Kay Elson (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to add my support to the Minister for Education, Science and Training’s calls for the development of a common-model national curriculum. As a society we ought to be confident that there is key knowledge and a defined set of skills that children will be taught at various stages in their education, no matter where in Australia they happen to be living at the time.

I acknowledge that progress is being made, with the minister, Julie Bishop, working hard for the introduction of national learning standards from 2008 and continuing to push for a nationally consistent year 12 certificate. I know the minister is frustrated that it is so difficult and time consuming to reach an agreement with the states on these basic issues. I do not understand why this has to be the case and I do not understand the recent reaction to the national curriculum debate either. To me, it is a sensible policy that ought to have the full support of everyone involved in the education system and the support of the state governments. After all, it is about what is best for our children, not power struggles or internal bureaucracy. But the states do not seem to get it.

In my view, the states have dropped the ball when it comes to education. They have consistently failed to match the funding increases the federal government has provided for public education over the past 10 years—and this is despite the states having increased revenue through the GST. Not only have they failed on funding; they have also got it wrong when it comes to the quality of education.

Recently, Professor Keith Wiltshire, Australia’s representative on the executive of UNESCO, was highly critical of the state and territory governments for failing to monitor quality teaching. As he pointed out, a government unwilling to stand up to teachers unions is unable to put students and education standards first. I am not having a go at teachers. There are many highly motivated and excellent teachers working at schools throughout my electorate. The vast majority do a wonderful job. It is an increasingly challenging job and it is still a vital job for the future of our nation. That is why it is so important that as a society we promote excellence in education, that we take the very best of what is being done around the country and challenge everyone to meet those high standards. This is precisely why we should not be experimenting with educational fads. Our children are far too important to miss out on what they need because some bureaucrat has an agenda to pursue.

On that note I want to highlight a recent case that, sadly, occurred at a high school in my electorate. It involved a situation where a 13-year-old girl was failed in the subject of health and physical education because she refused to do an assignment that asked her to write about living in an isolated gay community. This young girl, while only in year 9, I point out, had the strength of her convictions to tell her teacher that homosexuality was against her religious and moral beliefs and that she did not feel comfortable with this particular assignment. She was given a fail mark as a result.

It was only later, when her mum went to the school to find out why her daughter had failed the subject, that she became aware of this particular assignment. Even more appalling is that apparently students in this teacher’s class were told not to discuss the assignment with their parents and that it should be kept ‘in class’. Most people, regardless of what the subject matter was, would be alarmed that students were being told to keep things from their parents. There should be no topic that is taboo between a parent and their child. Certainly, it is not a teacher’s place to foster any kind of secretive behaviour in children.

There may be some parents who are not bothered by the topic of this particular assignment. But I believe there would be many more who would be concerned that a child of 13 was being asked to discuss ‘where ideas about homosexuality came from’. We are talking about 13-year-old children. Why are they being asked in-depth questions about any form of sexual lifestyle? Even more upsetting is that when the parent raised her concerns it was suggested to her that her child would be better off leaving the state education system and attending an independent school.

As I said, I am not attempting to blacken the name of the school. Three of my grandchildren attend that school and I have to attest to the dedication of the majority of the teachers at that school. But this is clear evidence of an inappropriate curriculum in this case. It is another example of why something must be done, and I congratulate the federal education minister, Julie Bishop, on her ongoing efforts to develop a clear, consistent national curriculum. She has my strong support.