Australia needs an education system that gives every young person a chance to thrive. High-quality public schools complementing choice in private education, confident students with a clear career pathway to work; and world-leading research and post-school education. That's why I'm advocating to:
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Strengthen public schooling, including more choice in public education in Wentworth: Locally, this means getting at least one other public high school in Wentworth and ensuring funds committed to Randwick Boys and Randwick Girls are spent. Nationally, it means ensuring that the Gonski Review of school funding is fully implemented; continuing to invest in the evidence base around effective education; and piloting programs to reduce the administrative burdens on teachers so they can focus on their core job.
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Build student confidence, capabilities, and create better pathways into work: This means supporting schools to create stronger partnerships with industry; increasing student understanding of career opportunities; leading by example by providing strong career pathways for young people in the public sector; and lifting the status, quality, and availability of TAFE vocational education.
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Restore our universities’ international standing and post-school education: Before the pandemic, tertiary education was Australia’s 3rd largest export but since then we have seen a dramatic decline. We need to support university research and its commercialisation (which returns $5 to our economy for every $1 invested); reduce our over-reliance on international students and support universities to diversify long-term sources of funding; and redress the balance of costs of Arts degrees.
What have I done so far
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Successfully lobbied the government to open a new consultation on public education in Sydney's east, working closely with independent state MP Alex Greenwich
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Convened Wentworth's first ever Schools Forum, to hear from young people about the issues that matter most to them and how we can build a more inclusive education system, Allegra Spender on Wentworth's schools and environmental conservation 20221122 - YouTub
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Spoke about the issues facing young people in Wentworth in Parliament, and made their voices heard by addressing the house as part of the Youth Voice to Parliament campaign, Allegra Spender speaks about issues facing the youth of Wentworth - YouTub
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Met several times with the Education Minister to raise Wentworth's concerns about university education and school performance