Education System

Ms LUETHEN (King) (14:22): My question is to the Minister for Education. Can the minister update the house on how the Marshall Liberal government's investments and reforms in education have improved opportunities and outcomes for young South Australians?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:22): I am very pleased to answer this question. The member for King is an absolutely—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —ardent advocate for education in her area and around South Australia, as indeed is everyone in the government. When we came to government in March 2018, we had a very clear ambition for schooling and education and preschooling in South Australia: every child, every kindy or classroom, wherever they lived, to be supported to fulfil their potential. Our investment has been significant.

In public schooling, through the Department for Education alone, I can tell the house that in 2017-18 the budget for the Department for Education was $3.24 billion. The budget for this financial year is in excess of $4 billion. That is not just growth and enrolments; that is significant extra investment as a result of our national school funding reforms, which we signed in late 2018 against the opposition of those opposite, and extra investment, because of the move of year 7 to high school, which increases the per capita rate for those students—opposed by those opposite.

The number of teachers, just for example, whether an FT or headcount, has increased by over 1,000. With headcount, we have gone from 14,090 teachers to 15,339 in our public system alone. Our investment and support for students with additional needs: in addition to the $60 million-plus budget for support services, we have also increased support for children with a disability and additional needs in our schools from $206 million in 2017 to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —last year, not this year but last year even, $292 million. We expect growth to continue because the reforms that we have committed to seize that increased funding there for students who indeed need it.

Our strategies to achieve reform have meant that it's not just about investment; it's also about outcomes. Our literacy guarantee has ensured that, front and centre, a foundational building block in the early years, children being taught to read effectively, has dramatically improved. That's why in our phonics checks—the first year in 2018 that it had been rolled out in all government schools—we saw a result of 43 per cent of our year 1 students at the standard. Last year, it was up to 63 per cent. I am looking for more regular and steady growth in the years to come.

Our NAPLAN results show the most rapidly improving NAPLAN results of any state in the nation. Students for disability SACE completion saw record numbers last year, even through a pandemic, with 323 students with intellectual disability. Aboriginal students are supported by our Aboriginal Education Strategy, which has seen not just significant increases in funding in Workabout centres and in SAASTA academies but also the introduction into South Australia for the first time of Clontarf academies, now in seven locations. A couple of weeks ago, there was the launch in Whyalla of the Shooting Stars Academy for young Aboriginal women and, indeed, last year that saw results, too, with record Aboriginal SACE completion of over 400 for the first time.

There's entrepreneurial education, music strategies, language strategies, including five public schools now accredited to deliver the International Baccalaureate diplomas and significant vocational education reforms. The move of year 7s into high school is the most significant structural move within our public education system in generations. Because of that and capacity growth, supported initially by a $619 million promise from the former government, it has grown to $1.4 billion worth of investment in improving our public school infrastructure.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is warned.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: There is the rollout of the fastest internet system in the country to our public schools outside the ACT. This is a government that has invested in education, delivered reform in education and has delivered for children and young people in South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Before I call the next question, the member for Ramsay is warned and the member for Reynell is warned. The member for Wright is warned for a second time.