ACT Govt ‘will consider’ school closure submissions
From the ABC news
The ACT’s Education Minister says he will take into account the views expressed in submissions about the Government’s plans to close 39 Canberra schools.
The deadline for written comments closed yesterday; Andrew Barr says more than 250 submissions were received.
He says the submissions will help the Government to fine-tune its final plan, to be released in December.
Mr Barr admits that could mean some schools earmarked for closure will not close.
“Those options are always open,” he said.
“We’ve put forward a proposal that contained a variety of options and we’ll be seeking the community’s feedback on those options.
“We’ll certainly consider the contents of the submissions and that does leave room for fine tuning of the proposal in the end.”
And also
ACT school system a dog’s breakfast: Education Union
The Australian Education Union says the ACT school system is a mess, in the lead-up to school enrolments for next year.
The union’s submission to the ACT Government’s 2020 plan will be made public today and claims the Stanhope Government has not put forward a balanced and reasonable case for the closure of 39 schools.
Union secretary Clive Haggar says the plan also ignores the social impact on local communities.
Mr Haggar says the Government only has itself to blame for the mess facing ACT Education towards the end of the year.
“If they’d been more open and transparent and had a more realistic timetable there could have been community support for some rationalisations instead of what we’ve now got - very, very powerful voices from the community united in terms of a recognition,” he said.
“This has been a dreadful process and I don’t believe dog’s breakfast is too far from the truth.”