House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-06-26 Daily Xml

Contents

NATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY TESTS

Mr PISONI (Unley) (16:19): Supplementary, if I may, Madam Speaker: why then do South Australian schools have NAPLAN results below the national average in every category?

The SPEAKER: That is a question, not a supplementary. Minister.

An honourable member: I think you just answered that.

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Education and Child Development) (16:20): I am happy to answer it again. The fact is that NAPLAN testing is simply one of the tools in the toolkit. It seeks to highlight literacy and numeracy in our community.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: I have made very clear to my agency that literacy and numeracy is a priority for us. I made it clear in this place that I was disappointed with our results. However, the fact that this government has brought together our child protection, our health services and our education services into the one agency in October last year places us in the strongest ever position and we will be to ensure that—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: —by the time our kids get to school they are in the strongest possible place, ready to be engaged in learning. We know from all the research—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: Yes, we are still waiting to be not interrupted.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: South Australia is a leader when it comes to early childhood and we know that, if we want our kids to do well in the NAPLAN test and all sorts of other testing, by the time we get them into our formal system they need to be ready to learn, and that is why this agency gives us the biggest lever we have ever had as a government.