Topics: School funding, NAPLAN, explicit instruction
Kerry Peck: I talk about the important portfolios that are in various forms of government, whether you’re talking about, you know, state government or federal government. At the moment, we’re talking about federal government and the financing of our schools right across the nation. This is not only in New South Wales, but also right across the nation as well. And I think that education probably is up there with health, police and security in our country, just as important, if not maybe a little bit more important. And on the program this morning, I’ve got the Shadow Minister for Health, Sarah Henderson, good morning.
Senator Henderson: Good morning, Kerry, health is important, but I’m the Shadow Minister for Education.
Kerry Peck: You’re the Shadow Minister for Education. Sorry, I had a little mental block there. Okay, now listen, this is, of course, an ongoing problem, isn’t it? This is not something new. This has been around for a long time. You know, in trying to, well, I suppose, put the limited dollars out, but make them effective.
Senator Henderson: There is absolutely no doubt that it’s not just about how much money is spent in our schools, but what we do with it. And of course, the Coalition has been very focused on getting back to basics, determined to drive evidence-based teaching into every classroom which prioritises reading, writing, maths and science. And Kerry, unfortunately, at the moment, all we’ve got from Labor in New South Wales is a school funding war. So for many months, the Albanese government has been unable to conclude a deal with the New South Wales government. Last year, would you believe, the Labor education state premiers came to Canberra and protested against the federal government and Prue Carr, who’s the New South Wales education minister, continues to call out this government for not getting a deal done, and really the people who are suffering are students. There’s 1.3 million or so public school students in New South Wales and Queensland. They are the students who are paying the price, along with their families.
Kerry Peck: It’s interesting, you know, when you look at the overall budget for education, I suppose that you know, if you, if you get into the government, of course, at the next election, which is just down the track, that you’re probably going to be looking at that and maybe reprioritising? Would that be the right word?
Senator Henderson: No, we have absolutely made it very clear that we are backing in these school funding agreements. But what we are very concerned about, Kerry, is the failure of the government to deliver proper reforms in every classroom. So at the moment in Australia, we are seeing rapidly declining school standards. And of course, if every young Australian can’t achieve his or her best potential, that affects them for the rest of their lives. Too many children are getting to secondary school not being able to read and write properly, and that, of course, fundamentally affects their employment prospects for the rest of their life. And so we are absolutely determined to turn this around and to drive up our school standards, and we can only do that by ensuring that we have the very best evidence-based teaching and learning in every classroom. Explicit instruction is really key and other really important issues that the government has failed to address, such as classroom behaviour. We have some of the most unruliest classrooms in the world compared to all OECD countries. We’re right up there. And of course, teachers are being abandoned by this government. They’re not being given the appropriate tools to deal with unruly students, and of course, if you’ve got a classroom out of control, then students can’t learn. So it’s just really regrettable. And there was a very important recommendation made for a national behaviour curriculum to support teachers and students, but the government has ignored that recommendation out of our Senate inquiry, and so I think the result is that we are seeing many billions of dollars flowing into our schools across the country, but we are not getting the dividends in the classroom, and that is not good for teachers, for students and for their families.
Kerry Peck: So NAPLAN, of course, we’re looking at that and I’m looking down there. One in three students failing NAPLAN, that’s horrific isn’t it really?
Senator Henderson: That’s right. One in three students are failing to reach the benchmark requirements in literacy and numeracy, and that is a shocking outcome. Another really good example of how we’ve gone backwards. 20 years ago, like back in 2006 under the Howard government, we were one year ahead in our learning for the average year 10 student compared to now. So we’ve slipped as a nation by one full year of learning compared to sort of the very top nations, like Singapore and like even the UK, which are now moving up there. So we are determined, as I say, to get back to basics, to focus on the fundamentals, to ensure teachers are properly supported by the best evidence-based teaching methods. And of course, that’s not happening at the moment, and we’ve seen review after review from this government tinkering at the edges, putting forward a school funding agreement that is just too light on that is not driving those reforms that we need. Some of them we do agree with, such as the year one phonics and numeracy test, but this is far too slow. It’s far too little. And you know, like everything we see from the Albanese government it’s all too little, too late and Australians are losing faith.
Kerry Peck : Thank you for your time this morning we really appreciate it. And we’ll catch up down the track if that’s ok. Shadow Minister for Education Sarah Henderson there.