Shadow Minister for Education Jeremy Hanson will move a motion in the Legislative Assembly today calling on the Labor-Greens Government to support a full and independent review of the ACT Government education system.

The call for an independent review comes after the Canberra Liberals released an education strategy for the ACT last week that highlights a number of areas the Labor-Greens Government is failing school children in the nation’s capital.

Mr Hanson said a comprehensive review is desperately needed to address significant shortfalls in the ACT education system.

“It is clear on the back of the evidence provided in the Canberra Liberals strategy there are problems within the education system that must be assessed by an independent review,” Mr Hanson said.

“This would allow someone totally independent to come in and look at the areas that are failing and to draw on the lessons of other jurisdictions in Australia and overseas.

“What we have seen to this point in the ACT is a bunch of small reviews being done and inquiries in the assembly based on problems that emerge.

“You can’t just look at literacy and numeracy in isolation. As outlined in the strategy there are interconnected issues like school governance, facilities and the curriculum that all need to be looked at as a system.”

The Canberra Liberals Education Strategy for the ACT ‘Bringing out the best in every child’ identifies five key areas of concern: academic standards, equity, bullying and violence, school funding, and overcrowded schools with ageing infrastructure.

“The evidence is clear, and this is not the Canberra Liberals asserting these issues, it is the Auditor General, the ANU, Grattan Institute, the Australian Institute and other experts,” said Mr Hanson.

“There is a problem with the system and that is why we want to have this review, to get someone in and have a look at the school system and understand why it is that we are falling behind,” Mr Hanson concluded