❓ Mr Day questions the abolition of the Director, Early Childhood Education position following a report on government schools. Mr Carpenter responds, clarifying the report's authorship and rationale for restructuring, emphasizing a focus on teaching and learning and assuring continued attention to early childhood education.
AnsweredQoN 309Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, DIRECTOR 309. Mr DAY to the Minister for Education: I refer to the Australian Labor Party’s policy statement “investing in our children”, which states - Education patterns are established early and the first few years of education are now recognised as critical to putting children on the right path to achievement. That reflects entirely the Liberal Party’s views. Why, under the “Investing in Government Schools: Putting Children First” report, written by now Deputy Director General of Education, Ed Harken, has the position of Director, Early Childhood Education, been abolished, leaving no specific focus for this crucial area of education? Mr CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question. It is a good question. I expected to get a question on this matter last week, because it is an issue that deserves attention. First, I will correct an assertion made by the member for Darling Range. The report was not written by Mr Ed Harken; it was written by a team of people headed by Professor Alan Robson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. Mr Harken was a member of the team, which included some of the best educators in Western Australia. Honestly, apart from the Opposition’s shadow Minister for Education, I have not heard anybody make a harsh or critical comment about that report. Everybody has said that it is one of the best reports on education that has been produced. Those people involved deserve some credit. I shall now specifically address the member’s question. I know the member has not read the report. That is reasonable. I do not expect him to have read it. Mr Day: I have read bits of it. Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, DIRECTOR
I refer to the Australian Labor Party’s policy statement “investing in our children”, which states - Education patterns are established early and the first few years of education are now recognised as critical to putting children on the right path to achievement. That reflects entirely the Liberal Party’s views. Why, under the “Investing in Government Schools: Putting Children First” report, written by now Deputy Director General of Education, Ed Harken, has the position of Director, Early Childhood Education, been abolished, leaving no specific focus for this crucial area of education? Mr CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. It is a good question. I expected to get a question on this matter last week, because it is an issue that deserves attention. First, I will correct an assertion made by the member for Darling Range. The report was not written by Mr Ed Harken; it was written by a team of people headed by Professor Alan Robson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. Mr Harken was a member of the team, which included some of the best educators in Western Australia. Honestly, apart from the Opposition’s shadow Minister for Education, I have not heard anybody make a harsh or critical comment about that report. Everybody has said that it is one of the best reports on education that has been produced. Those people involved deserve some credit. I shall now specifically address the member’s question. I know the member has not read the report. That is reasonable. I do not expect him to have read it. Mr Day: I have read bits of it. Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
Mr CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. It is a good question. I expected to get a question on this matter last week, because it is an issue that deserves attention. First, I will correct an assertion made by the member for Darling Range. The report was not written by Mr Ed Harken; it was written by a team of people headed by Professor Alan Robson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. Mr Harken was a member of the team, which included some of the best educators in Western Australia. Honestly, apart from the Opposition’s shadow Minister for Education, I have not heard anybody make a harsh or critical comment about that report. Everybody has said that it is one of the best reports on education that has been produced. Those people involved deserve some credit. I shall now specifically address the member’s question. I know the member has not read the report. That is reasonable. I do not expect him to have read it. Mr Day: I have read bits of it. Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
I thank the member for the question. It is a good question. I expected to get a question on this matter last week, because it is an issue that deserves attention. First, I will correct an assertion made by the member for Darling Range. The report was not written by Mr Ed Harken; it was written by a team of people headed by Professor Alan Robson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. Mr Harken was a member of the team, which included some of the best educators in Western Australia. Honestly, apart from the Opposition’s shadow Minister for Education, I have not heard anybody make a harsh or critical comment about that report. Everybody has said that it is one of the best reports on education that has been produced. Those people involved deserve some credit. I shall now specifically address the member’s question. I know the member has not read the report. That is reasonable. I do not expect him to have read it. Mr Day: I have read bits of it. Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
I shall now specifically address the member’s question. I know the member has not read the report. That is reasonable. I do not expect him to have read it. Mr Day: I have read bits of it. Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
Mr Day: I have read bits of it. Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, DIRECTOR
