PREMIER'S READING CHALLENGE

The Hon. P.L. WHITE (Taylor) (14:48): Will the Premier inform the house of the results of the Premier's Reading Challenge for 2007.

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:49): I want to thank the former minister for education for her question. For the fourth year in a row, the results for the reading challenge have been a fantastic success. More than 100,300 students across South Australia completed the reading challenge this year. I am advised that this is an increase of 10 per cent on the figures for 2006. So, congratulations to the minister and her department. I can advise the house that 748 schools took part, including government, Catholic and non-government schools, as well as schools for students with disabilities and Aboriginal schools. That means that 93 per cent of schools in South Australia are taking part in the challenge.

Of course, 2007 is the first gold medal year, and more than 20,800 students will receive a gold medal for successfully completing the challenge four years in a row. It has now truly become the Olympics of reading. The challenge remains popular even for students who leave the state, and this year medals will be sent to Queensland, Victoria, the Northern Territory, and further afield to Ireland, Vanuatu, Canada, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and the Philippines. There are also 200 students who are home scored or who have taken part independently because their schools did not participate who will receive awards.

The success of this initiative has far exceeded all of our expectations. In the first iteration of South Australia's Strategic Plan, the target was to have 50 per cent of schools participating in the challenge by 2006. Here we are in 2007 with more than 90 per cent of schools completing the challenge. The success of the challenge is due to a number of things. The involvement of high-profile South Australians as ambassadors for the program has been instrumental. The ambassadors are: Mark Bickley, Matt Primus, Rachel Sporn, Danielle Grant-Cross, Juliet Haslam, Aurelio Vidmar, Che Cockatoo-Collins, Rebecca Sanders, Jenny Williams, Travis Moran, Brooke Krueger-Billet, and our South Australian authors Mem Fox, Phil Cummings and Amanda Graham. These ambassadors visit schools across the state highlighting the importance of reading in their own careers, as well as simply promoting the joy and love of reading.

Above all, the ability to win medals has enormous appeal for young South Australians. For some students, winning a medal is something that they could only achieve if they were good at sport, so receiving a medal for being good at reading is an extremely positive recognition of their efforts and encouragement for the future. Of course, the efforts and commitment of the school communities is vital to the success of the challenge, and I take this opportunity of thanking them all for enthusiastically supporting this initiative—the principals, teachers, parents and, very importantly, the real heroes of the scheme, the teacher librarians.

There have been wonderful stories that have come out of the challenge. This year a student from North Haven school has broken the Reading Challenge record by reading more than 1,000 books. It is the all-time record. The previous record I think was about 400 books. I am told that some refugee families have used the challenge to help with their English skills, with both the parents and the students reading the same books. What is probably the most encouraging result this year is that 88 Aboriginal students from the APY Lands schools have completed the challenge for the first time. Overall, 2,264 Aboriginal students from state schools have completed the challenge, and we hope to build on that result in 2008.

I am delighted that in a time when electronic entertainment such as computer games, DVDs and television can take up so much of the time of our children, that such a simple initiative such as the Premier's Reading Challenge can be so successful. To maintain the momentum of the challenge three more medals have been announced. We have had a certificate, bronze and silver medals, and this year the first gold medal winners. In 2008 (next year) students can achieve the Premier's Reading Challenge champion medal, in 2009 the legend medal, and in 2010 the hall of fame medal. The 2007 certificates and medals are now being sent to schools, and I encourage all members of the house from all sides of politics to be involved in their presentation to acknowledge the achievements of our school communities.