Page 1000 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 May 2020
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who are trying to work from home and fit in the demands of work and the need to support their children’s education. As the mental health minister, I have had some significant feedback where parents are really stressed and, in some cases, feeling inadequate because they feel they cannot do it all. My message to them is: you cannot expect to do it all; we just have to cut ourselves a bit of slack. We are all operating in a really challenging environment.
I have heard from some parents who have taken real delight in this process. It has given them a chance to really connect to their children’s education. A few people have said, with a wry grin, that their admiration for teachers has gone up enormously during this period because they just are blown away by what their kids do each day and some of the behavioural challenges that teachers face. They have had much greater exposure to that in this period, and it will be interesting to see how that flows back into what happens, going forward. It is important to acknowledge the challenge that some parents have faced, but the bottom line is that all parents have been doing their very best to support their children’s education.
In conclusion, we will be supporting Minister Berry’s amendment. One of the things that I am struck by is that there is an opportunity here to learn from what we have gone through in recent weeks, to perhaps capture some of the positive elements of remote learning. People are flagging that there are things that are beneficial. Just as we are reflecting on the fact that, for some people, working from home has presented opportunities, some people have seen opportunities in remote learning. I encourage teachers and the Education Directorate to keep an eye on those things and, as we come back into what has been the traditional environment, think about what we can bring back with us from this period we have gone through that can help us continue to innovate and make sure that the ACT has a world-class education system.
I thank Ms Lee for the opportunity to discuss these matters. As I said, the Greens will be supporting Minister Berry’s amendment.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Children, Youth and Families and Minister for Health) (3.51): I rise to speak in support of Ms Berry’s amendment. This is a very important issue. The issue of education has been, as others have said, one of the most difficult and one of the most contentious in terms of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. I would like to take the chamber back through a bit of a time line because I think that Ms Lee and Mr Coe are being very wise in hindsight and are not really taking account of how much uncertainty we have faced since the end of January and the beginning of February.
On 30 January 2020 the World Health Organisation declared the novel coronavirus as a public health emergency of international concern. On 27 February the Prime Minister activated the Australian health sector emergency response plan for novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. On 12 March the World Health Organisation Secretary-General announced that COVID-19 could be characterised as a pandemic. On 16 March the ACT declared a public health emergency, along with every other state and territory, in their own ways, across the country. By today, 7 May 2020, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, the ACT Chief Health Officer, the
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