PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: WINDSOR GARDENS VOCATIONAL COLLEGE REDEVELOPMENT

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (11:16): I move:

That the 484^th report of the committee, on the Windsor Gardens Vocational College Redevelopment, be noted.

The project proposed by the Department for Education and Child Development involves the new building of a 21^st century learning and teaching facility for middle school students and staff, and the refurbishment of some existing facilities at an estimated cost of $4.22 million excluding GST. The scope of the redevelopment is summarised as follows:

a new building combining three general learning areas and six specialist spaces for music instruction, practice, recording and performance; a teacher preparation area is also provided;

refurbishment of the canteen to accommodate the PE laboratory and a teacher preparation area;

refurbishment of technology studies to accommodate electronics;

demolition of one solid and two transportable buildings and a timber shed to make way for the new building and improved site amenity;

compaction of site facilities for improved staff and student circulation; and

improved street presence and enhancement of the college's identity.

The key drivers for the redevelopment proposal are to:

provide a state-of-the-art 21^stcentury learning and teaching facility with specialist learning areas for music that caters to increased demand for music courses;

improve the educational accommodation for the school and avoid the ongoing cost of maintenance of aged timber and DEMAC buildings; and

create an appealing street presence and facilitate greater community participation in school music concerts and events.

The project is expected to be completed by December 2014. Given this, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it recommends the proposed public works.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (11:18): The opposition members of the committee completely supported this project.

Mrs GERAGHTY (Torrens) (11:19): I want to speak briefly to the report. The Windsor Gardens Vocational College is in my electorate and I am very proud to be a supporter of the college. I am on the community liaison team and meet with the school and its staff on quite a number of occasions. It is a really good educational facility. The staff are dedicated to providing the best opportunities for the students; they are very committed.

Any building activity, particularly having over $4 million invested in the school, is a good thing because it creates a much better learning environment for the students and gives them greater opportunities. I congratulate everyone at the school. This took a little while to come to be. The only thing I am disappointed about is that, in December 2014, when all this is completed, obviously I will not be the member, but I do hope I get an invite to go along. I will be keeping in touch with the college after retirement because I have very good contacts and friends at the college.

One of my great joys was watching a young student I met when she was in primary school go all the way through to the Windsor Gardens Vocational College. She and I talked about what opportunities she might have in the future. She went on to university, and she was able to do that with the support of people at that college. Congratulations to everyone there, and well done!

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (11:21): I support this report and the redevelopment of the Windsor Gardens Vocational College but, in doing so, I reflect on what I think was a mistake made many years ago to abolish technical high schools, which nowadays we would probably call technology high schools. I think that was a very big mistake because, despite efforts in latter years to provide some technical vocational training in high schools, it has never been to the level that occurred in the old technical high schools.

I do not believe that the current focus via high schools will ever really put the technological side at the forefront. I think there is a place for creating a modern version of the technical high school. I went to Goodwood Boys; we learnt technical drawing, we learnt woodwork, metalwork, and then latterly they had plastics fabrication, all that sort of—

Mr Pengilly: What are you doing up here, Bob?

The Hon. R.B. SUCH: Well, someone above must look after me because I ended up in here. Sir Eric Neal is an ex tech high scholar; there are plenty of them around. Whilst the focus was on technical education, there was an academic stream as well. We have in our universities professors and others who went through the technical high school system. Sadly, as I said, 20-odd years ago the technical high school system was destroyed; it has never got back to where it was. I know that the technology would be different now; it would need to be a modern version, with things such as computer-assisted design and all that sort of thing.

It was one of the biggest mistakes ever made in the history of education in this state, but what is happening now at Windsor Gardens and elsewhere is a step back towards getting technical education where it should be. It should be seen as equal but different. We need to move away from the idea that people who use their hands, as well as their head, are somehow inferior to people who follow a purely academic-type stream.

I think there is scope to revitalise and lift up, if you like, the technology component in high schools. Some schools are doing a great job. I have two high schools in my area—Aberfoyle Park has a technology component, Reynella East College is very much focused on it, and they have a significant waiting list now of students who want to get in there. Metalwork has come back in popularity but, sadly, our secondary industry has suffered greatly from a whole range of factors—the high dollar and other factors—but it is important that we retain highly skilled people, whether they be in the trades area, manufacturing, whatever.

I look forward to the day when we get back to a system in education that caters more for those who want to use their hands and their head and not just those who are the minority who are heading for university.

Motion carried.