Sue Lines (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I present a report of the Senate Education and Employment References Committee on matters referred to the committee during the previous parliament. I seek leave to move a motion.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

As we know, certainly from the Gonski panel, literacy and numeracy are incredibly important and are key within our education system. What we know from Gonski is that Australia's educational standards have fallen behind, particularly over the last 10 years, and that too many young people leave school and are functionally illiterate. This means that these young people are unable to compete on an equal footing for jobs that offer fulfilling and ongoing employment. They are also unable to compete on an equal footing for career based opportunities such as traineeships or apprenticeships. What we are seeing is that far too many young people are missing out. As a Western Australian senator, I know that in some of our key manufacturing areas in the Kwinana strip youth unemployment is at appallingly high levels. Some of this is due to young people leaving schools inadequately skilled, particularly in literacy and numeracy.

Falling literacy standards not only affect young people's career opportunities but also slow them down in other areas. For example, falling standards prevent young people from getting drivers licences as they are unable to sit the tests. In some communities in Western Australia additional funding has been made available so that young people can be tutored one on one to prepare them to sit for drivers licence tests. But we should ensure that our schools are well funded so young people leave school with all the skills required to be successful in life, rather than having to seek tutoring. Young people find it embarrassing to acknowledge that they do not understand a basic form or cannot read it to a sufficient level to complete it competently. From a West Australian perspective, having a driver licence is critical because most young people in my state drive to their places of employment.

In this inquiry into NAPLAN, the committee thought it was not appropriate to take on trust or assume that we are getting the best from our schools. It is sad that the government thinks that requiring schools to deliver good standards and be accountable for these good standards is centralised, Big Brother-type interference. If we are going to commit billions of taxpayer dollars to our schools then we need to ensure that schools are accountable, that teachers are the best they can be and that teachers are properly supported through access to ongoing education. Also, we as the Australian public and taxpayers want public accountability. That is what NAPLAN tests are designed to do. They test primary school students in years 3 and 5 and secondary school students in year 9. Despite criticism, it is appropriate that schools undergo some national testing as long as supports are in place—there are quality teachers, quality principals and quality systems that are well supported and funded.

We are a young nation when it comes to European settlement. We want to compete on a global stage. To do that, we need a first-class education system, whether public or private. The system should deliver what our students needs. Australian taxpayers and parents want accountability from our schools and our children to be much more than functionally literate. We want our children to succeed and their school years to be the best they can be. We want young people to have a lot of opportunity and to experience a broad range of educational and other activities through their schools. That requires us to be diligent in telling schools that performance needs to be measured. We cannot tell if we are succeeding by taking on good faith that schools are doing well.

The only other measure we have is the personal measure when children in year 12 sit their high school certificate and apply for entrance to university. That is not a real measure of the success of our schools. It is a measure of the performance of individuals against a standardised test. It is therefore appropriate for us to have national testing and it is important for us to make sure that national testing meets our needs—that it is adequate and reports in a way that is fair, while it identifies the real issues within our system. There was some criticism of the current NAPLAN testing and questions about whether it meets its objectives, but NAPLAN testing has not been in place for long. There has also been some controversy about reporting of testing on the My School website and the possibility of creating league tables. However, to the best of my knowledge that has not happened and parents appreciate having the opportunity to look at how their school measures up against other schools with similar socioeconomic factors.

Safeguards and protocols exist, but as the committee did not give many organisations and groups an opportunity to contribute to the inquiry, it is appropriate for us to continue that work. We should always be prepared to revisit this area. It is not appropriate for members of parliament and senators to say we had an inquiry into NAPLAN and so it is done and dusted. It is something we should revisit as often as necessary, and certainly every couple of years, to make sure the rigour we want in our system exists and the accountability we expect in our education system is there. But most importantly it is to make sure that our education system is delivering to our young people so that young people leave school not just functionally literate but ready and able to take on whatever it is that they see their future as, to take on fulfilling careers, to be able to sit very easily for their driver's test and pass, to be able to move in our society and to be part of a functioning society.

I certainly would recommend the report to the parliament. Our work on that committee is not finished and we are seeking the opportunity to continue that work. I will leave those comments for later.

Question agreed to.