Page 2391 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 2 August 2017
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I thought it would be very important to bring a little bit of balance to this debate as well by informing members of some of the overwhelming support for this kind of activity being a part of our school education. As members know, the Education Directorate and I have been talking with school communities—with parents, teachers and students—since February, as part of the future of education conversation.
I reported yesterday during question time that students are consistently asking for greater attention to equip them to enter adult life. They want to know how to “adult”. They have told the government that they need to learn about real life, about how to survive in the adult world, handle finances and taxes, communicate at work and network, reason and analyse information. I heard from one student at Lake Tuggeranong College about their participation in an Australian school-based apprenticeship. I am sure that I do not need to remind members of the safety issues many trade apprentices face.
It is not just the government that is hearing these messages. The Youth Coalition of the ACT, in their 2016 rate Canberra survey, were told a range of similar things. For example, a 16-year-old male from Belconnen reported that school “doesn’t prepare for real-life situations that would determine our fate in the workforce”. A 16-year-old female from Woden said that high school “doesn’t necessarily increase my knowledge about the specifics of a job or how to get it”. Forty-eight per cent of respondents to this survey felt that their studies were only “somewhat” preparing them for employment. As the Canberra Times reported a few weeks ago, Alfred Deakin High School year 10 student Jack Dixon said that he found the program helpful, and father Jim backed the initiative:
“From a parent’s perspective it’s exactly the sort of thing you hope kids do learn because they’re not always going to either listen to their parents or ask their parents or their parents might not think about asking them about these sorts of things,” Mr Dixon said.
“Having it happen in schools is great.”
The Canberra Times also reported on teacher support for the work UnionsACT are doing and verified that this is not a union recruitment exercise. What more important preparation can our schools provide young people than making sure that they know about how to manage threats to their workplace health, safety and welfare, and informing them about their rights and responsibilities at work?
The government is committed to making sure all workers, especially vulnerable workers, are treated with dignity and respect and, most importantly, come home in the same condition that they went to work. This issue should be above politics. It should not be used by Mr Wall as a political football match. Unfortunately, that appears to have been what has occurred. I move the amendment that has been circulated in my name:
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