Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Education, Senator Wong. Is the minister aware of the refusal by the New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australian Labor state governments to contribute to the costs of implementing the so-called digital education revolution? Can the minister guarantee that the federal government will cover the $3 billion to $4 billion shortfall in the costs, as estimated by the Western Australian Premier, Mr Carpenter?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Mason for his question to me in my representing capacity. I believe that the senator is referring to the Partnerships in ICT Learning report findings. He is nodding, so at least we are on the same page. We make a number of points about this. This report was commissioned in 2005 and completed in 2007. As the senator would know, it does highlight the importance of providing pre-service and in-service teachers with the skills to integrate ICT into the classroom in a useful way. It also stresses the importance of investment in hardware infrastructure and in teacher professional development in bringing the benefits of ICT into Australia’s classrooms.

I remind the Senate that this government, consistent with our election commitments, is investing $1.2 billion over four years in the digital education revolution. We recognise that support for teachers to make effective use of ICT in learning and in teaching is a key element of this revolution. Research such as the Partnerships in ICT Learning report obviously informs those issues underlying the government’s approach to the digital education revolution and our policy, which clearly aims to improve the use of technology in teaching and learning in order to prepare young people for living and working in the 21st century.

I advise the senator through you, Mr President, that the Commonwealth is committed to working with deans of education to ensure that new student teachers achieve competence in the educational use of ICT, and also with the states and territories to ensure that existing teachers develop or upgrade their competence in the educational use of ICT. To support the DER—the digital education revolution—priority on teaching capabilities for pre-service and current teachers, a teaching for the digital age advisory group has been established to provide advice on an implementation plan for consideration by COAG in December 2008. I think that addresses the issues the senator has raised.

Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was not good, but it was better than Senator Carr. Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. As admitted in the recent budget estimates, why has the government failed to estimate the costs of and budget for all the additional and ongoing infrastructure costs for computers, such as rewiring schools to ensure adequate electrical infrastructure to power computers, additional air conditioning, networking the computers within a school, insurance, repair and maintenance, technical support, software upgrades, replacing stolen and damaged units and so on?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the answer to the primary question I addressed the process through COAG that the government has established. I would make the point that this is a government that is delivering its election commitment of $1.2 billion to provide computers. The Deputy Prime Minister has announced the first round of the delivery of that policy and announced that 896 schools from the Catholic, independent and government sectors in all states were successful in that round. The government does recognise that the on-costs for additional computers for schools is an issue that needs to be addressed, and it is an issue that is being discussed with the education authorities.