Thursday, 9 June 2022

Pascoe Vale electorate schools

Ms BLANDTHORN (Pascoe Vale) (17:20): (6425) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, and the action I seek is an assurance from the minister that the Pascoe Vale Girls College will remain a girls-only school and that the government will continue to work with other local secondary schools in my community so that each of them is a school of choice for zoned families. Pascoe Vale Girls College has been a highly respected, extremely valued part of my local community since 1956. For more than 60 years it has provided unique learning opportunities for young women, including many who may be vulnerable or at a disadvantage. The college prides itself on its vision in providing students with equal opportunities to thrive in their academic outcomes and raising competent and confident world citizens.

I regularly meet women of all ages who attend or attended Pascoe Vale Girls College. Of every generation, these women speak openly, happily and indeed passionately about their time at this wonderful school. Fundamental to their experience is the environment of a girls-only school. Personally I believe that girls schools can provide a unique educational environment free from sex discrimination, where every girl is supported and assisted to happily achieve their full potential in whatever endeavour they pursue. But of course there are research reports and expert opinions which suggest both that single-sex schools are better for girls and that co-educational schools are better for girls. The reality is that neither option is for everyone, but they are options, and a state girls school should remain an option in the northern suburbs of Melbourne just as it remains an option in the city and on the eastern side of town. Indeed, remove this option and there is the very real possibility that some girls will be denied access to secondary education altogether.

It is clear to me, at least in part, that the community campaign to make Pascoe Vale Girls College co-educational is really about some families not wanting their children to go to John Fawkner College or Glenroy College. Some people effectively want the local co-educational school boundaries to be redrawn. John Fawkner College is not in the electorate of Pascoe Vale, so I do not know it well. I have, however, built a strong relationship with Glenroy College, and I have come to know the teachers, the support staff and so many students as hardworking, passionate, caring and absolutely committed, despite many challenges, to good student outcomes. Indeed the Premier and the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education have joined me on several occasions at the school, not least in relation to the $9.2 million upgrade of the school.

Notwithstanding the investment in facilities and programs at Glenroy College, there is always more that can be done. As such I would be pleased if the minister would ask his department to consult with the respective communities zoned to Glenroy College and John Fawkner College regarding these individual schools to ensure that they can eliminate any false perceptions, address any legitimate concerns and better meet community expectations. And I ask the minister to rule out the possibility that Pascoe Vale Girls College will be made co-educational. It is not the answer to the concerns being raised. It would only create greater angst and uncertainty in our community in relation to not only the loss of a state girls school as an option for families in the north but also the consequential effect it would have on the boundaries for the surrounding co-educational schools, including Strathmore Secondary College and Coburg High School.