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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-09-16 Daily Xml
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NATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY TESTS

Mr PISONI (Unley) (14:49): Is the Premier satisfied with South Australia's NAPLAN results after 8½ years of Labor government? The Premier, when opposition leader, promised, if elected, to be the 'education premier'. South Australia has consistently ranked below the performance of New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT, and South Australian students failed to reach the national average in 19 out of 20 categories this year.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development) (14:50): This government, under Mike Rann, won't rest until we deliver the best possible educational result for every single child in this state. That is what we stand for. We stand for an education system that does not just deliver to the big end of town, it does not just look after those people in elite schools—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Norwood!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, the NAPLAN results actually cover private schools and public schools here. Our vision for education in South Australia is to deliver an education system that delivers not only for gifted students but for every student, from disabled students through to those students who want a trade, through to those students who want to go to university and those students who, of course—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That's right. Like much of the debate around the NAPLAN results, people quickly grab the headlines and the league tables and try to draw conclusions about them. The truth is that education is about much more than simply a few measurable results on particular narrow tests. The education—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, the truth is that the NAPLAN tests—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, if you want to actually understand the importance of these tests—we believe they are important, but they are, primarily, tests which are set up as diagnostic aids for parents, teachers and principals to work out where their children are at at a particular point in time.

The truth is that the top four states are ranked almost at very similar levels. There is statistically very little difference between the top four states. Where there is a very significant difference in results is where there are dramatic differences in the socioeconomic status of various communities. That is what you see across Australia.

For instance, in the Northern Territory and in Tasmania, you see dramatically different results from those in some of the higher socioeconomic areas, so care needs to be taken in the use to which these results are put. We will use these results to guide the way in which we apply resources in our schools. The strength of your education system depends on its capacity to deliver to each and every single student, not just one particular cohort of students.

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