Adjournment Debate

KANGAROO ISLAND SCHOOL

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (17:24): I just wish to bring one issue to the attention of the house. I am very proud of the public school education that I had for 11 years at Parndana Area School on Kangaroo Island. When I first came into this place, I spoke with the then minister for education, minister White, about a proposal she had to significantly reduce the classes available at that school. This is a school which had been created after World War II and which had a significant history in providing education for most of the children who lived in the centre and western end of Kangaroo Island.

She had in mind that she would rationalise some of the schools on Kangaroo Island, and she sent over the member for Reynell to conduct a review to reduce the classes at Parndana school from R-12 school—an area school—down to R-5. Obviously, as you might expect, for those who know the geography, the outrage of two hours plus in a bus every morning and two hours at night for 10 year olds to have to travel to Kingscote was seen as oppressive and the community certainly expressed that.

A report went back to the minister and there was an agreement not to pursue that option from the minister. She decided that she would not, but she would establish the Kangaroo Island School and establish three campuses: one at Parndana, one at Kingscote, one at Penneshaw. I must say that, of course, in days gone by, there have been schools at Middle River, there have been schools at Karatta, Nepean Bay and so on—there were a number of other different schools all dotted around the island when there was much less population, I might say.

There are currently about 120 students at the Parndana campus of the Kangaroo Island School. I recently wrote to the minister because I had a call from a local resident on Kangaroo Island to say, 'We are very concerned that we have received a letter saying that years 11 and 12 are going to be closed on a trial basis.' Those children on Kangaroo Island would need to come to school in the morning on their school bus, which might sit there for an hour or an hour and a half—some, I am told, leave at about 7:30 in the morning. If they want to go on to do their year 11 and 12, they then have to catch another bus at 8:30 to Kingscote, about 20 or 25 minutes away, and then do the same thing—leave half an hour earlier from school at Kingscote, go back and then catch the normal bus.

I was very disappointed to hear this and I wrote to the minister because I had sought some information about the basis upon which this decision had been made. There may be very good reason, yet to be disclosed, as to why this decision has been made. The member covering this area, the member for Finniss, is apprised of the issue and he is very interested to make sure that educational facilities are maintained on Kangaroo Island.

There are two reasons I raise this. One is, on the face of it and on the information I have received, none of the parents of the other children in the school—that is, reception to year 10—had any notice or consultation that this was going to occur, and these are the ones who have got the children coming through, until they got the notice at the end of last year at school that this was going to start in February this year.

That in itself was very concerning to me because we had—and I remember attending the meeting at Parndana with hundreds of others—I thought, got some pretty good assurances from the government representative at that stage that there would not be subsequent attempts to try to close down schools or classes without the community being consulted. So, I am hoping that eventually I will get a letter. In February, I wrote to the Minister for Education, and I am hoping that she will respond to this and provide some cogent reason as to why this is being applied.

I hope that, if the community have not been consulted, which it appears they have not—and I spoke to some more parents of other children who were there when I was home—then the government will remedy that and they will call a meeting and they will properly advise the parents. All I am asking is that, whatever decision is made about whatever education services are at their schools, wherever they are in country areas, the local people know about it, they get consulted about it, they make a contribution to what they think is a priority and it is acted on.

It is very good that the Attorney-General is here because he had some involvement as the former minister for tourism in the establishment of what I think was the Future of KI Authority (I cannot remember the full name of it now) and a document entitled 'Paradise Girt by Sea' and so on. That document highlighted a very important thing for the development of agriculture and tourism in that particular precinct of South Australia—and it applies to many other parts of South Australia.

What was made very clear in that report was the importance of continuity of education in regional areas; that is, when those children do not have the opportunity or privilege of being sent to another educational facility because their parents cannot afford it or they simply do not have the resources to do it, they have continuity of education. For example, they can continue on at that campus and do an agricultural course which is available there. They need to be fully skilled to assist in the objectives that are in these reports, and they must have the services available to do it. It is so terribly important.

I look forward to receiving the minister's response. I hope that it is not an example that is replicated around South Australia's regional areas, because if that happens and there has not been very clear consultation, then there will be much anger and it will undermine any positive approach that the government has—and I am sure it does have good intentions for some of these regions. I look forward to her response.

At 17:31 the house adjourned until Tuesday 27 March 2012 at 11:00.