Another year, another set of terrible NAPLAN results for Tasmania, and another round of finger pointing from State and Federal governments. Tasmania deserves better.
It’s important to acknowledge teachers and other school staff are doing their best to deliver quality education to our students, under increasingly difficult circumstances. These results aren’t a reflection on them – they’re a reflection on the politicians who consistently refuse to do what it takes to improve education experiences and outcomes.
We have a federal Labor government and a state Liberal government who are both refusing to fund schools to the level that’s needed. They keep blaming each other for the problems, but neither are doing what they should be. The result is a $120 million shortfall for school funding in Tasmania this year alone.*
More money for schools isn’t the answer to every problem, and there’s much more we need to do. But without first funding our schools to the level they need, we’re never going to get anywhere on all the other areas of improvement.
Quality education is critical to give children the best start in life, to tackle inequality, and to make our society a better place. It’s time for the federal Labor and state Liberal government to finally step up, and to give our schools the funding support they need.
Tasmanian students and their schools deserve the funding they need to thrive and turn around the academic and retention results that have us languishing behind the rest of the country. The Greens will be analysing the upcoming Tasmanian budget closely, and fear significant cuts to education at a time we can least afford it.
