New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says his government “fully supports” parental choice in the education system after the head of NSW’s 2200 public schools questioned whether non-government schools should exist. Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
NSW Education secretary Murat Dizdar kicked off a fierce row on Monday after he told the ABC the provision of private schools needed to be “debated and discussed”.
“We’ve had countries across the world that have been very successful on their educational path with one provision, and that’s been a public provision,” he said.
Mr Dizdar’s comments sparked intense backlash from Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney, who condemned them as “outrageously bad and very worrying for Catholic education”.
“Thankfully, the department does not make policy; it is charged with implementing government policy,” he said.
Mr Minns yesterday said the Government supported parents’ choice when it comes to schooling, adding the system gives people “the opportunity to enrol their kids in a religious education, a Catholic education and independent education”.
“And that’s a that’s a good thing. We’re certainly not going to stop it or change policies in relation to it,” Mr Minns said.
“We think it’s fundamental when it comes to the education system in NSW.”
He said the Government’s responsibility was to “ensure that we have world-class public education … so there is a genuine choice”.
Mr Dizdar’s remarks were made in an article published on the ABC’s news website ahead of his profile on an Australian Story episode titled Class Wars on Monday night.
However, hours before the program aired, Mr Dizdar appeared to walk back his comments, saying they “were not intended to disrespect the good work of my colleagues in other sectors”.
NSW Education Minister Prue Car said there was an important role for Catholic and independent schools, and the three sectors work together in “a collegiate way.”
National Catholic Education Commission executive director Jacinta Collins said Catholic schools “have a 200-year history serving alongside the government sector and catering to some of the most disadvantaged areas in Australia”.
“Each week, we read about the funding wars, the culture wars, the ideological wars, and the reading wars in education. It’s perpetuating a divisive culture focused on battling each other rather than focusing on improvement for all students,” Ms Collins said.
FULL STORY
‘We support parent choice’: Uproar over NSW schools chief’s push to reconsider private schools (By Lucy Carroll and Christopher Harris, Sydney Morning Herald)
