State Member for Morayfield, Mark Ryan MP has welcomed news that major reforms to Queensland’s education system will be introduced by the Queensland Government over the next five years to ensure that our kids continue to receive a flying start to their education.
The major reforms include making Year 7 part of a “junior secondary school” program from 2015.
“This move is a direct result of the government’s decision to introduce a full-time Prep Year in 2007, which added an extra year of schooling to Queensland
“This means that when local children reach Year 7, they will actually be in their eighth year of schooling, which has traditionally been the right time to start high school.
“We also raised the school starting age, which means that from 2015, more than half the students in Year 7 will turn 13 years of age.
“Again this has traditionally been the right time for young people to start high school because we believe teenagers get more from their education in a high school environment.
“As children enter their teens, they are becoming more independent and are looking for new learning challenges.
“High school provides the best environment for their social, emotional and academic development.”
The reforms have been also welcomed by many organisations and individuals including leading child psychologist, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, the Queensland Council of Parents and Citizens’ Association (QCPCA) and the Queensland Teachers Union (QTU).
“Also, with the introduction of the new Australian Curriculum, the Queensland Government is keen to ensure our Year 7 students have the same learning opportunities as their interstate counterparts.
“Queensland
“The Government’s suite of reforms includes our ground-breaking ‘earning-or-learning’ reforms, the introduction of full-time Prep, and our plans to make kindergarten available to all Queensland
“The State Government will be making significant funding contributions to the state and non-state sectors to build new classrooms, buy extra resources, support teachers and develop transition programs.”
As part of the package of support programs, the State Government will:
- provide additional funding to support Year 7 students’ travel to local secondary schools
- offer up to 500 scholarships for state primary school teachers to prepare them for teaching in Junior Secondary
- provide extra professional development programs for Junior Secondary teachers
- provide support for teachers to introduce the new Australian Curriculum from 2013
- conduct a comprehensive review of the educational needs of geographically isolated families and the services offered to them
- a cross-sectoral taskforce will be established to assess the financial implications of the move on boarding schools
- increase the Year 7 rate of the Living Away from Home Allowance to the secondary student rate
“As a Government, we believe in the capacity of educational opportunities to transform people’s lives. We believe that education is the key to helping people realise their full potential,” Mr Ryan said.
“These are ground-breaking reforms which will make a big difference in the learning of our young people.”
