[Greens-Media] Government failing its duty to care

[Manderson, Roland]

=======================================
ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey MEDIA RELEASE
=======================================
  

14 Sept 06


Government failing its duty to care

ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey today said that the revelation that Indigenous
children would be inordinately affected by the Towards 2020 strategy
showed that the ACT Government must support her bill for a moratorium on
school closures.

"I am deeply concerned that some of our community's most vulnerable
children and families will either lose their schools or have them
significantly changed" said Dr Foskey.

"These figures - released by Save Our Schools, Canberra - confirm what I
had observed as I visited targeted schools and asked about the students
who attended them."

"Aboriginal children are one of the groups most affected by this
un-researched plan."

"It's appalling that this information had to come from concerned people
and not the Minister nor the Education Department. The ACT Government
clearly hasn't done any risk analysis or it doesn't care that the
students who need the most consideration are having their schools pulled
out from under them."

"I think it's an inevitable result of a hastily drawn-up and
ill-conceived 'plan', and shows how little the ACT Government has
thought about the real impact of its attack on public schools."

"Experience shows that these students are more likely to thrive where
teachers know their strengths and weaknesses."

"They are in danger of falling through ever-widening cracks if school is
further away and harder to get to."

"Since this goes directly against the Government's obligations and
commitment to improve the educational outcomes of Indigenous students,
and against its own Social Plan, I expect it to put Towards 2020 on the
shelf, at least for a year, and go back a step or two."

"The criteria for any changes to public education should be how best to
assist all students, particularly the most vulnerable, not just how much
money can be saved."

"If my bill is passed next week, we can start the work of answering that
question," said Dr Foskey.

================================
Roland Manderson   Media Advisor
ACT   Greens    MLA  Deb  Foskey  
Legislative Assembly for the ACT 
ph(02)62050551      m 0412241379
====== www.debfoskey.com ======= 
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This email, and any attachments, may be confidential and also privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender and delete all copies of this transmission along with any attachments immediately. You should not copy or use it for any purpose, nor disclose its contents to any other person.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------