Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I absolutely can, because we released in the budget this year our Quality schools, quality outcomes report, which not only demonstrated our record growing levels of investment in Australian schools, but also, importantly, highlighted the areas in which we want to see that investment focused. We want to see that investment support teacher quality, by ensuring optimal use of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers; better recognition and reward for highly accomplished and leading teachers; better arrangements for the certification of potential principals; support for boosting literacy, numeracy and STEM performance; earlier identification of problems and challenges that young children may have, so that we can have earlier intervention; minimum standards of literacy and numeracy skills for school leavers to obtain their higher school certificates; and support for increased research into long-term teacher training so that we are helping address not just the changes we are applying in universities to initial teacher education but also professional development standards for existing teachers into the future. (Time expired)