Page 992 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 May 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
meant that people needed additional support at those schools. I was assured that those schools did have those additional supports in place. However, I understand that parents and families have had some difficulties at those sites. Of course I understand that.
I hear from those opposite who would have us rushing back to school straightaway. But, as the Chief Minister has said time and again, this is not a race. Today’s announcement is not in response to the opposition’s media line. It has been, rightly, informed by consultations with school communities and health experts.
As I committed to publicly last week, I have spent this week working with teachers, their union, the ACT Council of P&Cs and the Principals Association, and the Chief Health Officer as well, to plan an approach that will work for all of our community. It has become clear that, due to the hard work of our community, the conditions in the ACT will allow us to start transitioning back to school in a carefully considered way. I had committed to giving schools and families as much notice as possible, so I was happy to be able to make this morning’s announcement, which does give that notice.
While this government has always listened to and accepted the health advice around schools, as I said, a range of other factors need to be taken into account when making decisions about school administration. For example, schools are also workplaces. The government has made staff and student health and safety paramount in its decision-making. Schools have a high proportion of workers who are more vulnerable to illness. We also expect the highest possible quality of education for our children, which would have been nearly impossible if teachers had been asked to teach remotely and on campus simultaneously.
The opposition have used public schools as an opportunity today to score a political point. I do not understand why they would want to do this during this challenging time. Doing this confuses the community and distracts from the great work that public school educators are doing every day with our kids. This kind of behaviour is disappointing and a disservice to public school families.
The amendments that I am proposing to Ms Lee’s motion correct some inaccuracies and portray a complete and balanced view of the factors at play in the government’s decision-making. Despite the efforts of the commonwealth government, the ACT government is responsible for running public schools in Canberra. This government is proud to be making decisions informed by local voices, our local circumstances, and the needs of our communities.
I acknowledge that, just as it has been hard work for teachers and school staff to transition to remote learning, it will also be hard to transition back to on-campus learning. Similarly, students, parents and carers will also now be making another change. That is why it is so important that this Assembly acknowledge and thank teachers, their unions, school staff, early childhood education and care workers, out of school hours care staff, Education Directorate staff, school cleaners, building service officers, transport staff, community service organisations, the Council of P&Cs, Catholic and independent schools, the emergency services association and, of course,
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video