Elsie Adamo
THE Commissioner for Regional Education, Fiona Nash attended a round table discussion last week in Mount Gambier.
Hosted by Member for Barker, Tony Pasin, the event involved local education stakeholders with representatives from childcare, schools, universities and TAFE who gathered to discuss educational inequity in the region.
While a range of topics was discussed, Ms Nash said childcare access had been discussed at length.
“The issue of accessibility for childcare is clearly an issue in the region,” she said.
“Importantly what came out of it was that it is not just about the impact on the young child being able to access childcare and the benefits that can bring, it is also about being a barrier to employment.
“It is very important we look at it right from that childhood end.
“It has crystallised in my mind that the equity issue between city and county needs to be addressed.”
Other major topics discussed were wellbeing service accessibility, attracting the right workforce, and integrating education and local industry.
“I think things particularly [discussed] was students’ ability to access subjects that they need to be able to go on and do courses, and how collectively education facilities might be able to work together to help that,” Ms Nash said.
“One of the key things also for schools is being able to access support services for their students, and this is a huge issue not just in Mount Gambier but in many other regional towns.
“Particularly around mental health and wellbeing of students.
“Often in regional areas, there is a set of circumstances for young people that do impact their mental health and wellbeing.
“While Covid has exacerbated it I do not think we can take our eye off the ball.
“And the teacher workforce itself, being able to attract enough teachers or retain enough teachers in the regions to be able to provide that quality level of education to students.”
Ms Nash said the topics discussed were similar to those discussed in other regional areas of the country.
“The similarities are greater than the differences,” she said.
“What I am finding travelling across regional communities is there might be local perspectives, but a lot of the key issues are the same.
“All of those things [topics discussed] are exactly the same here as they were in Rockhampton in Queensland where I was a couple of weeks ago.
“What a day like today does for me is that it shows that there are consistent issues across regional communities that we need to approach from a national perspective.”
Mr Pasin said the meeting had been one of the most productive roundtables he had observed.
“It is absolutely fabulous to have had Commissioner Nash here,” Mr Pasin said.
“She has responsibility for regional education in her role as an independent commissioner who gives and will give advice to government about the needs, wants and expectations of regional communities.
“It has been fantastic we have been able to provide feedback from our region.”
