NATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY TESTS

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:34): My question is again to the Premier. Can the Premier explain why, when he was education minister, South Australia fell further behind the national average in 14 out of 20 NAPLAN categories and, now that he is Premier, we are behind in all 20 categories?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:34): The South Australian education system is one of the best education systems in the world.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It sits in about the middle of the range of one of the best education systems in the world. This is the truth about the matter. The South Australian education system produces young people who emerge from it who have the capacities to engage in the world, to dream up things like those we have just heard announced before, like ZEN Energy, the innovative thoughts which are going to be the future of this state. When we look at some of these education systems—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —that those opposite are fond of comparing South Australia with, they would do anything to be in the position of the graduates we produce from our schools, because they produce children with critical thinking skills, a capacity to understand and deal with the challenges of the modern era, all the skills and capabilities which are necessary to ensure that they have the capacity to succeed.

If you want to make a comparison about the way in which we have dealt with the education system, if you want to look at the South Australian education system, let us look at the question of retention rates. Under those opposite, 67 per cent—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, can you sit down. We will have some order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Members on my right also. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: You have to actually be at school to learn. Under those opposite, 67 per cent of young people completed their high school. It now has reached—and the minister will clarify this—88 per cent of children now complete their high schooling, a tremendous achievement. We know that the jobs that exist in the modern economy require at least 12 years of schooling. It is a cruel hoax on young people to allow them to leave school early and have them compete for that shrinking pool of employment that exists for those jobs they would be responsible for.

We have put front and centre the ambition to equip our young people so that they can participate in society, in the world, and in the economy, in a way that is successful for them. We produce South Australians who have the capacity and the skills to be successful people in the world. We are proud of our achievement. We are proud of our South Australian public school system.