Education

The Greens (WA) are committed to education that is accessible to all people regardless of socio-economic and cultural background, religious belief or physical, intellectual or sensory disability. Education empowers people to live purposeful, satisfying lives and to participate fully as citizens.

Education is a principal building block of civil society. The government is the primary education provider at all levels. While parents retain the right to choose and pay for different educational avenues, government funds should be directed primarily to the government school system to ensure it can offer wide choices and quality education for all. Choice within the government school system should expand, in outcomes as well as teaching methods.

The present system is at risk of failing. Teacher morale is low; this is compounded by the bureaucracy and the divided responsibilities for funding and policy between federal and state governments.

Goals

The Greens (WA) want:

• every child in Western Australia to have access at least two years of public pre-school education
• a world class public school system
• free university education for Australian citizens, permanent residents and refugees
• a free, well-funded TAFE system
• teachers’ and other educators’ salaries restored to a level that recognises the importance of the work that they do and encourages committed and capable people into the teaching profession
• the protection of the TAFE system from competition policy
• improved access to comprehensive tertiary education for rural and remote communities
• adult community education that is accessible to all

Initiatives

Pre-Primary, Primary and Secondary Education

The Greens (WA) will initiate and support legislation and actions that:
Funding

• fund the public education and training system to a level where it can provide excellence and equity in education
• provide real growth in capital expenditure, maintenance and equipment in government schools
• abolish school fees and charges to parents of children in government schools
• end all government funding of the wealthiest private schools
• reduce government funding to other private schools in order to redress the funding trends of recent years
• provide funding to promote diversity of education within the public school system
• allow funding for independent schools using an alternative pedagogy and curriculum delivery method
• improve remuneration, status, professional development and career structure for teachers in government schools to levels similar to those of comparable professions
• prohibit the use of commercial advertising and sponsorship in schools

Management

• allow school communities to respond to local needs in education
• reduce class sizes in all government schools to best practice levels
• where need has been identified, provide crèches at High Schools for students who have children
• support programs that aim to engage parents in the schooling of children

Social Equity and Environmental Sustainability

• provide flexibility within the government system to offer educational choices that are a genuine alternative to the teaching methods of the traditional government school system
• allow students who have been brought up in communities where standard English is not the first language to sit TEE English for ESL (English as a Second Language) without the current restrictions
• enable parents to educate their children at home or in other settings, provided they demonstrate a commitment and ability to ensure balanced education and socialisation for their children
• include education for environmental and social responsibility as an integral part of the pre-primary, primary and secondary curriculum
• provide incentives and support for schools to reduce consumption and waste, implement energy efficiency measures, and use renewable energy sources
• provide frequent and convenient public transport links to every school
• encourage parents and children to travel to and from school by sustainable means
• encourage and resource participation by students at age-appropriate levels in planning and decision making within educational institutions
• ensure provision of equitable schooling for country children near their communities
• promote adult literacy and numeracy education programs
• promote the use of the Australian Early Development Index to enable objective assessment of the needs of communities for services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, paediatrics, social work and psychology

Aboriginal Education

• ensure that all teachers receive pre-service cultural awareness training about Aboriginal cultures and the challenges faced by Aboriginal students, particularly by the stolen generation and Aboriginal people who have been deprived of their culture, language and connections to their land
• provide local Aboriginal teaching assistants in proportion to the number of Aboriginal children enrolled, particularly in Years 1 and 2
• integrate Aboriginal Studies at a cross-curricular level into the Western Australian school curriculum and ensure that it is taught widely

Technical and Further Education (TAFE)
The Greens (WA) will initiate and support legislation and actions that:

• ensure that TAFE is funded and resourced to provide for the vocational education and training needs of all Western Australians
• improve remuneration, status and career structures so that committed and experienced people with appropriate industry experience are attracted to careers in vocational education
• provide adequate community input through independent advisory bodies to Government on training issues
• offer real incentives for the business community to expand Apprentice and Trainee Training programs and discourage employers from importing labour via temporary work visas
• subsidise travel to TAFE colleges for country students

Environmental Sustainability

• provide incentives and support for TAFE centres to reduce consumption and waste, implement energy efficiency measures, and use renewable energy sources
• provide frequent and convenient public transport links to every TAFE centre, with particular attention for services to and from evening classes

Universities

The Greens (WA) will initiate and support legislation and actions that:

Funding

• abolish up-front fee paying places for all Australian undergraduate and postgraduate students
• abolish the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP)¹ and forgive all outstanding HELP debt
• lower the age of independence for student income support eligibility from 25 to 18 and increase the rate of financial assistance payments to at least the Henderson Poverty Line²
• increase funding to public tertiary education, and repeal legislation allowing private universities to receive government funding
• fund public universities at the level required to provide quality in research, teaching and opportunities for learning
• improve remuneration, job security and career structures for academic and non-academic staff in recognition of the long-term commitment and support that research and best practice teaching require
• provide incentives and support for universities to reduce consumption and waste, implement energy efficiency measures, and use renewable energy sources

General

• re-establish universities as places of independent learning and research, where the needs of all Western Australian tertiary students are met, and where the values of scholarship and service to the public are paramount
• support the independence of Western Australian universities
• provide long-term funding for specialist research and teaching centres and in international relations, peace, development and environmental specialties
• provide frequent and convenient public transport links to every university, with particular attention for services that synchronise with library late night opening hours

Adult Community Education

The Greens (WA) will initiate and support legislation and actions that:

• promote individual and community development through learning
• support a diverse range of structured educational activities organised by local communities generally in response to the interests and requests of people in the community
• fund adult community education programs and facilities that foster a culture of lifelong learning
• increase the diversity of adult community education providers

Glossary
1. HELP - formerly known as the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS)
2. Henderson Poverty Line - a measure originally pegged to the minimum wage as people below that line were considered to be poor. Today the poverty line is measured as a percentage of "household disposable income per capita". This changes over time, and the poverty line moves with it.