Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the request of Senator Wright, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) the results of the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment of students' mathematical, scientific and reading literacy, published on 3 December 2013, which showed students attending provincial and remote schools were performing as much as 2 years of schooling behind students in metropolitan schools, and

(ii) the Gonski Review of Funding for Schooling also found the performance of students in rural schools is significantly below that of students in city schools, and recommended additional funding for these schools;

(b) recognises:

(i) Australian students in rural areas deserve the same educational opportunities as students in metropolitan areas,

(ii) additional Commonwealth Government funding to improve student outcomes is not guaranteed to reach the most needy rural schools under unconditional funding arrangements with state governments, and

(iii) rural students will likely continue to be disadvantaged as a result; and

(c) calls on the Commonwealth Government to negotiate agreements with all state governments which ensure rural schools receive appropriate funding, in accordance with the recommendations of the Gonski review, including loadings for remoteness or a school's limited size.

Question agreed to.