A 20-year overhaul of the state’s Education Act has entered its final days in the lower house with Labor and the Greens both moving amendments to greater cater for students with diverse backgrounds and needs.
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The first of two days of debate and dissection of the new 376-page act started on Tuesday.
Greens education spokeswoman Andrea Dawkins moved an amendment to prevent children from being discriminated against at school on race, gender, sexuality or disability grounds which was supported by Labor but rejected by the government.
Labor education spokeswoman Michelle O’Byrne later moved an amendment, which also failed, specific to students with disabilities, spurred by anecdotal evidence that students tended to develop and exhibit behavioural problems when they did not receive adequate support.
Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff was early on forced to defend the reform’s funding, community consultation, and ability for schools to provide an education and environment appropriate for children starting school at an earlier age.
He highlighted that the government acknowledged community distaste for a lowering of the compulsory starting age, making the voluntary starting age for prep four years and six months, and three years and six months for kindergarten.
Labor and the Greens will attempt to scuttle this provision with amendments.
Outside of an earlier start and compulsory later finish for Tasmanian students, the act’s changes would allow for dual registration in home and formal education and force parents to offer explanations for student absences for more than 20 days a year.
Franklin Labor MHA Lara Giddings criticised the government for not consulting enough with the childcare industry.
She said the millions being spent on the reform could have been directed to the childcare sector to subsidise children from low socioeconomic backgrounds and that government had instead attacked the financial stability of the industry.
Mr Rockliff said misinformation had been peddled on the ability of kindergartens to cater for young children with play-based learning in an informal environment.
He said schools would benefit from the offering of university diplomas for early childhood learning and honours for post-graduate students by the University of Tasmania from next year.
