Page 4143 - Week 11 - Thursday, 17 Sept 2009
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The committee recommends that, based on the demographic, educational, social and economic evidence presented during the inquiry, the government immediately commence the process to reopen the Hall and Tharwa primary schools.
The education minister’s responsibilities regarding school education in the ACT are prescribed in the Education Act. This inquiry has led me to consider quite closely what the legislative framework means when it comes to closing schools. Section 20(5) of the Education Act reads:
Before closing or amalgamating a government school, the minister must—
(a) have regard to the educational, financial and social impact on students at the school, the students families and the general school community …
In the limited time I have available here, I reflect on how, through this inquiry, we see the minister for education had regard to these impacts on students, families and the general school communities, as he was required to do.
I look closely at the evidence presented by the department and pay particular regard to the evidence the minister himself gave at a public hearing of the committee. It does not seem to show close scrutiny of the educational impact on students of the closure or reorganisation of the schools.
It is fair to say, however, that the argument was made, both directly and indirectly, that school closures were needed in order to ensure all students had an opportunity to experience successful learning, given—it was asserted—that the best size for a primary school is around 300 to 400 students.
There was no substantial evidence presented to the committee in support of this argument. Nor, as other witnesses pointed out, were the ongoing learning experiences of students at those small schools raised with them as a factor through the consultation and closing process. The only research that was offered by the department and the minister in support of this argument was a summary paper prepared by the very highly regarded Dr Brian Caldwell. The paper has been referred to in public documents on numerous occasions and invoked by the department in its submission.
More significantly, it was also included as key supporting evidence in the statement of reason that the government was legally required to produce for several of the school closures. It was the minister’s view that these statements met the full legal requirements under the Education Act. Therefore, what is in them is particularly important. For example, the line which Mr Barr used to justify his decision to close Hall school reads:
… based on the recent Australian study by Professor Brian Caldwell—
then identified in a footnote as Research on school size: an educational transformations briefing paper—
the appropriate and effective size for a primary school is between 300 and 400 students.
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