacity will remain comfortably above projected enrolment growth;
(c) the ACT Government has well established mechanisms to ensure that all schools have the capacity to meet the needs of their local communities;
(d) no child is denied entry to a government school in their priority enrolment area;
(e) the ACT Government has invested heavily in school infrastructure and new schools to deliver on the education needs of ACT families, including two new schools in Gungahlin—the Neville Bonner Primary School and the Franklin Early Childhood School in February 2013;
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