Dai Le (Fowler, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to read a speech from my local student representatives as part of the Raise Our Voice campaign. Lisa, Tina, Kathy and Mary are from Canley Vale High School, and they're in the gallery today. They spoke about the quality of our education system. These young people are the future generation of our community in Fowler.

They said:

As the future generation, we want our community in the city and country to thrive. And to do this, people need a good education. While we commend Australian education, it has fallen short on quality. We've been heavily impacted by the lack of resources, staff, and inadequate educational facilities. This has caused limitations and pauses in our education and potential, which then translates into socioeconomic disadvantage, as the quality of our education is a large determining factor of the quality of our futures. With this, only the wealthy can afford a boost while the rest of the public system are left behind, underfunded, limiting their potential to the little resources they have.

To help public schools like the one we and so many attend, more funds need to be contributed to our education. Resources like further support for teachers and other staff members, assistance programs and better-quality infrastructure can make all the difference between a high- or low-quality education. We need to ensure the disadvantaged receive the attention they need—not perfomativity but real action to be followed through.

To speak out, to our nation, to our country to raise our voices is to be one step closer to change.

Thank you to the students and teacher who travelled all the way from Canley Vale to come here and listen to their Raise Your Voice campaign message.