Adelaide East Herald
9 December 2021
In tinsel-lined school halls across our suburbs, joyous and uplifting ceremonies are unfurling.
Interspersed between well-rehearsed Christmas carols, certificates are placed in small hands as big toothy smiles burst from rosy cheeks. Proud parents clap wildly and hone their iPhones to capture that precious moment. Teachers beam with delight and pride at the achievements of their young charges.
These celebrations mark the end of the school year – and the start of exciting new chapters in young, promising lives. And each year, as the local MP, I’m so lucky to bear witness to this jubilation.
And what a year it has been! COVID measures have seen masks come (and go), interstate school excursions reimagined locally, parents omitted from school grounds, and teachers working harder and more creatively than ever.
But it is all worth it.
A quality education is all worth it.
There is nothing as transformative to the human experience in this world as education.
I’ve needed little convincing of this, considering my own start to life.
As a young child times were tough. My parents often struggled to make ends meet and faced more challenges than most. For a while I lived interstate with my grandparents. They gave up their own retirement (and savings) to bring up four little girls.
But their perseverance and love, and the passion and dedication of our teachers, put us on a prosperous path.
I loved school. Maybe that’s just lucky, but I think it was to do with the devotion of educators who could see the immense value schooling would have for us.
They invested their time in us, and we rose to the scholastic, sporting and social opportunities before us.
A solid public education was the bedrock on which I gained a university degree, got a great job as a television journalist, worked and travelled internationally, and now represent my community in Parliament.
My experiences as a child also led me to Labor. A party with a passion for education and lifting up people that haven’t had the best start. It’s why I’m so proud to now be knocking on doors and letting locals know that we have a plan for education – boosting teacher quality, examining universal pre-school for three-year-olds, putting $50 million into professional support in schools (like psychologists), building five new tech colleges and increasing teacher permanency.
It’s a plan for the future. A plan for the futures of children – just like me.