ACT Greens Education spokesperson, Meredith Hunter MLA, has described the Government response to the inquiry into school closures as a step forward.

“The Greens made it clear that the Government had to take on the concerns of the Hall and Tharwa communities and work genuinely with them for an outcome,” Ms Hunter said today.

“Our regular meetings with the communities led the ACT Greens to push for direct negotiations between the Government and community to be resumed.

“As a result the Hall and Tharwa communities have reached outcomes for the school sites.”

“As the Government remained immovable on the re-opening of K-6 schools at Hall and Tharwa, we lobbied for an increase in early education provision, a change of policy to allow a non-government education provider in Hall and a Master Plan for the two villages. 

“These Master Plans will focus on enhancing social capital, improved infrastructure, increasing tourism and opportunities for small business development.”

The negotiated have resulted in the following outcomes:

• Master Plans for both Hall and Tharwa villages
• Tharwa school site will provide an extra two years of early education that includes a new playgroup and extension of pre-school to 3 year olds
• Extended pre-school hours from 12 to 15 per week at Hall and Tharwa
• The restriction against a non-government education provider at Hall school will be removed
• All school sites will be kept in Government hands for community use.

“One of the clearest things to come out of the inquiry is that the process undertaken lacked sufficient consultation and the ACT Greens will bring on their Education Act Amendment Bill to reflect these findings in the new year,” Ms Hunter said.

ACT Greens Education spokesperson, Meredith Hunter MLA has successfully moved a motion to improve environmental health standards in Canberra’s public schools.

“Environmental health is often overlooked as a priority and with an increasing number of children developing asthma and anaphylaxis it is vital that we look at how we can improve the environment that they spend 30 hours a week in during the school year,” Ms Hunter said.

“Issues that can arise in the short term include allergies, eczema and other auto-immune diseases, but there is also a growing acknowledgement of the health impacts in the longer term.

The Greens motion will:

- Call on the Minister to commit to improved environmental health practices in School cleaning contracts

- Move to include international best practice models in the development of the review of the Statement of Requirements of school cleaning contracts

- Create an education guide for contractors and staff to influence their cleaning and purchasing practices

“Industrial strength cleaning products can be less toxic and alternatives that are more conducive to children’s health are being developed for the market.

“The ACT Greens expect this motion will begin a cultural shift around the way we purchase and use chemicals in one of the environments that children spend a significant time of their lives in – schools,” Ms Hunter said.

Greens Education Spokesperson, Meredith Hunter has called on Education Minister Andrew Barr to address concerns raised about league tables by education expert Professor Brian Caldwell.

“We expect the Education Minister to address concerns about the potential negative effects of the introduction of new testing and reporting systems that will make compiling league tables possible – a policy that the Minister has already signed the ACT up to.” Ms Hunter said today.

“It’s important for Minister Barr to explain why he backs these radical changes to our education system, and how he will make sure that we won’t get league tables and an unfair attack on individual schools and teachers as a result.”

Mr Caldwell has suggested that the policy leads to a test focus and that the British Government appeared to be backing away from the policy.

“Mr Barr needs to address these concerns to give parents and teachers assurance that we are not making a big mistake.” Ms Hunter said.

ACT Greens Parliamentary Convener Meredith Hunter has called for the Government to support the establishment of childcare facilities at Flynn Primary school site.

“It’s clear that childcare demand has risen significantly in the ACT and spaces are at a premium.” Ms Hunter said today.

“We understand that there are providers ready to respond to this demand, and the Government should be providing space for new centres where appropriate.

“The plan presented by the John Flynn Community Group recommended a childcare centre to be included in the Flynn School complex.

“While we understand that there are legal and heritage issues still to be resolved, we are confident that community based childcare would not compromise those matters.

“Most importantly this is an example of the need for the sites of closed schools to remain in public hands so that they can be used to respond to community needs,” Ms Hunter said.