It's clear that our education system needs more than a shiny advertising campaign to start delivering the results Tasmanians deserve.
After yesterday's Australian Government Productivity Commission data revealed that Tasmania has the worst student attendance rates from Years 1-10 except the Northern Territory - a figure which has been in steady decline since 2015 - the Government today launched a new campaign titled 'Every school day matters'.
While its management of the education system has been appalling, the Government is right on one thing - every school day does matter.
Unfortunately, Tasmanian kids are being left behind under this government, with yesterday's figures also showing our state has the lowest proportion of students at or above the minimum standard for reading and numeracy across all age groups, except the Northern Territory.
Attainment rates for Year 12 students in Tasmania are just 58 per cent - 20 per cent lower that the national average of 78.4 per cent - that figure remains the same as 2008.
The Liberals no longer talk about education attainment because it is in decline and they don't talk about education outcomes because their performance has been poor.
Instead, they have spent a stack of dollars on slick advertising to paper over the cracks.
A future Labor Government would do the hard work and make sure our schools are supported, purposeful, safe and engaging.
That way, Tasmanian kids might even start showing up, and start receiving the education they are missing out on under this Government.
Josh Willie MLC
Shadow Minister for Education and Early Years
