Service and support slashed

By Angelo Gavrielatos

Details released on October 22 on the proposed Department of Education and Training (DET) restructure exposed the full extent of the reduction in services that will be the reality of the DET restructure if allowed to proceed.

At a press conference on October 23 the Public Education Alliance, consisting of parents, teachers and principals, condemned the proposed restructure of the DET as it continues to be predicated upon the loss of 1000 positions.

This restructure, driven by the slashing of $70 million recurrent funding from the DET will result in a reduction of support to public schools and colleges, students and teachers.

The details released on October 22 showed an indicative allocation of staff to each of the 44 Education Support Centres across the state. Under the proposed restructure the Education Support Centre would replace the current District Office.

On September 24 Education Minister Dr Andrew Refshauge said: "The Government has increased the number of support staff for schools". The details available show no evidence of this and, in fact, there are significant reductions in many areas. The Mount Druitt office is an example. There would be a 25 per cent reduction (from 16 to 12) in consultants. There would no longer be consultants available for drug education, science 7-12 and linkages/literacy 5-8. The Priority Schools Funding Program supporting literacy and numeracy K-12 and student welfare positions would each be reduced from two to one. Similar reductions are proposed across the state.

The reduction in consultancy support in Education Support Centres (ESC) across the state is further illustrated by the following:

• At a time when years 7-10 syllabuses are being rewritten for implementation from the commencement of school year 2004, it is proposed that there be only two high school curriculum specific consultants positions for all of NSW; one located at the Campbelltown ESC, the other at the Bankstown ESC;
• The proposal would result in the total loss of consultancy support in ESCs for Human Society and Its Environment, Creative and Practical Arts and Personal Development/Health/Physical Education;
• Only 39 of the 44 ESCs would have both a literacy and a maths consultant. Four of the ESCs would have one or the other, while the newly created Muswellbrook ESC would have neither. Fewer than 50 per cent of ESCs would have science and technology K-6 support. The Government appears to believe there are no children with literacy difficulties in Wagga Wagga and no children needing support in mathematics in the Griffith district.
• Under the proposal the four new ESCs would have very few consultant positions. Muswellbrook ESC would only have a student support coordinator and one disabilities consultant. Bourke, Wyong and Windsor would similarly be significantly under-staffed and would appear to be support centres in name only.

There are even more cuts proposed under the DET restructure.

The Aboriginal Education and Equity Programs Directorate, which supports our most vulnerable and needy students, would be cut severely. The Multicultural Programs Unit would be reduced by more than 50 per cent. The Priority Schools Funding Program field consultancy would be reduced by more than 20 per cent. All of these positions provide support to schools. The reduction would be most seriously felt in the more disadvantaged parts of the state.

The Arts Unit reports a proposed 70 per cent reduction in staff. Coupled with proposed significant cutbacks in the Public Affairs Corporate Relations and Sponsorship Unit, programs such as ARTEXPRESS, Star Struck, the Schools Spectacular, state dance and drama festivals, high profile choral and instrumental performances at the Opera House and so on could be significantly compromised.

The Learning Materials Production Centre, supporting students who live in isolated communities, are chronically ill or in the juvenile justice system, studying subjects not offered by their school, travelling overseas or interstate and want to remain in the NSW system and/or doing their HSC by distance through TAFE, will also be compromised. Under the proposal specialist writers and editors, specialist desktop publishers and illustrators and specialist technical staff and project managers would be lost.

The crucial school support position of computing technology adviser remains under the cloud of an ongoing Corporate Services Review.

The Public Education Alliance has called on the Government to abandon its plans to slash the DET.

Arrogance and indifference

On October 29 the shadow education spokesperson Jillian Skinner, raised in Parliament a motion calling on the Carr Government to justify its plans to slash support for teachers in its proposal to abolish 1000 jobs in the restructure of the DET.

The indifference and arrogance on the part of Government Members of Parliament is probably best encapsulated in the action of Kogarah MP Cherie Burton who interrupted the debate seeking a Point of Order and said of Jillian Skinner, who was chewing cough lozenges, "during her entire contribution to this urgency debate, the Honourable Member for the North Shore was chewing and I think that is extremely rude".

Angelo Gavrielatos is the Senior Vice President.

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November 2003 contents