Max Westwood
Over 100 year 10 and 11 students from nine different secondary schools attended a parliamentary convention run at Plenty Ranges Arts and Convention Centre.
The July 21 event was hosted by Lalor Secondary College and gave students from around the area the opportunity to learn about topical issues from experts and allowed them to share their ideas and thoughts with students from neighbouring schools.
This years topic was “Artificial Intelligence: Friend or foe? Does the benefit of AI to humanity outweigh its potential threat?’
Dr James Curran, the chief executive if Grok Academy, an Australian charity offering digital technology education, was a guest speaker at the event.
Humanities teacher at Lalor and an organiser of the convention Peter Leos said the event was a success.
“This was one of the smoothest running events and most enjoyable that the staff have been to so far,” he said.
“The students were very engaged and interested in providing their thoughts and feedback throughout the day.”
The parliamentary convention is part of the Victorian Students’ Parliamentary Program and was funded through a department of education grant.
The next local parliamentary convention is at Melbourne Grammar School on Monday, August 5.
