Question Time

SCHOOL AMALGAMATIONS

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:19): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. Is it the case that of all schools consulted about amalgamations, 38 out of the 42 have recommended against it, yet the government is still going to proceed to amalgamate them?

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Education and Child Development) (14:19): I thank the leader for this very important question. It is a very topical question because, of course, nearly two years ago the government announced its intention to go down this path in the context of, initially, a savings measure, but also, and this is very important to recall, an equity argument. The equity argument is this: something like 340 of our primary schools or thereabouts are R-7 sites; the others, about 48 or so, are junior primary/primary sites. I have had the pleasure of visiting most of those junior primary/primary sites.

We are in the middle of a statutory process. For instance, the government in 2010 announced it was going to go down this path. There was then a process required under the Education Act, so those communities had to prepare an education review report for me, and I have been considering those, and then I thought it was very valuable for me to get out to some of these sites, and it has been very valuable. I have learnt that every site is unique. I have also learnt that these schools are grappling with this question. What we are dealing with, effectively, are schools that are being funded—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: —as two but operating as one site. They have been getting an additional base grant for administration, etc., but they are effectively operating as one. Why are they doing that? Because operating as one site is in the best educational interests of our children and those school communities.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!