Christian Heritage Party Education spokesperson, Rod Harris, heralds some of the changes in the Education Amendment Bill, for which written submissions close today.

Mr Harris said, “Congratulations to the Government in recognising the important part that Boards of Trustees play in the operation of our schools. With the proposed changes to relax rules and provide greater flexibility for Boards, the Government is showing great confidence in the ability of Boards of Trustees to manage at risk schools. It does, however, seem a little ironic that although this great confidence is placed in the Boards of Trustees to manage at risk schools, they are also saying that these same Boards do not have the ability to manage bulk funding of salaries and enrolment schemes.”

The Boards of Trustees are not the only ones to enjoy the Government’s confidence. One of the proposed changes is that it should be compulsory to have a student representative on the Boards of Trustees of Secondary schools.

“The Government recognises the maturity and ability of secondary students to make decisions in relation to the management of the schools that they attend. In another twist of irony, it seems that they do not think that tertiary students have the maturity and ability to make decisions as to whether they can individually become members of the Students’ Association of the institution they attend. The Government says that it wants to take away the ‘bias’ towards voluntary membership which it claims exists,” said Mr Harris.

“Where is the consistency? Who is pushing such illogical thinking? Who is dictating the direction of these initiatives?” asked Mr Harris.

Christian Heritage believes that bulk funding should continue as an option for schools. It also supports voluntary membership in Student Associations.

ends

© Scoop Media