Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Education system

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (19:04): (1779) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll. The action that I am seeking is that the minister provide an update on the results from this year’s NAPLAN tests. Victorian students have achieved their strongest NAPLAN results ever, a significant achievement by all Victorian students, teachers, school support staff and of course their families. What is more, the results this year for Victoria also put us at the very top of the leaderboard nationally – so Victoria’s best results ever, and the best results in the nation. This is what 11 years of investing in the Education State looks like.

I spoke this morning in a members statement about the four new schools that we are building right now – which will open for term 1 next year – just in the City of Casey alone. We are making the investments in new schools, in upgraded schools and crucially also in the supports for teachers and the supports for schools, in reforming things such as phonics education. Seeing these results come through as an early indication of that is very, very exciting indeed.

We have seen some terrific results. For example, let us take numeracy. Victoria now has the lowest or equal lowest rate of students needing additional support in all year levels. In spelling we have achieved the best result for year 3 students of any state or territory, with strong results in all years. Thanks to our hardworking teachers and school support staff, the 2025 results show that fewer students are needing additional support, with fewer students in the bottom band than in 2024 in 16 out of 20 measures. These are very strong results.

I was particularly curious to see last night in this place an adjournment by one of my colleagues in the south-east, Mrs Hermans. Now, it is not quite as sporting to enter into this when they are not in the room. Perhaps she is off doing her homework tonight, because after doing an adjournment to the education minister last night attacking the NAPLAN results, I am sure she was quite surprised to see the results for this year come out this morning – I am not sure; she may or may not have been aware that they were coming out today – to show Victoria’s strongest ever NAPLAN results. Whilst Victorian students are going into their classrooms with the support of their wonderful schools and switching their brains on, I am not sure we can say the same thing for our good colleagues in the Victorian Liberal Party in this place.