Barry O'Farrell :: NSW Opposition Leader, Leadership NSW Needs

Every child has the right to be equipped with the fundamental skills of reading, writing and maths. We all understand the importance of these basic skills to a person's development and future.

Yet in NSW as many as 15% of students - almost 13,000 children - leave primary school to enter high school without meeting minimum standards in literacy and numeracy.

With one in five Year 9 students at or below the minimum standards in reading, writing and maths, the NSW Liberals & Nationals believe it's time to change our approach towards literacy and numeracy.

We've released a Literacy and Numeracy Action Plan, that through focussing on early intervention and targeting individual students most at risk, will help ensure young people develop the foundations for literacy and numeracy from an early age.

Our Action Plan (full copy here) involves:

providing an additional 900 teachers for the Reading Recovery Program and expanding the program to include both literacy and numeracy;
reallocating more than 300 K-2 Support Teachers Learning Assistance (STLA) to provide more intensive, one-on-one support to students in Years 3-10;
shifting responsibility for preschools from the Department of Community Services to the Department of Education in recognition of its role in lifelong education;
using kindergarten screening assessments and other data to identify K-2 students at risk of not meeting literacy and numeracy standards; and
educational experts reporting annually and publicly on the performance of our Literacy and Numeracy Action Plan.

The NSW Liberals & Nationals Action Plan will help develop childrens' literacy and numeracy skills to ensure a seamless transition from preschool to primary school and then onto high school.

While the Labor has failed to act, despite being aware of students failing literacy and numeracy standards, the NSW Liberals & Nationals are determined to focus on improving the quality of education provided to students. We are determined to deliver a strong education system that promotes equity, as well as excellence.

The NSW Liberals & Nationals Literacy and Numeracy Action Plan is another of our positive, practical plans to deliver the change NSW desperately needs.