Ms ADDISON (Wendouree) (17:11): It is always an absolute pleasure to follow the member for Tarneit, who makes such wonderful contributions. Like me, she is a mother of two children who has been battling with remote learning, so we have a greater appreciation for teachers and education than we ever did before.

I too am delighted to be able to make a contribution today to the Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2020, which covers the area of education, particularly the employment powers of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) and the technical amendments arising from the changes to the Children’s Services Act 1996 regarding, as the member for Tarneit has just explained, the qualifications of early childhood teaching staff in this very, very important field of early education.

As a former schoolteacher for over a decade, education is an area that I have great interest in. Education has the power to transform lives, and that is why we are investing to make Victoria the Education State. From three-year-old kinder to funding for new schools and upgrades to schools to free TAFE, we are putting our money where our mouth is and we are living our values, the values of Labor people and the Labor Party.

There can be no doubt that the Andrews Labor government has a great regard—the highest regard—for kinder. I again wish to acknowledge our amazing kindergarten teachers who work across the Wendouree electorate and across the whole of Victoria. They are such amazing people who have such a huge influence and impact on our earliest learners.

The introduction of universal three-year-old kinder across Victoria is a game changer, and I am so thrilled that in 2021 we are rolling out more free three-year-old kinder to 15 regional areas. This is going to be great news for families who live in regional Victoria. It is also great for jobs because the rollout of three-year-old kinder is actually going to create 6000 new childhood jobs, including approximately 4000 bachelor-qualified teachers and 2000 VET-qualified educators. This is really, really significant—6000 new jobs—and who benefits? The whole community benefits —our TAFE system benefits, our children benefit, our future generations benefit—because we know that early education, putting the foundations in at an early age, pays dividends, right?

The value of education and the benefits of having a highly educated society are well known. It makes us stronger, it makes us more tolerant, it makes us more accepting and we also have a better understanding of how the world works.

How our children are learning is changing because we live in a world of technology, of rapid change, of science, and we need to make sure that our kids have access to the very, very best education. That is why we are building the Education State—to ensure that every Victorian student has not only excellent access to high-quality teaching and a high-quality curriculum but also the excellent facilities to match what is going on in the classroom in terms of the teaching and learning.

We are so fortunate not only to have the Deputy Premier as one of our colleagues but for him to be the Minister for Education. It once again illustrates how the Andrews Labor government holds education in the highest possible regard. We have seen such strong advocacy and record investment in new schools, transformative upgrades and redevelopments as well as record spending on our school maintenance programs.

Two weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of attending Delacombe Primary School, which had just finished the concrete pour for a new competition-grade, $6.5 million community gym. Forty-four concrete trucks were required for the amazing foundations of this great infrastructure spend that we are putting into Delacombe.

What is terrific is that when I was there I was talking to some of the contractors who were on site—some of them had actually been to Delacombe Primary School and now they are building the gym. Some of them are parents of kids that go to Delacombe Primary School. So this $6.5 million that we are investing into Delacombe Primary for a community asset is also providing jobs for kids who went to Delacombe Primary and parents of kids who go to Delacombe Primary, and that is what it is about. That is a $6.5 million boost to the Ballarat economy, and we need it. As everyone is doing it tough at the moment, the more money that we can be injecting into the economy, the better the outcomes for the whole community.

It was also great to join with my very good friend and a member for Western Victoria the Honourable Jaala Pulford at Miners Rest the other day. We are putting $17.1 million into the redevelopment of Miners Rest Primary School: 10 new classrooms, new art rooms, music rooms, food tech facilities, a new entrance and staff facilities. This is great news for the Miners Rest community, and the Andrews Labor government is delivering it.

Just yesterday I was at Urquhart Park Primary School, which is a fantastic primary school in Newington in central Ballarat. We have just completed a $1.5 million year 4 centre. The project involved the replacement of an old building containing asbestos. We replaced that building with a new, architecturally designed permanent modular building. Also included in the scope of the project and the landscaping was a Japanese-inspired garden. The kids learn Japanese at Urquhart Park Primary School, and the wonderful Japanese teacher said, ‘If we’re going to do this, why don’t we actually bring the Japanese culture into this project?’. We were very happy to work with the Victorian School Building Authority to make that happen as well. So ‘Arigatō, sensei’ to our wonderful Japanese teacher at Urquhart Park Primary School.

It seems like forever ago, but just on 30 January it was an absolute honour and privilege to join the Minister for Education for the opening of Lucas Primary School. There was $18 million invested in the new Lucas Primary School, and on that beautiful warm morning with all those happy little preppy faces, who would have known what 2020 had to offer? But they are just four examples of how the Andrews Labor government is supporting education in Ballarat and, just as importantly, supporting jobs and supporting our local economy.

Let us get back to what this bill is about. It is about making sure that, as I have explained, kinder teacher qualifications are recognised but also looking at the role of the VCAA and making sure that the VCAA is in the best position to make sure that our 60 000 VCE students have their exam supervision done, have their marking done and have their data collected. What we are doing with this legislation, with this amendment bill, is making sure that they have the ability to employ 4000 people to get our wonderful VCE students their results and their exams completed, which is really good.

I just want to give a bit of a shout-out to some of the people in my community and most importantly our students. My heart really does go out to our VCE students across the electorate of Wendouree who have experienced many challenges, great uncertainty and significant disruption this year due to COVID.

I really want to say well done to all the students at Ballarat High School, Mount Rowan, Loreto College, St Patrick’s College, Ballarat Clarendon College and Ballarat Grammar. I am very pleased to see the member for Buninyong in the chamber as well while I give this speech, because a number of students who live in Wendouree also go to schools in her electorate. To the Wendouree students who go to Woodmans Hill Secondary College, Phoenix P–12 Community College, Ballarat Christian College and Damascus College, I wish you all the best for your exams.

COVID has impacted not only on teaching and learning but on the many important events that contribute to year 12 being such a special and memorable year, where lifelong friendships are often forged through the highs and lows of VCE. School musicals, sporting competitions, swimming carnivals, camps and trips, charity fundraisers and fairs, house activities, community service, school dances and leadership opportunities have all been cancelled, and the cancellation of these events has been devastating for many students who have looked forward to these events as circuit-breakers to the long hours of homework and study.

But despite these challenges and tests of their character, we have seen many students become more independent in their learning. They have developed greater resilience and through adversity have come out stronger.

However, I would also like to take a moment to think about those students who are doing it incredibly hard, whose mental health has really suffered this year, and my thoughts are with you. I hope that you are getting the support that you need, and I thank all our mental health clinicians across Ballarat who are supporting you. Please get help.

I commend this bill to the house.

 

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