Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth. Will the minister update the House on the government's national plan for school improvement?

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Deakin for that question. In his electorate he has some 40 schools that have benefited from the investments that this government has made in libraries, multipurpose halls, classrooms and buildings and from the approximately 4,500 computers installed under our plan to make sure that classrooms are well-equipped for the digital age.

It is the case that the government believes that every child should have the opportunity which quality education provides. That is why the Prime Minister announced the National Plan for School Improvement: doing the things that we know make a difference in the classroom and lifting education results for students with the goal of being in the world's top five education systems by 2025. We know what it takes to get there. On teacher quality: we have already secured national standards for teachers and invested half a billion dollars in the teacher quality national partnership, and we want to take that work further with higher entry requirements for teaching and better practical experience prior to graduation. On school improvement: we have given more power to principals and invested in literacy and numeracy resources, and we want to take that further with school improvement plans for every school and clear guidance to principals on how they can lift results as well. On transparency: we established MySchool to provide an accurate picture to parents and communities of their school, and we want to take that work further as well with more information about school achievement on MySchool and clear reporting on how our schools are tracking towards our top-five goal. On funding: our investment in Australian schools in this funding period doubled investment by the Howard government. We have paid particular attention to serving disadvantaged communities, including those with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and we need to go further now to ensure that every single school is properly funded to develop the potential of every single child.

So that is Labor's plan when it comes to schools. We are working with our state and territory and non-government organisation colleagues and will introduce legislation into the House this year. Without seeing the legislation, the opposition pledged to repeal it—'we will dismantle it', said the member for Sturt—and they have promised not to pursue a national plan for school improvement either. What they have promised to do is leave in place a system that was described by the Gonski review panel as illogical, inconsistent and unconnected to our educational goals. The opposition are ignoring the evidence that Australia has a significant issue on equity with schools, and they are not prepared to do anything about it. In fact, all they have on the slate is $2.8 billion worth of cuts to teacher quality across the education landscape. We stand for supporting schools and the best interests of kids in every school in Australia.

Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker, I ask a supplementary question. How is the government's plan being received?

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased that the member has asked this question, because the government's plans for school improvement have been well received right around Australia. They have been well received by education stakeholders. They have been well received by, for example, the principals of independent schools. They have been well received by the Independent Education Union and the Australian Education Union. They have been well received by Australian universities. They have been well received by the school sector as a whole. I was pleased to have a phone meeting with state education ministers just last Friday and secure agreement from them that we would continue not only to have discussions but also to lay out this government's plan for school improvement.

The fact is that the only voice out there on the education landscape speaking against improving the opportunities for kids in all schools in Australia is the member for Sturt. When he is asked a question about these things, he goes for a spin-cycle routine of ducking and weaving the question—he cited Alice in Wonderland the other day when I heard him in the media—but the fact of the matter is that this is a plan which has been substantially acknowledged as absolutely central to our prospects as a nation. We are committed to a national plan for school improvement; those opposite are not.