George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek leave to speak without closing the debate.

Leave granted.

I have listened to the different speakers thus far on the debate. It has been quite interesting, and I am glad that there has been support from both sides of the chamber to look at dyslexia and what can be done for students with dyslexia in our educational systems. It is probably disappointing to hear the parliamentary secretary pull the issue into a political argument. The fact is that the Gonski reforms as the government is currently touting them do very little in relation to this area.

Mr Neumann interjecting—

I have listened to the parliamentary secretary speak, and you might listen and actually learn something from what I am about to say. I have spoken with not only teachers, but also people who work in the field of educational support for students with dyslexia. While they say that Gonski has the right language in terms of dyslexia and support for dyslexia, they see little actually coming out of that system that is not already present in the current system. What we need is not just more money thrown at education; we need a fundamental change in the way that our educational system actually treats students who have dyslexia. NAPLAN is obviously an invention of this government, but the fact is that the rules for NAPLAN do not allow for significant support for students with dyslexia. Gonski will not change that system. We will still have students sitting there who have dyslexia, who have reading, writing and comprehension problems, having to undertake this momentous test with the almost certain prospect of failure on that test—because of the nature of the test—hanging over their heads. There have been repeated submissions to government inquiries and Productivity Commission inquiries by teacher organisations and by parents which actually show that the impact that that testing has on children with dyslexia is harmful and detrimental to their wellbeing and their mental health. You cannot sit a kid through that test without appropriate support and expect that they are going to pass it.

If you go on the National Assessment Plan website and you type in the word 'dyslexia' in the search box, not a single result turns up. Dyslexia is almost not considered when it comes to NAPLAN. In fact, if you go and have a look through the examples that are listed in terms of what extra support is given for students with disability on the NAPLAN website, there is no example of dyslexia, despite it being such a widespread condition in the student community. NAPLAN rules do allow for scribes or support people to assist some students with disabilities, but students with dyslexia are, I would believe, in the main not covered by these sections. The scribes are there for people who have a problem with the physical act of writing. They are not there for students, in the main, who just have a learning disability such as dyslexia. A support person can be there for a student with disabilities, but, again, that support person has to be there in the classroom all the time to actually be there for a person sitting the NAPLAN test. Most students with dyslexia do not have a support person sitting in the classroom with them all day. So, again, that does not help. We have these students taking these written tests where they have to comprehend the words that are on it, where they have to actually write their responses, and these are the fundamental things that they cannot do. There needs to be a change in that.

We also need a change, as I said before, with preservice training for teachers. We do not have it when every other advanced country has it, and Gonski, again, will not deliver that. The government has talked about this $200 million package that is being rolled out to schools for students with disabilities, but if you have a look at the peak bodies for dyslexia, one of the problems they are saying with that is that it does not cover students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia. That money will not be going to assist students with dyslexia. It is the fundamental thing that we need assistance with in our education system so that we do not have children being left behind. The government needs to really look at the report that was done and presented to the former parliamentary secretary in this area and actually get on with adopting those recommendations.

Debate adjourned.

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