Queensland citizens draws to the attention of the House that Cairns School of Distance Education (SDE) offers education services to home-based and school-based learners, from prep to year 12, who live in a number of electorates, many being geographically isolated.  Our school has grown significantly, with the latest enrolment of 2,464 students almost triple that of three years ago. Teachers and administration staff have doubled in as many years. The rapid growth in our school has presented many challenges and now we are struggling with limited and aging buildings and infrastructure. No Queensland teacher should be expected to teach without a blackboard or the ability to communicate with their class and yet that is the situation faced at our school. Teachers have to set up in the school foyer and library so they have somewhere to prepare and deliver classes. We are at a crisis point and unfortunately to date no action has been taken by Education Queensland to rectify this situation. Whilst there are minimum standards set by the state for mainstream schools, no such guidelines exist for SDEs, which highlights a lack of standards and expectations for our students and teachers.

Your petitioners, therefore request the House to address this unacceptable situation and ensure:

• students have equitable access to quality education wherever they live; and
• minimum standards are set for SDEs and acknowledge that the demands placed on our schools are significantly different to mainstream schools and should be funded accordingly to enable inclusive education for all students.