Page 3387 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 23 September 2015
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The government is providing equitable and reliable access to technology in schools. An annual investment of $1.5 million into ICT devices enables our schools to provide equitable access to a range of devices fit for the modern learner.
Richardson Primary School, another school which has recently adopted Google apps for education, has seen a significant improvement in student engagement and collaborative learning in the primary setting. New Chromebooks at the school have also provided students with a reliable ICT experience and even faster access to filtered internet. ACT public schools are working with families and the community to assist young people prepare for their future and this technology enables our schools to work in partnership with parents to support our young people in a safe and productive online environment.
The government is committed to developing and promoting online safety and digital citizenship skills for our students, and our partnership with the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner and their cybersmart program has provided ACT public schools with regular virtual classroom events. The cybersmart virtual classroom programs are delivered once per term by the eSafety commissioner’s cybersmart team on a range of online safety topics that are relevant to our students, and these sessions have been well attended. Only last week we had over 340 students engaged in an online web conference on communicating safely online. The government’s partnership with the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner will provide recommendations on future engagement with the community to enhance digital citizenship skills in our students.
To ensure we remain a leader in safe and effective use of ICT in our schools, I have recently established a ministerial advisory group on digital citizenship. The group includes expertise from across the parent community, industry, students and the eSafety commissioner. I look forward to reading the report from this group and to continuing to work to drive innovation and best practice in ICT across our schools.
In closing, I return to Ms Fitzharris’s motion. I commend that and I note that Mr Doszpot supported—I think he used the words—the notion behind the motion. I am hoping that he would then see that this is a reasonable motion. It is not party politics. It is just simply saying that we in the ACT do have a digital divide. If you look at the NBN rollout map, the north benefits; the south is slow.
Ms Fitzharris made mention of Monash and I think Theodore having the slowest speeds across this city and that we as citizens of Canberra should have access. So I think it is fair and reasonable to continue to invest in Canberra’s digital future, to express concerns at any delay or unequal or unclear access for Canberra residents. That is not an unhelpful thing to do. That is an incredibly helpful thing, and I think that all of us here should be supporting our community, our residents, to have fair and equitable access to NBN.
I would be very disappointed if the Canberra Liberals chose not to support equal access to the NBN by all Canberra citizens. All the Canberra Liberals have to do is support this motion that states very clearly that the NBN needs to be accessed by all. (Time expired.)
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