South-Eastern Metropolitan Region
Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:02): My question is to the Minister for Education. Minister, what action is your government taking to address the appalling increase of students being suspended in this state as a result of increases in violence and unruly behaviour within schools? In Cranbourne, which I represent, school suspensions have skyrocketed from 127 in 2020 to 223 in 2023. A staggering total of 1709 students have been suspended from Cranbourne’s two public secondary schools in Cranbourne and Cranbourne East over the five years from 2019 to 2023. In Victorian schools under the Allan Labor government almost 90 primary and secondary students are being suspended every day. Poor classroom behaviour is having a terrible impact on the learning outcomes of our most vulnerable students, with one in three of these Victorian students failing to meet the basic standard.