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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-09-19 Daily Xml
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NATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY TESTS

Mr PISONI (Unley) (14:24): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr PISONI: Why have South Australian NAPLAN results gone backwards in half of all NAPLAN categories since the first NAPLAN test in 2008?

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Education and Child Development) (14:25): Well, I simply don't accept the premise of the question, because—

Mr Pisoni: Is it wrong? Are you saying it's wrong?

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: I simply don't accept the premise of the question. What—

The Hon. J.J. Snelling: Well, you do have a history of getting it wrong.

The SPEAKER: Order, the Treasurer!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: And I reiterate that our results for this year in fact demonstrated that in 12 out of the 20 categories we stayed the same—our results are stable—or we improved. But I would like to add this, and it is a quote from Mr Gonski's report, which I think puts NAPLAN in an appropriate—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister.

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: Thank you Madam Speaker. This is what Mr Gonski says:

While the quality of a schooling system—

Mr PISONI: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mr PISONI: My question was clearly asking why we fell behind in 10 out of 20 categories—

The SPEAKER: Thank you. We know what your question was.

Mr PISONI: —since the first NAPLAN results in 2008.

The SPEAKER: Thank you.

Mr PISONI: It has nothing to do with David Gonski.

The SPEAKER: Order! Sit down. The minister can answer the question as she chooses and if she considers that that is relevant to the question then we will listen and see what she has to say.

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: This is what Mr Gonski says:

While the quality of a schooling system is often measured by outcomes and standardised assessments, things like PISA, TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) and NAPLAN, or by senior secondary school completion rates, the panel recognises that education is about much more than this. In Australia, schools aim to promote the intellectual, physical, social, emotional, moral, spiritual, aesthetic and wellbeing—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: —of young people as well as ensure the nation's ongoing economic prosperity and social cohesion. Many parents consider that, while providing outstanding education must be the key focus of schools, the ability of a school to foster these broader outcomes is also important.

We are absolutely committed to ensuring that every—

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mr WILLIAMS: Standing order 98: whilst this is all very interesting on what Professor Gonski has said, it has nothing to do with the question, which was asking for an explanation why our NAPLAN results have been going consistently backwards ever since NAPLAN was introduced.

The SPEAKER: No, I don't uphold that point of order. Minister.

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: It goes directly to the heart of what we are doing in schools. We aspire for every student in every school in our community, and let us remember that NAPLAN is a measure for—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: —the entire three sectors.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: We aspire for every student in our community to be the very best that they can be. That is why I have asked my agency months ago—

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Order! If your point of order is relevance again.

Mr WILLIAMS: Well, Madam Speaker, we are asking about outcomes that are actually happening. We are not asking about the minister's aspirations. The minister is full of aspirations—

The SPEAKER: Thank you.

Mr WILLIAMS: —but she is very short on achieving outcomes.

The SPEAKER: We don't need a speech from you, member for MacKillop. Minister, I would ask you to wind your answer up.

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI: Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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