Page 2659 - Week 07 - Thursday, 2 August 2018
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Finally, I want to comment quickly on the consultation process that is now occurring with regard to bus services across the city, including bus services to ACT schools. I have had the chance to meet with the independent schools association, who say that they are open-minded. They do want more information but they are keen to work together with the government on solutions for how best to support children and their families in getting to their schools, as well as looking at other ways that children can travel to school, making sure that there are opportunities for active travel, like walking and cycling to school.
I think it is unnecessary for the Canberra Liberals to go out and start scaring parents and children about safety issues that they perceive happening on public buses. That is not the experience that I have had in this town on buses, and not the experience that my children have had catching buses to and from school.
First of all, let us have the conversation, go through the consultation process and make sure that the government gets feedback from each of the people in the community that they need to hear from, so that a decision can be made that best meets everybody’s needs in the community. Scaring people unnecessarily is not the best way forward.
MRS KIKKERT (Ginninderra) (4.08): I am delighted that Ms Lee has brought this matter of public importance before the Assembly today. I speak from the perspective of a mother of five children, all five of whom are currently enrolled in three of Canberra’s public schools, including a primary school, a high school and a college.
As you can guess, the idea that all parents should have an informed choice in determining their children’s education is important to my husband and me. The whole concept of education is deeply important to our entire family. From the time our eldest was born, we have sought to do everything we could to provide the best educational opportunities for our kids. For example, we filled our basic rental accommodation with books and made sure that we regularly read to our children. As they have grown and entered the formal educational system, we have continued to care deeply about their learning and making sure that they are enrolled in schools that are a good fit for their needs and for the needs of our family unit.
It may seem obvious to point out, but no-one on this planet knows more about individual children than their parents. This is one of the central reasons why all parents must have the right to make informed choices regarding their children’s education. This right is so important, in fact, that it was enshrined in article 26 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
This guarantee could not be any clearer. Before all else, it is up to parents to choose the kind of education that their children participate in. Any other policy, procedure or approach encroaches on and violates a fundamental human right. This prerogative of parents must always be honoured and protected in the ACT.
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