Box Hill electorate
Mr HAMER (Box Hill) (14:49): (6199) My constituency question is for the Minister for Education. What steps are the Andrews government taking to manage the challenges of the COVID pandemic in the school environment and ensure that schools can remain open this year? The last two years of teaching and learning have been unprecedented. Our students, parents, principals and teachers have shown amazing resilience through this time and have continued to achieve fantastic academic results. Last week Victorian schoolchildren returned to school full of hope. Whether they were just starting prep for the first time or beginning their final year of formal education, it was great to see so many smiles at the start of a school year that will hopefully progress with greater certainty and a level of normality. I acknowledge the tremendous effort in distributing more than 50 000 air purifiers and over 6 million rapid antigen tests and an allocation of 1800 school shade grants to provide students and staff with a safe learning environment from the first week back, and I look forward to the minister’s response.