Dr ALLEN (Higgins) (19:35): As the chair of a local school for many years, I have grappled with how we best prepare our students for the future and ensure they remain engaged and enchanted by education throughout their schooling journey. As a university professor, I've become concerned about the unpreparedness of some for tertiary education after leaving school. Since becoming a member of parliament I have met with many principals across my electorate—in fact, so far, I have met with 27 of the 37 principals—and we've had wide-ranging discussions. Some voiced concerns over educational benchmarking; others about the overcrowded syllabus. Most were concerned about attracting and retaining the best teachers. All wanted to ensure that they were providing the best educational experience for all students. The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians was published in 2008 and has two primary aims: first, that Australian schooling promote equity and excellence; and, second, that all young Australians become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens—both excellent goals. But, somewhere along the way, these goals have not translated to the outcomes we might wish for. Despite significant and increasing investment from federal, state and territory governments, our benchmarking data is showing a decline in educational standards. When I have asked my local principals why this might be, some said that, while we have made great strides with those students who are falling behind—which is a good news story—they were increasingly aware that we are failing to stretch our students at the more capable end of the spectrum. They said that we had created a cohort of cruisers—effectively, that our educational system had foregone excellence for equity. I contend that, in our pursuit of equity, we have taken our eyes off excellence. If we wish to remain internationally competitive, we must extend our best and brightest, not just ensure minimal standards for all. In 2012 the then Baillieu government in my home state of Victoria held an inquiry into education. When questioned by the committee undertaking the inquiry in 2012, Professor Geoff Masters, CEO of the Australian Council for Educational Research, made this comment to the committee about our declining educational standards: Nobody knows exactly what is responsible for the decline … what we do know is that … we are now so focused on making sure that all students achieve at least minimally acceptable levels, schools have taken their eyes off extending our very high-achieving students. I believe our teachers and educators are ready to be part of a mature conversation about why our benchmarked standards are declining. We need to be at the forefront of helping ensure we have job ready students for the future. We need to be fearless in looking for the reason for our declining results. We need to extend all of our students and not just ensure that those left behind keep up. After all, the students of today are the unexpressed potential of our future. Finally, we need to focus on the quality of our teachers. They are the essential ingredient in the educational recipe of success. Not only do we need to ensure we attract the right teachers with the right aptitude, but we also need to keep them engaged and continuing to learn and develop themselves. Like medicine, aptitude interviews for teacher education would identify those who have a strong passion for primary and secondary education. Like the medical profession, I believe teachers would benefit from a professional continuing education program to ensure we are investing in a profession that is growing the minds of the next generation. It is time for a rethink of the 2008 Melbourne declaration as we move into the century of the digital revolution, if we are to adequately prepare our children for the future of work.