Page 505 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 20 February 2019
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Consistently the minister and her directorate have assured us that the schools affected by these apparently uncontrollable antisocial issues have strategies in place that are working. But this is not the evidence coming to light; there is too much evidence that demonstrates that they are not. While ever we have a minister refusing to acknowledge that there is a deeply concerning problem within ACT schools, things will not improve. She cannot hope to improve or fix anything that she steadfastly refuses to admit need fixing.
We are not to know what goes on directly in these schools. We barely get an opportunity to visit the model schools let alone any that may be experiencing problems. It is little wonder that the minister wants to restrict access. But parents from those troubled schools are coming to us in droves, just like the nurses who contact the shadow health minister’s office for the same reasons: uncontrolled bullying in the workplace and tin ears from the ministers responsible and the directorate staff.
The question must be asked: if current strategies are working and teachers are well supported and everyone is in control of the situation, as the minister keeps reassuring people, then why are children still getting hurt? Why are teachers still getting hurt?
Ms Lee, the shadow minister for education, spoke last week with a teacher who was injured at a school by a student in December. The student remained at the school and continued to inflict injury on others. The teacher was sent home and no-one from the directorate or the school leadership team contacted the teacher to enquire about their welfare. A very supportive environment indeed!
The opposition has also been contacted by teachers who have been injured in the workplace since the new so-called nation-leading polices were introduced and they advise that despite following due process in conscientiously reporting these incidents they have received no support from the minister or her directorate. In one case the teacher was instead criticised for not managing the violent student better.
The minister hides behind policies and procedures. She points to apparently nation-leading changes that have been introduced into ACT schools, but they did not help that teacher last December two months after this supposed nation-leading policy was introduced. The minister continues to skirt around the fact that action has only been taken because WorkSafe demanded it. Four months later there is little evidence to indicate anything has changed or is changing. Teachers are logging incident reports into the Riskman but nothing progresses. Other teachers tell us they have stopped reporting incidents because it is simply a waste of time.
Parents are saying strategies like safe and supportive schools and positive behaviour management plans are meaningless verbiage that does not inspire the slightest degree of confidence that school authorities intend to address the problems. A concerning number of parents are contacting the opposition to tell of their experiences and the ordeals their children are experiencing across classrooms in the ACT. Due to the fear of retribution I will not identify the parents, their children or the schools involved. Suffice it to say that these stories are true, they are deeply concerning and deserve to be addressed with urgency.
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