Thursday, 15 May 2025

Northern Metropolitan Region schools

Anasina GRAY-BARBERIO (Northern Metropolitan) (02:03): (1635) My adjournment this evening is for the Minister for Education, and my ask is: in the upcoming budget will you commit to prioritising public schools in the north like Moomba Park Primary School, John Fawkner College and Glenroy College? Public schools are attended by a majority of underserved students who have been experiencing years of inequitable resource distribution, chronic underfunding and neglect by successive governments that stratify a system of public schooling. Moomba Park Primary School struggles with basic maintenance, with toilets so dilapidated students refuse to go all day; it is that bad. John Fawkner College’s long overdue visual arts, STEM and food tech facilities now sit idle behind fences, unfinished and unusable because of a builder’s collapse. After years of chronic underfunding and neglect this school was finally given a glimmer of hope, only to be left in limbo once again.

This week the Age reported you have diverted $2.4 billion from state school funding and delayed Gonski education reforms by three years – reforms designed to close the widening education gap. Data indicates a $1.8 billion shortfall across 1560 public schools. Due to the significant neglect by your government, school enrolments in these areas have declined since 2014, directly impacting funding and curriculum options for the community. This contrasts starkly with the government’s prioritisation of funding for a new high-security prison and luxury upgrades for the Formula One Grand Prix.

Minister, it is clear your government needs to urgently address curriculum, capital funds and the appropriate treatment of highly skilled teachers in the public system. I urge you to reconsider your government’s marketised and selective approach to public education in Victoria, and I ask again if you will commit to prioritising public schools in the north in the upcoming budget.