Schools with Internet Fibre Technology Program

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (14:55): My question is the Minister for Education. Can the minister please update the house on action the government is taking to ensure all South Australian students have access to a world-class education system?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:55): I am very pleased to have this question from the member for Narungga. The member for Narungga cares passionately about schools in his area and the futures of the young people in his area. I know this because he speaks to me about it very regularly.

He will be very pleased, as will indeed students, families and schools in his area, to learn that the Yorketown Area School is in fact having its new fibre optic internet connection done this very week and next week will be joined by the Port Broughton Area School and the Mallala Primary School—potentially too late for this year, but next year they will have access to the fastest internet in the country along with so many of our other schools. This year we have gone from the slowest internet in the mainland for our school system to, indeed, being well on the way to being the fastest.

There are 329 sites already connected. This is a project we announced in the member for Morphett's electorate at Glenelg Primary School just at the end of last year, and it is already 61 per cent complete—a wonderful $80 million partnership with Telstra to deliver the best internet infrastructure for our schools, which is a critical part of the school infrastructure that is needed, with 150,000 students and 17,000 educators already benefiting from this.

But it is, of course, not just the internet infrastructure, the capacity of the internet, which is so important for the 21^st century: we also need our learning areas to be appropriate for the 21^st century. This government has record investment in school buildings and infrastructure, with $1.3 billion on the books, $185 million in new announcements this year, partly to deal with year 7 moving to high school, partly to deal with the significant capacity crunch hitting our public school system.

For the last five years we have had that big bubble coming into our public school system. It is about to hit our high schools. The former government did all too little about it, and inadequate preparation has left us in a difficulty, but the investments being made by this government will benefit schools, communities and students. Three new schools in Whyalla, in the northern suburbs of Adelaide and in the southern suburbs of Adelaide to meet that population demand—

The Hon. Z.L. Bettison interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Ramsay!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —and, of course, to address the long overdue demand for improved educational facilities in Whyalla. Of course, that also goes hand in hand—

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Badcoe!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: — with working with our partners in the non-government school sector, who, for the first time in the last two years, have benefited from investments in their capital by the state government, like every other state, like the investments in other states have been for a number of years, and so far we have had $11 million in investments in each of our first two years that will benefit students who are learning in those partner institutions.

This is matched by record recurrent investment in our public school system, record investment in the ongoing funding of our schools. The National School Reform Agreement in fact required the state government to invest an extra $700 million in our public schools over the next decade to unlock the increased commonwealth funds that will also support our schools to meet the incredibly ambitious targets we have for school improvements in our schools so that all our schools can deliver all our students a world-class education. That means every student, that means every classroom, that means every school in every town and in Adelaide right across South Australia.

How we spend that money is critically important. Last week, we talked about the year 1 phonics check and the dramatic improvement we have already seen in just one year in how we are rolling out phonics instruction in our classrooms and interventions for those students identified by the check as needing extra support. The Aboriginal Education Strategy, the language strategy, the Music Education Strategy, our five entrepreneurial schools that started their work this year, the incredible reforms to vocational education announced recently and, importantly, a complete rehabilitation of TAFE SA, which was left to rack and ruin by those opposite and this year was reaccredited for seven years, the highest reaccreditation that ASQA can do.

We are doing the work that it takes to deliver our students a world-class education, and this government is turning it around for the kids of South Australia.