Consultation assured on e-mail plan

By Jennifer Leete

Education Minister John Watkins has assured Federation it will be consulted regarding the Department of Education and Training's ISP (Internet Services and Product) Project.

Mr Watkins responded to Federation's concerns about teacher and students email accounts as part of the ISP Project in a letter to the union. He said: "I wish to assure you that all future decisions regarding the ISP will be made in consultation with the Federation."
and
"I have previously given the Federation the commitment that protocols relating to appropriate use of the technology will be developed through consultation and negotiation. I agree there would be benefit to both sides if an agreement, that includes these protocols, was developed in time for when the project goes statewide. As we have also previously discussed, I would expect this to include technical and user support for the ISP as well as training and development."
and
"I would like to reiterate my commitment to the successful implementation of the e-learning accounts. As I have advised you, I know this will only occur with the full co-operation and support of the teaching profession."

As reported in the February 17 edition of Education, the union's aim is to develop a set of protocols around e-mail access, to assess and address the educational and workload impact of the ISP Project and to negotiate with the Department an agreement around the implementation of the project.

The Minister's letter also responds to a proposal from the Federation that an Education Impact Statement (EIS) be prepared to assess the implications of the ISP Project. The EIS concept was originally conceived by the Federation's Committee on Teacher Workload (a committee made up of practising teachers elected by Federation Council).

The concept is based on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. Federation Executive has recently endorsed a model for this. Essentially it is a pro-forma which aims to identify things like "what are the educational benefits of the initiative", "what are the workload implications", "what is required to implement it effectively in terms of extra staffing training and development, teacher resources". The Minister has agreed that the EIS process should be trialed in relation to the ISP Program in the first instance.

In the last Education I reported that the next stage of the project would involve around 50 sites, with full evaluation, monitoring and feedback in order to inform the development of an agreement to address the Federation's concerns before the rollout proceeds across the state. The Federation would prefer these 50 sites to trial the program for the whole of 2003 before any further expansion. In response the Minister has said:

"In Term 1, 2003 it is proposed that the next 50 sites be brought on board as part of the staged rollout" and that "we would only move to the third stage once there is agreement that the implementation of the 50 new locations has been successful."

The 50 sites will include TAFE as well as schools. In relation to any TAFE sites the Minister has instructed the Department of Education and Training that Clause 65 of the Award will apply.

Your schools or TAFE site may be approached soon and invited to take part in the project. At this stage the Federation has no objections to you volunteering, provided there has been genuine consultation with all the staff involved. If the Federation gets reports of members being pressured or "volunteered" against their will, we will refuse to have that site involved.

It is also important that not just those sites and members who are "gung ho" about technology get involved. If this process is to genuinely throw up all the issues we need to address in an industrial agreement, then we need to ensure that the full range of schools and TAFE sites is represented.

Jennifer Leete is the Deputy President.

For further information

February 2003 contents