Shadow Minister for Education, Jo Hersey, says the number of principal vacancies at schools right across the Territory, particularly in remote communities, is alarming.
“We are aware of a recruitment process underway for principals in at least 31 schools, including; Barunga, Peppimenarti, Tennant Creek primary, Alpurrurulam and Lajamanu.
“This ultimately means uncertainty for student, families and in some cases entire communities.
“This also has a major impact on school attendance which is shockingly low in some remote schools, and can have an impact on school funding.
“It’s incredibly concerning that just 14 percent of very remote Indigenous students attended school four days a week in 2020, according to the Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
“It’s disappointing Labor’s Education Engagement Strategy 2022-2031, released this week is little more than a glossy brochure full of buzz words without a comprehensive plan for implementation, and no method of measuring its impact.
“How does Labor expect to have a broad and diverse plan when only 21 communities across the entire Northern Territory were consulted for the strategy?
“This is nothing more than a plan for a plan. The fact a Committee to identify ‘realistic performance measures’ is yet to be established is ridiculous. Talk about putting the cart before the horse.
“The CLP supports community-led solutions to increase attendance rates because we recognise the stark difference between schools in Darwin, Gunbalanya, Borroloola, and Papunya. A CLP government would also bring back Truancy Officers, which were scrapped under Labor.
“Labor’s wage freeze, which impacts teachers right across the Territory, also presents an additional barrier to attracting and retaining teachers.
“Government would have more money to spend on recruiting and keeping teachers, particularly in the bush if Michael Gunner hadn’t maxed out the credit card on pet projects like the $12 million dodgy grandstand deal. It’s just not good enough,” said Mrs Hersey.
ENDS