Talking Point: Boost quality public education, reduce traffic and boost public transport

It’s not good enough for our education minister to say education is the most powerful driver for improving economic and social outcomes if overflowing students are sent to dilapidated schools, writes Terry Polglase.

WHAT better site could there be for a new Hobart coeducational public high school than as part of the overall development of Macquarie Point. High schools exist in many mainland cities and the space they occupy is minimal.

It is not good enough for our education minister to continue to say education is the single most powerful driver for improving economic and social outcomes if the solution to Hobart student overflow from Taroona High School in the Kingborough municipality is to redirect them to renamed co-ed New Town or Ogilvie high schools. They are on the fringe of Glenorchy and were built in 1952 and 1937. No wonder their enrolments are falling.

Compare this to MacKillop College, the Catholic high school in Mornington. Built in 1994 with an enrolment of 54 students, it now has more than 560 students. Modern architecture, wide corridors, lots of glass, excellent grounds and modern in every sense of the word. Any parent would be as impressed as I was when doing a guided tour recently. By 2023 $53m is to be spent at this school and two other Catholic schools to have students transition into Year 11 and 12, so why can’t half of this amount be found to set up what is so desperately needed for those requiring compulsory secondary schooling in Hobart?

Terry Polglase

Sir Henry Parkes, known as the founding father of free, compulsory, secular education in Australia would be bitterly disappointed and shaking his head at the situation in Hobart. Public education needs a boost and a new school in Hobart is needed. Construction would see Hobart’s public school teachers and students operating at the cutting edge of technology so often talked about by our state’s politicians and it would provide incalculable benefits that would go well beyond those enrolled. With the Regatta Ground and Domain so close there are world-class sporting and recreational areas available. The proposed transport hub, Metro buses, ferry service and northern suburbs light rail would receive daily use from students and staff to make them viable. The number of cars off the road would see traffic in the city reduced to levels we only see in school holidays.

Plenty of space and great position at Macquarie Point. Picture of The Escarpment by Chris Kidd

With the CSIRO and the Antarctic Division nearby, international standard swimming, tennis and athletics centres, football and soccer grounds, TMAG, UTAS, state library and gymnasiums all within a 15-minute walk, why would we not locate a public school here and showcase it to the world. These facilities are underused and don’t our students deserve the best?

The Hobart City Council has lent its support to the Hobart High Community group’s campaign for a new high school in the city and has stated that students accessing co-ed high schools at Taroona and Cosgrove in Glenorchy contribute to cross-town traffic and overcrowding on buses. We all want this reduced and we know children do better when they can attend a school in their own neighbourhood.

As for Macquarie Point, activity and the continual presence of people on-site is needed. A school would add life to the precinct. Fences would not be needed and any required outdoor facilities could be available to the public out of hours and on weekends as they are with many schools.

All that is needed is the political will and leadership. At half the $72m we are spending to upgrade the DEC site to support basketball, Hobart could have its own coeducational high school and retain New Town and Ogilvie as single-sex schools. There are 66 single-sex public schools in Australia and Tasmania has two of them. They should be retained.

The building of a school at Macquarie Point could have been announced as a major project to lift Tasmanian spirits and to take us out of the COVID-19 crisis. It still can.

Terry Polglase was a school principal for 16 years and Australian Education Union state president 2012 to 2015.