Letters to the editor | Monday, June 19

Caitlin Jarvis
June 19 2017 - 7:00am
Letters to the editor | Monday, June 19
Letters to the editor | Monday, June 19

Debt collectors

SADLY, Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff (The Examiner, June 2) has no idea what is going on in his public schools because no-one, and in particular, principals, would dare to tell him even if he did want to know. As a former principal I can tell him schools have been regularly referring parents to debt collectors for around a decade. How else does he think schools run excursions, camps, remedial programs and offer extension opportunities for all students in their schools? Public schools have been drained of resources at the very time they need more. The Minister’s proclamation of  a Gonski increase to school resource packages to 5 per cent lasted one year and they are now back to the standard CPI level of 3 per cent. The Schoolkids Bonus program which delivered $32 million per year to Tasmanian families ended in August 2016 with 75 per cent of Tasmanian school children or 60,000 receiving it. It provided families $410 for each primary child and $820 for each secondary student. It was used for uniforms and levies. Allocating Gonski funding to the Peter Underwood Centre which few educators would even know exists, or reputably does, is an example of how out-of-touch our Minister and his government is with issues that exist in our public schools.

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Caitlin Jarvis

Caitlin Jarvis

Senior Journalist

I have worked in the Tasmanian digital/print media for 11 years, spanning two newsrooms. I have developed a keen interest in agricultural, development and education news, as well as issues-based long-form journalism. Contact me at caitlin.jarvis@examiner.com.au

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