Peter Lindsay (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This motion condemns the Queensland state government for its continued mismanagement of our education system. Schools in Queensland are suffering. Teachers are treated with disdain and disrespect. That is why the case for teachers must be made in the parliament tonight. Jason Inch, a teacher at Stuart State School, made these points to me and the education department:

• You have allowed anybody to become a teacher by making it far too easy to enter an education degree at university and actually act surprised when deficient teachers graduate.
• You cut funding and staffing positions and leave infrastructure in a disgusting state and wonder why marks aren’t as good as you believe they should be.
• You tie our hands behind our backs, when dealing with troubled children and struggling parents and tell us “you’re not just teachers anymore, you have to be a social worker, parental figure and policeman, as well”, without providing adequate training and payment for hours worked and services rendered.
• You do the complete opposite of what you ask us to teach our students. Why should we teach our students about respect and positive attitudes, when you openly express the complete opposite about teachers in all areas of the media.
• You actually believe that you can compare a school like the Townsville Grammar School, with a budget in the millions of dollars, with Stuart State School and a budget in the thousands.
• You use a staffing model that crucifies small schools and makes it near on impossible to do what you ask to be done.
• You expect me to break the law, in relation to class size at the beginning of every year, that you said had to be enforced. Yet you never say “thanks for getting us out of a tight spot”, by fixing the problem.

It is very sad indeed that a teacher would come to his local member and indicate this litany of problems. The Queensland state government have let education in our great state fall into disrepair. They are ignoring the problems plaguing the system and ignoring the concerns that are raised by parents and teachers. Teachers are in the best possible position to tell the government what the problems in education are and how best to fix them, but the Bligh government is not listening.

Let me tell you about the conditions at the Stuart State School in Townsville and about one of the dedicated teachers, Jason Inch. Stuart State School has a proud 117-year history. It has a team of great teachers and staff, who are working to make sure students get the best education possible. The teachers do their absolute best, despite crumbling facilities and staffing cuts. I would like to tell you what Jason told me about his school and the problems he is facing as a Queensland teacher.

In the last two years Stuart State School has lost teaching positions because of mandated state rules. There has been no consideration of local circumstances, which has led to class sizes that are far too big. For the composite classes of grades 5, 6 and 7, the class size has been illegal under Queensland education law. In the last year the class had 31 students and in 2010 the class started with 29 students. Two of the students have special education needs and at least six need additional learning support.

There are not enough permanent teachers to meet the needs of the students. The school has two teacher aides who have to divide their time between three composite classes. The principal, in addition to her administrative duties, has to spread herself across all three classes in a supplementary teaching role. This actually worked in a positive way in 2009, as the principal was able to devote time to students with learning difficulties. However, the department of education’s changes have now outsourced this role to a regional teacher who can spend only a few hours a week at the school. The school has three permanent teachers who have to take on greater and greater roles as additional staff are cut. Where there are itinerant teachers they are shared with so many other schools in the region that the Stuart school rarely sees them on a regular basis. This is very sad.

The school does not have a technology technician. It has to rely on its teachers to fix any technical problems that arise. The result of all of this is that students lose out. Teachers are doing their absolute best, but there are only so many hours in a day, and, as the staff cuts increase so will the burden on teachers. The end result is that individual students get less one-on-one time and support from their teachers.

Budget cuts and staffing losses are not the only problem facing Stuart State School. Their facilities, being such an old school, are crumbling and there is no money to fix them. The school is not entitled to a grounds keeper. This means that when pipes burst or spring a leak the school must spend their limited budget to pay workmen to come in to fix the problem. During the wet season the grass in the playground grows to unmanageable heights and it is difficult to find parents who are able to mow it. In the dry season it becomes a dustbowl.

The school sits on the outskirts of Townsville surrounded by bushland, and this provides a whole variety of problems, particularly with snakes who find homes in the long grass and even in the classrooms. Without money to address any of these problems, the students lose out and their school environment becomes very dangerous.

While the problems I have described this evening are specific to Stuart State School, similar issues exist that affect other schools in Townsville and more broadly in Queensland. I would like to finish by reading further from the email from Jason Inch:

We may be a small school, but the percentage per capita in relation to staffing and learningrequirements are the same, if not greater, than those of larger schools. How can the Queensland Education Minister believe it when he says that all schools are treated equally, and that the changes occurring in our school and many others are a positive change?

The email goes on:

I love my job, my students and my school and will do so until there is no one left to teach or the school falls down. I wouldn’t be teaching if I didn’t.

(Time expired)

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