I refer to the Australian Labor Party’s policy statement “investing in our children”, which states - Education patterns are established early and the first few years of education are now recognised as critical to putting children on the right path to achievement. That reflects entirely the Liberal Party’s views. Why, under the “Investing in Government Schools: Putting Children First” report, written by now Deputy Director General of Education, Ed Harken, has the position of Director, Early Childhood Education, been abolished, leaving no specific focus for this crucial area of education? Mr CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. It is a good question. I expected to get a question on this matter last week, because it is an issue that deserves attention. First, I will correct an assertion made by the member for Darling Range. The report was not written by Mr Ed Harken; it was written by a team of people headed by Professor Alan Robson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. Mr Harken was a member of the team, which included some of the best educators in Western Australia. Honestly, apart from the Opposition’s shadow Minister for Education, I have not heard anybody make a harsh or critical comment about that report. Everybody has said that it is one of the best reports on education that has been produced. Those people involved deserve some credit. I shall now specifically address the member’s question. I know the member has not read the report. That is reasonable. I do not expect him to have read it. Mr Day: I have read bits of it. Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
Mr CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. It is a good question. I expected to get a question on this matter last week, because it is an issue that deserves attention. First, I will correct an assertion made by the member for Darling Range. The report was not written by Mr Ed Harken; it was written by a team of people headed by Professor Alan Robson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. Mr Harken was a member of the team, which included some of the best educators in Western Australia. Honestly, apart from the Opposition’s shadow Minister for Education, I have not heard anybody make a harsh or critical comment about that report. Everybody has said that it is one of the best reports on education that has been produced. Those people involved deserve some credit. I shall now specifically address the member’s question. I know the member has not read the report. That is reasonable. I do not expect him to have read it. Mr Day: I have read bits of it. Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
I thank the member for the question. It is a good question. I expected to get a question on this matter last week, because it is an issue that deserves attention. First, I will correct an assertion made by the member for Darling Range. The report was not written by Mr Ed Harken; it was written by a team of people headed by Professor Alan Robson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. Mr Harken was a member of the team, which included some of the best educators in Western Australia. Honestly, apart from the Opposition’s shadow Minister for Education, I have not heard anybody make a harsh or critical comment about that report. Everybody has said that it is one of the best reports on education that has been produced. Those people involved deserve some credit. I shall now specifically address the member’s question. I know the member has not read the report. That is reasonable. I do not expect him to have read it. Mr Day: I have read bits of it. Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
I shall now specifically address the member’s question. I know the member has not read the report. That is reasonable. I do not expect him to have read it. Mr Day: I have read bits of it. Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
Mr Day: I have read bits of it. Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
Mr CARPENTER: The member may have read finding 4 on page 34 of the report, which states - The Department of Education’s central office structures do not have a clear focus on teaching and learning Finding 5 states - The Department of Education’s services and policies lack cohesion and are confusing to schools Finding 6 states - There are limited opportunities for districts and schools to influence central decision making Finding 7 states - Funding and staffing allocations to schools and districts do not recognise sufficiently the diversity of student needs. In other words, there were many internal structural problems in the department that needed to be addressed. It was the view of those who undertook the review that it was no longer appropriate to segment education in Western Australia into small, encapsulated blocks because the ability to cross-reference with each other and to get the maximum benefit from human expertise had been lost. As a result of the review and to get the best outcome for our resource dollars, many of those internal structures were abolished so that a clear and unequivocal emphasis could be placed on teaching and learning, rather than on bureaucracy and bureaucratic structures. A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
A structure will be developed for early education based on the phases of schooling. The early childhood education phase will utilise staff members from the previous early childhood directorate and staff with relevant expertise in curriculum who were previously spread across various silos in the bureaucracy - Aboriginal education, human resources and corporate services. No staff will be made redundant as a result of the restructure. I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
I could talk at great length about this issue. We had to assess whether we were getting the best return for the resources available to education. No implicit or explicit criticism was made of individuals who carried out functions previously; in fact, many of them were part of the review. However, it was time to assess the application of resources in education. The report found that we could do things better. There will be no diminution in the attention paid to early childhood education. In fact, the first thing I did as education minister was announce the application of more resources to literacy and numeracy for children in the early years of education. I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
I assure the member who asked the question through the shadow Minister for Education that there will be no weakening of the emphasis on early education. While I am on my feet, I would like to pay a compliment to that member in the upper House, Hon Barbara Scott. The reason that she is interested in this issue is that the focus on early childhood education under the previous Government was largely as a result of her very good work in that area. She and the team she lead provided the impetus for many significant and important reforms in education in Western Australia. However, times move on. All departments and bureaucracies tend to ossify over time and the value of each section of those departments must be continually reassessed. That is what the Government has done and I am confident that we will get a better result for our effort.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.