Penny Wright (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Kim Carr, representing the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth. The Prime Minister has announced a $1 billion national reading blitz to improve literacy for children in early primary school, pointing out that 75,000 students across all grades failed to meet minimum standards in NAPLAN tests last year and warning that, if there were no intervention, that could double by 2025. My question is: how is this funding to be rolled out and how does it relate to Gonski? Is this commitment separate from the $1 billion for 2013-14, which is all the government has indicated it will put towards the $6.5 billion needed annually to implement the Gonski review's recommendations?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister has made it very clear that the government will ask the states and territories and the non-government schools to sign up to a three-year national reading blitz as part of the National Plan for School Improvement. This is an intensive program for all students between foundation and year 3 which will help tackle falling literacy rates and prevent thousands of children from falling behind in their schooling. As part of the reading blitz we want to see schools focus on reading skills of all students, from the very first day of school, and step in with extra help and resources as early as possible. Further, as part of the reading blitz schools will also be asked to have a reading plan and adopt evidence-based strategies. The plan will include the teaching of phonics and fluency and vocabulary knowledge. It will also seek to set out how the basic building blocks of reading will be taught, diagnostics showing why students are not able to learn and of course individual reading plans for students who need intensive support.

Many schools have already begun implementing reading strategies thanks to the extra funding that has already been provided by the government under the Smarter Schools National Partnerships, including the hiring of literacy support teachers who work directly with teachers to enhance teachers' capabilities and practices and to improve student performance. We want to build upon the practical skills that are available, based on the evidence collected in schools, and help our national blitz.

Penny Wright (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I understand that it is not necessarily new money, from the answer the minister has given. The Gonski review clearly identified that there is a significant impact of disadvantage on educational outcomes, particularly in relation to literacy and numeracy. In applying the funding for the reading blitz, to what extent will the government be seeking to ensure that it is the most disadvantaged students in the most disadvantaged schools, predominately government schools, who will receive this intervention and this assistance?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are ensuring that we are able to provide the resourcing necessary to help students who are most disadvantaged in the education system. The Australian Council of Education Research has found that nationally more than 30 per cent of Australian students entering high school cannot read or write properly. We want to target support to make sure that it goes to students in the most disadvantaged of circumstances.

Penny Wright (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I wish to ask a further supplementary question. Given that the Gonski reforms are to be implemented over seven years, and in light of the clear evidence that compared to other OECD countries Australia's schooling system is characterised by a strong concentration of disadvantaged students in certain schools, predominantly government schools, and that disadvantage is directly related to the poor performance of students, will the government commit to prioritising the most disadvantaged government schools as it gradually implements the Gonski reforms over the next seven years?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government has committed to a new funding model which is able to deliver stability and certainty for every school in the system and will ensure that we are able to provide additional resources for the students most in need. That is the whole point of the reform process—to ensure that we have genuine equality within the system and that every school and every sector has the resources necessary to help students most in need.