The Advertiser’s Teen Parliament students to form advisory group for Education Minister Blair Boyer

Teen Parliament students will meet regularly with the Education Minister, who promises to give their ideas more than just ‘lip service’.

South Australian students will form an advisory group to Education Minister Blair Boyer, who will regularly meet with them and listen to their ideas to improve the future of the state.

Mr Boyer on Tuesday committed to meeting with The Advertiser’s Teen Parliament participants three times this year following the event in February.

At Teen Parliament, 30 students from around the state in years 10 to 12 took the places of politicians in the House of Assembly and advocated for their ideas to improve the future of SA.

Topics ranged from standardising the use of artificial intelligence in all South Australian classrooms, to spirited debate on nuclear power.

The Teen Parliament advisory group will share their views on education and engage with other government ministers on other topics.

Teen Parliament students, Willem Koehne, 17, Olivia Murray, 15, and Neharika Singh, 18, with Education Minister Blair Boyer. Pic. RoyVPhotography

Students who participated in this year’s event, Willem Koehne, 17, Olivia Murray, 15, and Neharika Singh, 18, were excited to be able to share their ideas with Mr Boyer.

“It’s great to be able to speak to the minister quarterly and to be taken seriously,” said Pulteney Grammar School year 12 student Willem.

Roma Mitchell Secondary School year 10 student Olivia said the opportunity was “very good considering I’m very young”.

Fellow Roma Mitchell student, year 12 Neharika Singh, was surprised when she heard Mr Boyer wanted to hear from her.

“I really want to see my proposals go to people who can actually make a change,” she said.

Mr Boyer said he wanted “to be questioned about our decision-making, no matter how uncomfortable that might be”.

“There is no point trying to teach young people about the importance of civics and then just paying lip service to their ideas,” he said.

“There is no quicker way to disenfranchise a young person than asking them a question and then ignoring their answer.

Teen Parliament kids question Education Minister Blair Boyer at Parliament House. Picture: Brett Hartwig

“As ministers, we represent the community and I want young people to know that their ideas matter and their participation is important for the future of Australia.”

The initiative comes after Mr Boyer attended an international teaching summit in Iceland last week, in which he highlighted the Teen Parliament event to representatives from countries including the United Kingdom, Singapore and Germany.

“Although it can be difficult, it is a very healthy thing for us to have this debate and natural tension,” he told the summit.

He also cited the state government’s plan to tackle waning interest in civics by introducing it into other subjects such as maths and English.

Iceland’s former education minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, who moderated the session, supported events such as Teen Parliament.

“It was such a genuinely positive response from the countries represented in the room at the conference, following my discussion about The Advertiser’s Teen Parliament,” Mr Boyer said.

Originally published as The Advertiser’s Teen Parliament students to form advisory group for Education Minister Blair Boyer