Page 1382 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 6 May 2015
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development. The quality of teaching and our teachers makes the biggest difference to the lives of our youth in any classroom. That said, we are also renewing the infrastructure of our schools and building new schools as required. I am very proud of the work being undertaken to modernise the schools in Belconnen. For example, we are investing in improvements to Belconnen High School, built in 1971, with a master plan based on its current enrolment and the projected longer term enrolment. We are upgrading facilities and clearing old buildings at the end of their useful lives.
Macgregor Primary School, one of the first schools built in Belconnen back in 1968, has been expanded, with new classrooms in the last few years, and now car park works have been designed to increase the number of spaces, improve safety for pedestrians and create a safe school set-down and pick-up area. We have also completed upgrades of the toilets at the Charnwood Dunlop Primary School, which was originally built in 1975; new lifts at Canberra High School; a library upgrade and new additional classrooms and toilets at the Cranleigh School, originally built in 1974; and installation of technology to more efficiently manage the electricity supply, called power factor correction equipment, at Maribyrnong Primary School, Belconnen High School, Melba Copland Secondary School and the University of Canberra Senior Secondary College Lake Ginninderra.
The Belconnen Regional Trades Skills Centre means vocational training facilities in seven government high schools and colleges are being refurbished to industry standard, essential to maintaining compliance with national RTO standards. The Belconnen Regional Trades Skills Centre will increase access for all students to training and employment pathways in such areas as automotive, construction, engineering, food processing, furnishing, horticulture and hospitality. It fits into this Labor government’s commitment to providing a range of career pathways to our young people, from vocational training feeding into the CIT, for example, to tertiary education at our world-standard universities.
This government is also committed to diversifying our economy, giving young people more options. This is especially important in the face of Liberal federal government cutbacks to the public service that are disproportionately affecting young people. The extensive ACTION bus network is also an essential resource for our young people getting about town on weekends or using the dedicated, subsidised school bus network. The student concessions offered through school MyWay cards are also a major cost saving to families.
The government provides strong support for youth arts activities. The ACT arts fund supports a number of ACT arts organisations that provide arts development and arts access programs and services specifically for young people. These include Belconnen Arts Centre, Ausdance ACT, Canberra Youth Theatre, Music for Canberra, QL2 Dance, Tuggeranong Arts Centre and Warehouse Circus. There are also a number of arts organisations which include programs that support young artists, including the ACT Writers Centre, Canberra Glassworks, ScreenACT and the You Are Here festival. The Belconnen Arts Centre, Megalo Access Arts, M16 ArtSpace and Tuggeranong Arts Centre also provide access to workshop spaces and classes as well as exhibition programs for young people.
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