Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Social Inclusion. Would the Deputy Prime Minister inform the House about the importance of the national literacy and numeracy tests taking place today?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Abbott interjecting

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, and I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his enthusiasm as well. The House may be pleased to hear that today in classrooms around the nation more than a million children are sitting down to do the first day of the national tests—children in grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 right around the country starting today, the first day of national testing. Of course national testing continues today, tomorrow and the next day, and children will be tested in sequence on writing, on reading and on numeracy skills. This is important for the individual children involved because it will lead to them and their parents having an individual report card about how that child is going against the benchmarks of the nation and national standards. I understand—and indeed I have met with some schoolchildren today who sat the national test—that going to school and doing tests is not necessarily fun for kids. Some of the kids said the test was fun. A few of the kids said they were a little bit scared. But it is important that children sit these tests and get that report card for mum and dad.

It is also important that their teachers end up with the information from what is a world-leading diagnostic tool. It is a world-leading diagnostic tool that enables their teachers to then work through what it is that can be done to best promote that child’s individual learning in areas that the test has examined in that child’s education. This information is vital for the next version of the My School website, which will be available by the end of the year.

As members would know, and people listening would know, the Australian Education Union had at one point contemplated a boycott of the national tests. I am very pleased that the Australian Education Union did not pursue that boycott and the national tests are going ahead today without any threat of disruption. In terms of that threat of a boycott, can I assure members of the House that everything on the My School website will stay and it will be updated with the 2010 test information. We will also be adding additional information to My School including, importantly, the amount of funding going in per school, and we will be able to add value-added measures. Because we are now in the third year of national testing, we will be able to show the journey of children in the two years of learning since they were last tested.

One would have thought that this was unambiguously a good news story that would be celebrated by all members of the House. But, of course, when we come to the question of education, there is always opposition from those across the chamber. In particular, let me direct the House’s attention to the attitude of the member for Parkes. The member for Parkes, last month, said in the Daily Liberal:

I whole-heartedly support any teacher that decides to take a stand against this discrimination by refusing to oversee the NAPLAN tests …

And, even when the Australian Education Union backed away from their plan to boycott the national tests, the member for Parkes was on 2DU, Dubbo radio, on Friday last week, saying he was disappointed that the union had called off the ban. We know that the Liberal Party does not support transparency. Barry O’Farrell has already proved that for us in New South Wales. Now we have it as a matter of record that members opposite do not support transparency.

This is a website that the shadow minister has referred to as a white elephant. Well, let me say very directly to members opposite: Australian parents believe you are wrong. This website has been visited by Australian parents in record numbers, recording over three million visitors. On this side of the House, we will get on with the job of delivering an education revolution, as parents want to see it after 12 long years of neglect. Over there they are opposed to My School, opposed to Building the Education Revolution, opposed to Computers in Schools, opposed to lifting teacher quality, opposed to literacy and numeracy, opposed to more money for disadvantaged schools—actually, opposed to everything parents want in this country for their children’s education.