Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak tonight on the pleasure of visiting many Building the Education Revolution projects throughout the state of New South Wales—in particular, those in rural and regional New South Wales. I want to report to the Senate on the difference that this important program is making to the performance of students in rural and regional New South Wales and also on the facilities available for teachers to provide a first-class education for students.

One of the hallmarks of this Labor government is the delivery of better services, in particular better educational services. In all respects from tertiary education right down to infants education, it has been a priority of the Gillard Labor government to invest in better education whether it be increasing funding for universities throughout the country, removing the cap on the number of places available for particular subjects at university or increasing the amount of capital funding for schools through the Building the Education Revolution. It could be implementing a national curriculum throughout schools in the country or providing greater information and transparency for parents and community members through the MySchool website and, of course, most recently there is the government's proposal to increase school funding and performance through the Gonski reforms. But I focus tonight on the Building the Education Revolution. This is a $16 billion program to improve capital and service delivery for students throughout the country. The program includes building new school halls, new libraries, science and computer laboratories and building cultural and sporting facilities to make our schools a better place in which to learn.

A little over a week ago I had the pleasure of visiting Brewarrina Central School, in the Barwon region in the north-west of New South Wales, where I had the great fortune to meet about 200 students from kindergarten to year 12 at that wonderful school. I was there to open their new multipurpose hall and refurbished classrooms with an estimated improvement value for the school of about $1.6 million. This is a very important educational institution for that area. Ninety-seven per cent of the students at the school are from an Indigenous background and identify as Aboriginal. The school runs several very innovative and important programs which address issues such as attendance, behaviour, literacy and numeracy, and retention. I had the great fortune to meet a very inspirational kindergarten teacher, by the name of Missy Nichols, who had developed off her own bat a new method of teaching English literacy to young Indigenous kids in kindergarten and year 1. Importantly, that new method of teaching involves a connection with Indigenous heritage and culture as a way of teaching English to young kids and she explained to me that process. I had the opportunity of sitting in the classroom to note those innovative approaches and witness firsthand the difference that it is all making to the lives of these kids. She uses elders, cousins and family and cultural structures to teach vowels and consonants in their language and to put together the connections that are so important to teaching English in society. But at the same time she is also teaching Indigenous heritage. I was surprised to learn that it is now the kids of these Indigenous families that are sometimes teaching their parents about their Indigenous language and culture through these programs at school because when their parents went to school they never had the opportunity to partake in education regarding their Indigenous heritage and language.

A day later I travelled to Narromine High School to open a new trade training centre, a $1.5 million investment by the Gillard government in vocational education and skills training in an important region of New South Wales. I witnessed firsthand students using their brilliant new industry standard metalworking facilities and new kitchen and hospitality facilities to learn. I spoke at length with the school's principal, Angela O'Callaghan, about the value of the project for her school and what it would mean for students in the coming years. She recognised the importance of projects like these to keeping students at school longer and to keeping students engaged in their learning by providing relevant subjects for students to develop the skills necessary for the next steps in life.

The great educational dilemma that studies and surveys show is that the longer we keep kids at school the better their earning capacity and, ultimately, their quality of life and fulfilment. But, of course, for some kids an academic education is not their thing. So it is important that we provide kids with the opportunity to undertake vocational education and training whilst they are still at school. These facilities I have mentioned provide that opportunity, and we are doing this in important regional centres so these kids do not have to travel long distances to attend TAFE colleges and private training providers. They can begin their apprenticeship or trade whilst they are still at school. The school captains, Joshua Beahan and Maddison Thompson, were very impressive and they proudly showed me around their new facilities—an important part of their heritage because this school has produced champions like Glenn McGrath and Melinda Gainsford-Taylor. My hope is that this school will continue to produce great achievers and perhaps develop new stars of trades and academic excellence with the investment in the school's future.

These projects are part of the $16.2 billion Building the Education Revolution, an investment in our nation's future delivering modern facilities to more than 9½ thousand schools in metro and regional communities throughout Australia. It is the single biggest investment in Australian schools in our history, and our community and our students will continue to see the benefits of this program for many years to come. They include students such as those at St Joseph's at Walgett, whose school had $1.7 million invested in a new BER facility, and the Manning Valley Trade Training Centre, which received $2.9 million from the Australian government as part of the Trade Training Centres in Schools Program. Once again I was fortunate to visit that school and see firsthand what a difference this program is making in providing an ability for young children to begin their trade whilst they are still at school.

Also I recently visited Boggabri Public School, which received $1.5 million for a new multipurpose hall, and the Cranbrook School, in the north of Sydney, which received over $2.5 million for a new gymnasium. Taking electorates on the north coast: Raymond Terrace Public School received $2.5 million in classroom facilities and upgraded student amenities; and Lithgow High School, to the west, recently received around $3.2 million in funding for the completion of the Eastern Tablelands Trade Training Centre. This facility is a very impressive one and provides two construction workshops, an engineering workshop, a commercial kitchen, three storage areas and a theory room. There is also the refurbishment of four existing facilities to include two commercial kitchens and two construction workshops.

I also visited the Maclean High School, where there has been a new construction trade training centre built, again off the back of funding through this program. These programs are really important for educational attainment and achievement in rural and regional New South Wales. They provide a pathway for kids, either to academia through the school system or into a trade through vocational education and training. I am really proud to be part of a government that is investing in better education services. It is a great privilege to be a senator for New South Wales and to travel around my great state to meet the wonderful people providing educational services for our students.