Page 494 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 18 February 2015
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Overlay that with a consciousness about environmental efficiency and sustainable landscapes and you start to get a picture of the competing needs of ACT schools in the 21st century.
This government, understandably, is proud of its state-of-the-art schools and its innovative approach to building design. Our new schools and the growth into new areas lead to opportunities for greenfield site development. This provides great opportunities for innovative design, and we are seeing that some of our new schools indeed have that.
But what is less discussed, and perhaps less considered, is getting the basics right. Some of our older schools, as loved as they are, do not always meet the expectations and demands of what is routinely available in more modern buildings.
In earlier debates I have pointed out that one of the big issues for Canberra is the recognition that we have an ageing school infrastructure. While it is important that population growth be matched by the development of new schools, it is equally important that we do not allow a two-speed or two-class standard of school to develop.
While a focus on quality teaching far outweighs any consideration of how many electronic whiteboards or computer terminals and laptops a school has, it is not unreasonable for a government to provide a basic level of comfort and services for both students and staff in all our schools.
This year, so far, Canberra has had a very fortunate summer. Unlike last summer, when temperatures were regularly above 38 degrees, we have had few days of such discomfort. And it is just as well, because we know there are schools in the ACT that are less than comfortable places to be in when the weather gets tough.
But equally we know that this is not an issue that has just been realised. In 2011—2011, Madam Assistant Speaker—at about this time of the year, the Canberra Times ran an article about the fact that there were at least 10 to 12 ACT schools about which teachers were concerned because of hot days. At the time, it was suggested by the teachers union that on days of extreme temperatures it would be better for parents to keep their children at home.
The Canberra Times reported on the issue. It reported that parents, too, were worried about temperatures in classrooms, with the ACT Council of Parents & Citizens Associations calling for new rules on hot classrooms, including the possibility of half-days and starting earlier and finishing earlier. The P&C council president at the time, Jane Tullis, is quoted as saying that parents were concerned that environmentally friendly cooling systems included in many new schools would not cut the mustard. She said: “We don’t believe they are good enough on days of extreme heat and, in the case of a few hot days in a row, it doesn’t cool down overnight.” That is a quote from Ms Tullis at the time.
Let us move forward three years to 2014. The AEU, frustrated at lack of progress on the issue of cool classrooms, were again, and are still, highlighting the issue. It has not
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