Carolyn Male MP, State Member for Pine Rivers, has urged Pine Rivers residents to ensure they have their say on the future of the state’s education system before consultation concludes next week.

“To date we’ve held about 90 public consultation forums throughout the state to hear the views of parents, teachers, students and the general community on the changes proposed in the education discussion paper A Flying Start for Queensland Children,” Carolyn Male MP said.

“The plan to move Year 7 to secondary school by 2014 remains the dominant topic, with discussions focused around middle schooling and ensuring adequate resources are provided to support the changes.”

“Forum participants have clearly valued the opportunity to have their say and it is encouraging to receive so many suggestions from community members on ways to help families prepare their children for school.”

“There was also strong interest from community members regarding our plans to introduce volunteers - Queensland Ready Readers - to assist young children with reading in our primary schools.”

Carolyn Male MP said the discussion paper outlined the challenges facing education in Queensland and put forward proposals to improve young children’s readiness for school, and to ensure high performance standards for all Queensland schools.

“I encourage as many people as possible to have their say before submissions close on Wednesday 30 June,” Carolyn Male MP said.

“You can still have your say online at www.education.qld.gov.au.”