School reforms shelved
Outrage over proposals
The Education Minister has bowed to pressure from the teachers’ unions and home education bodies, announcing homeschooling reforms and proposed changes to student suspensions and expulsions are officially on hold.
The two policy pieces were part of the broader overhaul of Queensland’s Education Act put forward in state parliament last month, and while the rest of the proposed changes can proceed, homeschooling and student discipline reforms are now on ice.
In making the announcement on Monday, Education Minister Di Farmer also revealed plans to establish an overarching Home School Advisory Group – the sector currently consists of multiple small representative bodies – and formally review the Department’s Home Education Unit to investigate how it needs to evolve to meet everincreasing homeschooling numbers.
The now-paused reforms included new appeal rights for students who accumulate 11 days of short suspensions within a year.
They also put new requirements on the table for student support plans for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students with a disability, and Prep students who are either suspended or expelled.
Regarding homeschooling, the on-hold changes included making home education programs consistent with the Australian Curriculum, extending the age eligibility for homeschooling from 17 to 18, new requirements for parents to produce more detailed annual reports on their child’s progress to the Department of Education, and removes the 60day provisional registration for families applying for homeschooling registration.
Ms Farmer said the two policy bundles “will be withdrawn and not progress at this time”.
She plans to hold a roundtable with key stakeholders including teachers’ unions, school principals, P&C Associations, and homeschooling bodies.
“I want to make it clear that while there are many aspects of the proposed Bill that I fully support, there are a number of aspects that clearly need more time to work through to avoid any unintended consequences,” Ms Farmer said.
“I have listened to education stakeholders who have made it clear both through the committee process and through ongoing meetings I have been having with them, that more work needs to be done.”
The Education Act Bill attracted a staggering 900 public submissions via state parliament.
The powerful Queensland Teachers’ Union said members were “appalled at proposals related to student disciplinary absences”.
“The Bill fails to contribute to the good order and management of state schools because it undermines the professional decision-making powers of school principals and will exacerbate excessive workload pressures on school leaders,” the QTU submission said.