Schools saved. I got it wrong, says Nick McKim, but I listened

Tasmania’s Education Minister Nick McKim has just announced he is no longer closing any schools.

Cabinet made the decision today.

Mr McKim has admitted he got the process wrong.

More to come on … ABC Online HERE

Earlier on Tasmanian Times, Steve Biddulph: Saving Our Schools

TFGA welcomes McKim announcement on school closures

The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association tonight welcomed Education Minister Nick McKim’s announcement that the 20 schools under threat would not close, saying common sense had prevailed.

“This was never the right way to go about saving money in the Education Department,” TFGA chief executive Jan Davis said, “nor was it the right template for including parents and school communities in the decision-making process.

“Mr McKim has rightly apologised for the unnecessary angst he has caused throughout the state, particularly in rural communities. We have had to deal with it first-hand.”

Ms Davis said the 20 schools in question had only been given a reprieve until the end of 2012.

“Until Mr McKim comes up with the right consultative process in which we can all have confidence, there will be a black cloud hanging over those schools and the communities that revolve around them.”

She said the Government now had to accept the special place that country schools hold within their rural communities, no matter how small.

• What Nick McKim says:

The Minister for Education and Skills, Nick McKim, today announced the Government has listened to the community and will not proceed further with its current process to consider up to 20 schools for closure.

Mr McKim said State Cabinet had today decided to halt the current process and all schools would operate as planned next year.

He said he understood the current process caused significant distress for students, parents, staff and their local communities.

“I acknowledge the pain and hurt that resulted from the announcement that up to 20 schools would be considered for closure and I apologise for that,” Mr McKim said.

“The potential closure of any school is a highly emotive issue and I am genuinely sorry for the anxiety that has been caused to all involved.

“I always said that I was engaged in a genuine consultation process, and I hope that people can now see that was the case.

“While we are not proceeding with the current process, the Government is not walking away from this issue. The fact is that Government school enrolments are declining significantly every year and we need to address this challenge.

“We will now engage in genuine consultation, which I hope will lead to a broad consensus about how we tackle this issue in the future.

“We got the process wrong, but we have listened to the community’s concerns and acted on them.

“It is an important part of our democracy that Governments are responsive to the communities they represent.

“I know my political opponents will see this as a show of weakness but I believe it takes strength to admit when you are wrong and move forward.

“My focus as Minister will always be on providing the best possible educational opportunities for Tasmanian students but we need to do it in a more consultative way.

“It became apparent to me after visiting eight of the schools being considered for closure that we should have engaged with school communities before the announcement was made.

“It has become clear that we need to devise a new process that has broad community consensus to address concerns about the viability of some schools. That is what we will now do.

“All schools will operate as planned for the 2012 school year and I will be writing to all school associations to confirm this position.”

Mr McKim said that he will now establish a reference group to consult widely and advise him on a new process by the end of this year.

“I will be in a position to announce the make-up of this reference group and its terms of reference in the near future,” he said.

“I asked the Department of Education to identify and deliver savings to the value of $24 million over four years.

“The Department has advised me that it will withdraw the additional $2 million for Raising the Bar Closing the Gap 7 Up initiative which was allocated in the 2011-12 State Budget as additional support beyond the level already allocated in schools.

“This funding was intended to support even more schools to improve students’ functional literacy and numeracy skills in years seven and up.

“A further $2 million will also be withdrawn from the funding allocated to Learning Services who currently support schools in their areas of the State. This will include further restructure of Learning Services.”