If I had ten minutes with the Minister of Education, I wouldn't ask for less homework. I'd ask why we don't learn how Parliament actually works until we're already old enough to vote.
I keep thinking about this. The Minister of Education decides big stuff - what subjects we do, how schools are funded, what counts as "the basics." But most kids I know couldn't name them, and definitely couldn't tell you what they're working on this week.
That feels backwards. If someone is making decisions about my school day, I'd quite like to know who they are.
So if I ever got ten minutes with the Minister, here's what I'd actually want to ask:
Why don't we learn how Parliament works until Year 12 social studies - by then heaps of kids have already switched off. Could we start in Year 5, in tiny doses, the way we learn about the water cycle?
Why is "civics" treated like a bonus subject? It's literally the instruction manual for the country.
Could we have one proper lesson a year where a real MP (any party, doesn't matter) comes in and just answers kid questions? Not a speech. Just questions.
And the big one: when you were 11, what did you wish someone had told you about how the country actually runs?
I don't think the Minister is the bad person in this story. I just think the people making the rules and the people living in them should talk to each other more often. That's kind of the whole reason I started the labs.
If anyone reading this knows the Minister's office - the contact form is open. I'll bring biscuits.