Media release – Roger Jaensch, Minister for Education, Children and Youth, 8 February 2023
Every school day matters
About 60,000 students have walked through the gates at Tasmanian Government schools today.
Education, Children and Youth Minister Roger Jaensch said it was wonderful to be at Penguin District School as staff and students returned for the first day of the 2023 school year.
“The Rockliff Liberal Government has delivered its $20 million redevelopment of Penguin District School and it is wonderful to see how excited students and staff are to be in these contemporary facilities at the start of Term 1,” Minister Jaensch said.
“Education is the single most powerful driver for improving social and economic outcomes in our State and that’s why we are providing students with modern, up-to-date learning spaces to support their education and development.
“It is also crucial for students to be actively participating in learning and that is why we have launched the new Every school day matters campaign.”
The campaign highlights the importance of regular school attendance and encourages parents and carers that school is the best place for their children to be, as it will lead to bright futures.
Minister Jaensch said going to school every day helps children build their social skills, relationships and confidence.
“To everyone who started school today, welcome back! We look forward to seeing you every school day this year because every school day matters,’’ he said.
The campaign will appear on free-to-air television, digital advertisements, radio, billboards and buses over coming weeks across the state.
Media release – Josh Willie MLC, Shadow Minister for Education and Early Years, 8 February 2023
Slick advertising doesn’t cover up Liberal education shortfalls
It’s clear that our education system needs more than a shiny advertising campaign to start delivering the results Tasmanians deserve.
After yesterday’s Australian Government Productivity Commission data revealed that Tasmania has the worst student attendance rates from Years 1-10 except the Northern Territory – a figure which has been in steady decline since 2015 – the Government today launched a new campaign titled ‘Every school day matters’.
While its management of the education system has been appalling, the Government is right on one thing – every school day does matter.
Unfortunately, Tasmanian kids are being left behind under this government, with yesterday’s figures also showing our state has the lowest proportion of students at or above the minimum standard for reading and numeracy across all age groups, except the Northern Territory.
Attainment rates for Year 12 students in Tasmania are just 58 per cent – 20 per cent lower that the national average of 78.4 per cent – that figure remains the same as 2008.
The Liberals no longer talk about education attainment because it is in decline and they don’t talk about education outcomes because their performance has been poor.
Instead, they have spent a stack of dollars on slick advertising to paper over the cracks.
A future Labor Government would do the hard work and make sure our schools are supported, purposeful, safe and engaging.
That way, Tasmanian kids might even start showing up, and start receiving the education they are missing out on under this Government.
Mass Metro cancellations on back to school day
Today Metro Tasmania cancelled 78 trips across the Hobart region, cynically on the same day public schools return for term 1.
The situation at Metro is bleak, with many issues plaguing our public transport provider.
A Labor Government would be proactively working with our Metro workforce, and looking at measures used interstate, such as providing transit officers to boost driver and passenger safety, as well as provide our drivers with more support while operating their vehicles.
These are measures we see across the country, but not here in Tasmania.
Todays’ cancellations have occurred because of driver shortages, with many drivers unable to work.
Antisocial behavior, workplace culture and inadequate training are the major contributing factors to the driver shortage at Metro.
The Government and Metro management have previously claimed these route cancellations are due to illness.
However, we know that illness only accounts for a small number of driver unavailability.
The reality is that Metro drivers are at breaking point dealing with abuse, mismanagement and being overworked.
Figures revealed last year during the Government Business Enterprises scrutiny hearings highlighted that Tasmanians had lost faith in the reliability and safety of the service, with patronage down nearly 20 per cent compared to just a few years ago.
Bus operators and other staff continue to leave the organisation in record numbers.
Tasmanians depend on reliable and safe public transport to go to work, to school or to participate in the community.
Labor would work with Metro Tasmania to address the concerns of workers and passengers and provide a reliable transport option for Tasmanians, especially as the cost of living continues to rise.
The Liberals have had their go and failed. It’s in Labor’s DNA to support workers, and that’s exactly what we would do in Government.
Media release – Cassy O’Connor MP, Greens Leader, 8 February 2023
Minister Must Act on School Covid Risk
The Minister for Education needs to tell the community what his plan is to protect Tasmanian students – and the wider community – from the Covid risks resulting from today’s return to school.
The start of the new school year means 60,000 children and young people are returning to Tasmanian public school classrooms for the first time in months. Given ongoing persistence of Covid in the community, the mixing of vast numbers of young people in closely confined settings is an obvious risk for significantly increased transmission.
It’s no wonder many parents – especially parents of children who are immunocompromised or who have a disability – are concerned for the health of their children. These concerns are entirely reasonable – after all Covid is a dangerous and highly infectious virus.
We know attendance rates are already under pressure in schools. There’s undoubtedly a range of factors behind this, but clearly one of these is the recognition that schools can be a higher risk site for Covid infection.
