5AA

E&OE TRANSCRIPT 5AA Adelaide Mornings with Leon Byner Date 02/07/2014 Time 10:22AM SUBJECT/S: Funding for Direct Instruction, student literacy, school funding LEON BYNER: Okay, let’s talk to the Federal Education Minister, Christopher Pyne. It’s reported today in The Australian that a controversial literacy programme trialled in Aboriginal communities on Cape York Peninsula, is set to be adopted nationally. And this is to have phonic-based teaching reintroduced into classrooms. Let’s talk with the Federal Minister, Chris Pyne. Chris, good morning, tell us why you want to do this. CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, good morning, Leon. I wouldn’t describe it as controversial at all. What we announced yesterday is that Direct Instruction methods of teaching which are phonics-based, and based on the ability of each individual student, which have been trialled in Cape York and remote schools, will be widened to many other remote schools in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia because they’ve been found to be extremely effective. To put this in perspective, one in five children in remote locations will have reading skills below the national average in year three compared to one in 25 in metropolitan Australia. Now, that is a national scandal, not one that I’m prepared to tolerate and as Education Minister, I am acting to do what I know is good for remote children, which is to have a phonics-based reading strategy in order to give them the healthy education start that they need. I also would like to see that widened across Australia to all disadvantaged children across the country who are struggling with their reading because phonics – the jury is in on phonics. It is the best method to teach children in primary school and early childhood how to read. LEON BYNER: Then why haven’t we been adopting it? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well, that’s a good question to put to the state education ministers and the departments of education. I make no apology for being an unabashed enthusiast for phonics. It is the proven method of giving children a headstart with their reading. The Australian Council of Education Research did an assessment of direct instruction; they found that AITSL , the Australian Institute of Teachers Standards and Leadership headed by John Hattie, the chairman I recently appointed, they found that phonics and Direct Instruction were the best way to give students a chance to learn to read early. And I’m not going to sit back as the Federal Minister for Education knowing what is the right thing to do and not implement it simply because of political correctness. LEON BYNER: Alright. Chris Hamilton, psychologist, what do you say about that? CHRIS HAMILTON: Well, I’m very pleased that somebody is going to at the most – at the highest level – start to do something that will actually provide an enabling environment. It was as late as yesterday evening, one of the referrals that I received, I was talking with the young boy, 11 or 12, who’s in fact out of the school system at the moment and I said, how often do you do any reading and he said, oh, I don’t read books. Now, part of the reason when I then explored it was, he simply doesn’t have the basic competencies so how can he have the competence and confidence to attack reading that might help him – it might enrich his understanding of life, it might give him some knowledge and some skills about the work. He simply wasn’t confident because he wasn’t competent. LEON BYNER: Look, Christopher Pyne, this is really sad to hear isn’t it, that you’ve got young boys and girls coming up through the system at 11. I mean I, God I was – well my parents used to read to me and I’m not exactly and never was a bookworm, but I got taught with phonics and other methods, but of course maybe I’m different, I don’t know. But for children coming up the great gateway to prosperity is communication, the ability to understand the language, to express it, to write it. What’s going wrong here? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well Leon, I couldn’t agree with you more. The reality is that it is a tragedy for a child emerging from primary school not to be able to read or to be able to read at a suboptimal level and it affects the entire rest of their life… LEON BYNER: Can I ask you this? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: …education, employment, et cetera. LEON BYNER: Okay. You’re a federal minister… CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Yes. LEON BYNER: The state funds education primarily. What would you do, what is your advice to parents who find that their 10 or 11-year-old boy or girl can’t read, can’t write. What do they do? Because you know I know of a case recently where an eight-year-old boy, his mum was so concerned she went to the school and she was told, quote; he’ll grow into it. He’ll grow into it! CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Well the first thing I would do is I would take my child to SPELD, the Specific Education Learning Difficulty Association of South Australia on Portrush Road and have them tested to see whether they have dyslexia or a mild or serious dyslexia and then follow their advice about the best methods to address those issues. The second thing I would is if they’re not found to have dyslexia but are in fact simply not being taught to read, is as a parent I would approach the school, speak to the principal, speak to the teacher, ask them what I can do to help to help my child to unlock reading which is going to be so important for the rest of their lives. And there is nothing more important than your child’s education to give them the best start in life possible and I would leave no stone unturned in proselytising that cause. LEON BYNER: Okay. Just quickly, how much have you cut out of education? Because the State Government have said you’ve cut education funding in South Australia. How much have you cut? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Absolutely nothing. Education funding in Australia and in South Australia goes up every year for the next four years. Eight per cent next year, eight per cent the year after, eight per cent the year after that and six per cent in the fourth year. We’ve put $1.2 billion more into school funding in Australia in this budget and in fact if you – if the State Government was being honest they would actually be able to tell you the figures on a million dollar basis for each year. LEON BYNER: Alright, so is it really that the State Government is saying that you’re cutting when in fact it’s Gonski money that was never there that you’re not putting up. Is that what this is about? CHRISTOPHER PYNE: There’s a four-year funding agreement and there’s four years the forward estimates for the budget. And we are increasing funding over those four years. Now what Labor is trying to do at the state level is as usual rather than taking responsibility for education which is their area of activity as a government, they’re simply trying to pass the buck and trying to push it onto the Commonwealth Government. They’ve been in power for 12 years. It looks like they’ll have four more years. I’d rather work with the State Government to address these issues than the asinine and useless internal debates about who is to blame for what. LEON BYNER: Chris Pyne, thank you. Also thanks to Chris Hamilton for calling in and our education commentator Graeden Horsell. [ends]