Page 94 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 13 December 2016
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experiences in the home. That is why I will continue to advocate to ensure that we improve access to quality preschool education from age three and earlier for vulnerable children, in line with other developed countries.
Improving access to quality early learning for all children is the most effective and efficient way for government to improve educational outcomes in later schooling. If we can improve access to quality early learning this will not only amplify children’s development but also boost economic growth and reduce costly investment in later interventions in the health and welfare systems in the long term. It is critical for our future prosperity.
If we are going to harness the benefits of education for Canberra’s future prosperity then we also need to ensure that every child gets the support they need when they transition to school. Canberra schools, both non-government and government, are great schools. But in our changing world there is more to do to ensure that our schools give students the best opportunities.
We have seen for some time in international testing, including in the last few weeks, that Australia’s performance has been declining. The number of low performing students is increasing and the number of high performing students is decreasing in all states and territories, including the ACT. This continues to demonstrate the need for education reform. A priority must be supporting teachers to improve their skills and performance.
We also need to provide physical resources and build quality learning environments and infrastructure at our public schools, and ensuring that we have the best education management systems as well. Fundamentally, we know that we cannot harness the benefits of our education system without addressing the funding system that drives it. We know that because the Chairman of the ASX, Mr David Gonski, recommended in his review of school funding that reform was required to ensure our schools were funded based on need. This is a critical component of the work that we need to do to move students from the low performance group to the middle, and from the middle to the high performance group. I will be an advocate to make sure that students and teachers get the support they need.
It is an honour to serve amongst the existing Labor members in this place who, for such a long time, have been leading change in this country on so many issues. It is a particular honour to serve with the Chief Minister, Mr Andrew Barr, who has led reform both within my party and in the Assembly enacting marriage equality. Mr Barr was the first openly gay member of this place. I believe that I am only the second openly gay member of the Legislative Assembly. The fact that this is such a mundane achievement is because of the path that has been hard won by Mr Barr. He has made it easier for those who come after him and their families, and for that I thank him.
Of course, marriage equality will still be an important milestone for inclusion in the ACT if it is achieved again through a vote of the commonwealth parliament. But here in the ACT there is more work to do to tackle discrimination and to foster inclusion in the community. I am keen to be a champion of inclusion in the ACT.
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