Page 3271 - Week 10 - Thursday, 25 September 2014
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said if we want to grow and become more creative and more innovative, at the heart of it is the education system. I remember the slides that he showed and the presentation that he gave. At the end of it you did not get the impression that he was fully impressed with what was being done.
I think that is easy to understand. Look at the litany of failures even in recent times from this government. We have got schools that are now overcapacity, recalling, of course, that they closed 23 schools. Some schools do not have air conditioning and the working temperatures are not good, the working conditions are not good. We had to build mobile units for the school at Duffy, which of course was the result of poor enrolment planning. We see maintenance issues. I am sure Mr Doszpot, if he gets a chance to speak to this MPI, will elaborate on many of these issues.
The issues at Taylor Primary School were the result of neglect—deteriorated wooden frames and the possibility of exposed asbestos—resulting in the government spending $13 million in repairs. In 2012, Forrest Primary School had a foul smell, weed infested bubblers, dirt covered classrooms. Farrer Primary School had mould, which left students and staff sick.
There were the broken 2012 election promises. There was $28 million to fix Belconnen high. Two years later nothing has happened. There was $70 million for what Labor calls school infrastructure for the future. Yet two years later even the unions are doubting the government’s sincerity and doublespeak on this issue. There was $70 million to refurbish older schools, but only for schools and families to learn that this was in ongoing maintenance only. We had the Majura Primary School upgrade delayed. At Evatt Primary School there was delayed commencement and completion, frustrating the school community. There was the lack of nurses at Woden and Cranleigh special schools. Dare we bring up the issue of chaplains? It is impossible to know what the minister’s position on the chaplain issue is because it changes so quickly and changes so often.
As the chair of the estimates committee recently and with my responsibilities for higher ed, I will make a few comments on some specific areas. The estimates committee heard what I think can only be some disturbing issues about the mental health of young people in our education system, and I just want to read what was said by the various groups that appeared.
In the first case it was the YWCA that appeared, and they put quite a compelling case about the future of our young people. They spoke about how they were getting more and more young people presenting. Paragraphs 2.80 and 2.81 of the report say:
In response to questions from the Committee about the age that children are presenting to these services and the key drivers for accessing them, the Director of Community Services noted that the YWCA Canberra was identifying more children with attachment disorders in their early years emerging with mental ill health and anxiety. She indicated that the YWCA program focused on the middle years, as many programs relating to early years already exist.
The Director of Community Services indicated that the YWCA Canberra is noticing a growing number of young people with anxiety and early onset mental illness in secondary schools that have problematic school attendance and school
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