Education is what raises us up. It ensures that we have the opportunity to be the best people that we possibly can be and to make the best contribution to our country.
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Schools in NSW will benefit from an additional $5 billion under the Gillard Government’s National Plan for School Improvement. For every dollar that the NSW Government is prepared to invest, the Federal Government will pay two.
If we don’t act to improve our schools then the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students will continue to grow, and we’ll continue to fall further behind the rest of the world.
For schools in the Illawarra, this means more staff training, more specialist teachers, improved resources for all students and better specialist services for kids with high needs.
Dapto High have told me that with additional money they would provide a special needs teacher in every faculty to support students and improve resources for their autism classes. Also on their list are improved online resources for students, a textbook for every student in the school and an interactive white board in every classroom as well as an additional teacher librarian to teach literacy and promote reading.
Teachers at Albion Park High School told me additional funding would enable them to provide individualised support and learning opportunities to their students.
At Hayes Park Public School, more money means students will have the opportunity to reach their full potential by giving them the resources and flexibility to drive improvements in student outcomes.
Local parents have told me they hope that all students will have access to the same support that they had when they were at school including improved outcomes for non-English-speaking students .
These are not exorbitant or immodest requests. Indeed, if you were to ask many people in this place they might be shocked to know that a school in an electorate such as mine did not have access to these sorts of facilities.
There is no more important a matter that we could grapple with in the remaining months of this Parliament than improving our school education system.
In education, it is imperative that we do what is right for our nation and to ensure that Australia’s 3.5 million kids get a better education through improved school funding.
Our universities also have a stake in our national interest making sure our kids get a great education. That’s because, the quality of students coming our of our schools and how prepared they are for university study is of great importance to our universities.
Premier Barry O’Farrell needs to get on board with our new funding model.
Stephen Jones is Federal Member for Throsby.