Labor wants inquiry into Tasmanian education system

Tasmania lags the nation on key education measures. Labor leader Dean Winter wants an inquiry. The suggestion wasn’t welcomed by all.

Dean Winter reading to children at Cambridge Road Play & Learn, with MPs Luke Edmunds and Meg Brown.

Labor has called for an inquiry into the Tasmanian education system — saying the state continues to lag the nation and is failing to prepare young people for the jobs of tomorrow.

The suggestion was immediately rejected by the teachers’ union, who said another inquiry was not the answer to a system starved for funds.

Opposition leader Dean Winter said key outcomes in Tasmania were going backwards.

“Students performed worse in 2021 than they did in 2008. That tells us that there’s a serious problem,” he said.

“In Tasmania, 53 per cent of students leave school with a Year 12 or equivalent qualification, compared to 76 per cent nationally.

Mr Winter called on the Liberal government to commission an independent education inquiry

“If the government does not undertake the review, we will pursue a Parliamentary inquiry,” he said.

“Nothing is more important than an education system that supports children, educators and parents.

“I want Tasmania to be the best place to grow up, work and retire, and the building blocks for that vision starts with a quality education.”

AEU Tasmania President David Genford. Picture: Chris Kidd

Australian Education Union state secretary David Genford rejected the need for an inquiry.

“The first step to lifting learning in Tasmania is to urgently fund all public schools and colleges to the agreed minimum level – not kick the can down the road with more reviews,” he said.

“Governments agreed more than a decade ago that every school should be funded to the Schooling Resource Standard – a minimum level of funding to enable a school to educate 80 per cent of its students to minimum levels in reading and numeracy.

“Not a single Tasmanian public school is funded to the benchmark SRS, while every private school is funded at or above the standard.

“Dean Winter would best serve students by securing from his federal counterparts a fairer share of federal funding and securing a deal which delivers 100 per cent of the minimum SRS, and without any accounting tricks.”

Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson said the government was open to any ideas to improve educational outcomes.

Deputy Premier Michael Ferguson. Picture: Stephanie Dalton

“We’ll always take advice from experts and if further advice can be obtained, we’ll certainly take that on board.

“We had the chaotic system with a general belief that education finished at year 10 and the smart kids went to college.

“That was totally unacceptable for our times and for our state and we’ve been remedying those areas.

“If we can take further advice, just as we’ve done with our literacy task force to get us back to a phonics-based model and the science of reading model. I think it demonstrates that we as a government, never declare, never declare ‘mission accomplished’, we can always do better.”

Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said her party supported the proposal for an inquiry, citing heavy workloads on teachers and staff turnover and burnout as issues that needed to be addressed.