Page 935 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 27 March 1990
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What we have is a working party within the Schools Authority, which will prepare for discussions, I suggest, at the meetings that I have just mentioned over that 12-to-18-month period. So much for the lack of parent consultation and participation which Mr Moore mentioned.
That brings me to a comment about parent participation in schools. I want to comment on some of the issues raised by Mr Wood. I am sure no-one in this Assembly doubts Mr Wood's qualifications to speak on this important subject. As a teacher and a parent, his thoughtful comments are appreciated by all, and we all respect his views on this issue.
Specifically, I propose to talk tonight about parent participation. As a parent of two teenage children - one is just about to leave that stage - I think it is an important aspect of the education system, and the quality of this part is very important.
As a parent I have participated in the operation of school systems within three States in Australia - initially in Queensland, then in Canberra, Western Australia and back in Canberra. I have been involved, as a parent, in the running and operation of schools, from preschools through to college. In Canberra I have been involved in P and C associations and boards.
As Mr Wood well knows, Queensland has a centralised system of education. The P and C associations there played a different role in the schools from those in the ACT. Here it is the school-based boards that have the major role in directing and running the curriculum and the development of the school and its policy. On those boards, as we all know, there are teacher representatives, parent representatives, a representative nominated by the Schools Authority, and in high schools and colleges we have students represented on those boards as well.
Very early in the piece, after an initial stint on a P and C association, I quickly realised that it was necessary, if I were to have some involvement as a parent in the operation and running of the school, that I participate by being on the board. I moved briefly to Western Australia, but when I returned I sought election as a parent representative on the school board.
Mr Wood: In Western Australia?
MR JENSEN: No, in the ACT. In the ACT, after a stint in the P and C association, I moved on to the school board. Not only in schools but also in other organisations that relate to you, we find a number of willing horses, sometimes very few, who participate and get themselves involved in the operation of schools, as I am sure Mr Wood and others would agree.
Mr Wood: That is one of the points that I made.
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