Tuesday, 20 June 2023

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (21:24): (296) My adjournment is for the Minister for Education, and the action that I seek is that the minister outlines for the Victorian people what the plan is to implement a structural systematic phonics program. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, or PIRLS, is a test that is held every five years involving 57 countries. It is an assessment and research project designed to measure reading achievements at the fourth-grade level. Regrettably, the results from this study have shown that there is a decline in performance in Victorian schoolchildren, and interestingly, other states have not been affected in the same way.

Victoria was the only state to register a statistically significant decline in the reading abilities of grade 4 children. In comparison to the rest of the nation Victoria is falling behind. That means that in comparison to children in other states Victorian children are falling behind and this government is failing the next generation. Despite the record funding into education our standards continue to drop. Behind these statistics are Victorian children, and only 13 per cent of children in Victoria are now in the highest band of reading achievement. Jordana Hunter from the Grattan Institute said the state needs to get serious about teaching reading. She said:

The evidence is clear that primary school teachers should be trained in structured systematic phonics and should have the skills and resources to support children to access a wide vocabulary and background knowledge, which is essential for reading comprehension.

This is vitally important because we know that if kids are still learning to read, they are really going to struggle to read to learn. Strong literacy skills set the foundation for strong futures, and it is something we must take seriously. Multiple studies have shown that children that get off to a poor start in their reading rarely catch up, and this emphasises the fact that we need to be doing everything that we can to give Victorian children the same opportunity that other children within Australia have. Children should not be at a disadvantage just because they live in Victoria.