Wage dispute: NSW teachers continue fight

Thousands of state school and TAFE teachers across New South Wales have walked off the job for two hours to protest against the State Government's latest pay offer.

The teachers will stop work for two hours from 9:00am (AEDT).

The action is part of the NSW Teachers Federation's seven-month campaign to improve the State Government's pay offer.

The federation's acting president, Bob Lipscombe, says he understands the frustration of parents over the disruption.

"Teachers are very reluctant to take industrial action. We'd hoped to avoid industrial action around these matters," he said.

Mr Lipscombe says there may be more industrial action in future.

"We're hopeful that when the Government sees the feelings of teachers in such an obvious way, as they will this morning, that they'll commence negotiations in good faith that will lead to a settlement around these issues," he said.

"But unfortunately if the Government is not prepared to reach some accommodation around these matters, then certainly consideration will need to be given to that in the future."

The Education Department says 90 per cent of schools will remain open, but parents should check directly with their children's school if unsure.

The department's director-general, Michael Coutts-Trotter, says he is disappointed teachers are pushing ahead with the action.

SA teachers to strike today

Half-day strike in SA schools over pay.

Some South Australian public schools will be closed this morning as teachers rally for a pay increase from the State Government.

Teachers unanimously knocked back the Government's pay offer of a 12.5 per cent rise over three years, and are still demanding 21 per cent.

More than 400 schools and preschools will close until a 12.15pm, while nearly 360 will operate as normal.

Anne Crawford from the Education Union says teachers are insulted by the Government's offer.

"The wage rise they have offered is fundamentally less than the cost of living, less than the CPI and the Government has completely forgotten about school leaders, preschool directors, TAFE employees and non-teaching staff," she said.

The Union's state president, Correna Haythorpe, says teachers voted unanimously to strike for a bigger rise.

"We know that over 80 per cent of our members have voted in favour for the stop-work action and parents are advised to make contact with their local schools," she said.

Jan Andrews from the Education Department says parents should already know if their children will be affected by today's strike.

She says year 12 students will not be disadvantaged.

"Schools are prioritising the needs of those students and I'm told that the AEU has had some regard to that as well," she said.

"But the programs in schools that have been affected have been tailored around the year 12s so that their work won't be interrupted even if those children are working at home."

NSW teachers continue transfer fight

Teachers from about 30 schools across New South Wales will stop work for two hours today as part of ongoing industrial action against the new transfer system.

A rally is also being planned outside Chifley College in Sydney's west in support of a teacher who was blocked by the Education Department from making a service transfer to fill a vacancy at a school of her choice.

Six schools in western Sydney will be closed between 9:00am and 11:00am (AEST) so teachers can attend the stop-work meeting.

The deputy president of the NSW Teachers Federation, Bob Lipscombe, says his members are angry about new staffing rules that will not allow the transfer of a Mt Druitt High School teacher.

"High schools in the Mt Druitt area will for all intents and purposes close during the stop-work," he said.

"The teachers there are very angry about what's happened. They're very upset about the staffing changes the State Government and Department of Education have put in place, and they're making their feelings known today."

The director-general of the Education Department, Michael Coutts-Trotter, says the action may affect the operation of up to 50 schools but will temporarily close only six.

"Parents have been notified that in the case of six schools in western Sydney," he said.

"The schools will be shut for two hours this morning in a completely unnecessary stop-work meeting. Those six schools will be effectively opening two hours later than normal."

Thousands of teachers walk off the job

Teachers will stop work for two hours from 9am (AEST), in a dispute over staff transfers and the Government's 2.5 per cent pay rise ceiling.

The NSW Teachers Federation has urged 2240 principals to close their schools and has refused to authorise minimal supervision for 750,000 students.

However, Education Department director-general Michael Coutts-Trotter said 88 per cent of schools would remain open during the strike period.

About 250 schools will have no supervision for students, he said.

"Parents have been advised of alternative arrangements by school newsletter or a note home and some schools have placed advice on their websites," he said.

The Government is planning to end the current transfer system, which gives priority for sought-after positions to teachers who have spent time at hard-to-staff schools.

Teachers Federation president Maree O'Halloran said the backlash from today's industrial action was worthwhile if it secured higher pay, retention of the transfer system and proper funding of public schools.

"When you take industrial action you could get the community offside," she said.

"But when you're dealing with the type of government we've got, it seems that nothing other than a crisis makes them listen.

"For these two hours they (the students) won't have lessons.

"But if the State Government doesn't start funding schools and TAFE colleges properly, doesn't start paying teachers properly and doesn't put the transfer system back in place there will be lots of schools who don't have enough teachers."

Ms O'Halloran would not comment on the possibility of future industrial action, saying the federation had successfully negotiated with the department in the past.

Students finishing school 'without basic skills'

A leading education researcher is calling for national education standards to be imposed, saying that many students finish high school lacking basic reading and writing skills.

Professor Geoff Masters from the Council for Educational Research says minimum literacy and numeracy standards should be implemented across Australia.

He says most students can complete 13 years of school and be awarded a senior certificate without having to demonstrate that they have met minimum standards in areas including literacy and numeracy.

Professor Masters says the national minimum standards should be set after the issue is debated nationally.

In New South Wales the head of the Board of Studies, Dr John Bennett, says students are tested regularly in literacy and numeracy and he will not accept a national system which dilutes the the state's standards.

"Any moves for a national curriculum or national standards and so forth we'll look at closely, but they would have to be an improvement on what we have currently got," he said.

"In New South Wales, students are tested in literacy and numeracy in years three, five, seven and nine and they're also tested in the School Certificate in English, Mathematics, Science, History and Geography, Civics and Citizenship and Computing skills."

"All of these tests clearly show the standards students have achieved."

Quote: If students are leaving school without basic skills then swap Citizenship with Social Responsibilities, Communication and Conflict Resolution. That will help them with literacy and keep them out of jail.

Remote teachers to strike over housing

Teachers in far north Queensland will hold 24-hour strikes in the next two weeks over the state of their housing.

Around 500 teachers from 28 schools in the Torres Strait, Cape York and Gulf of Carpentaria will stop work on July 31 and August 6.

Queensland Teachers Union president Steve Ryan said the action followed stop-work meetings in April.

"Teachers ... are living in insecure, leaking, rundown, sub-standard accommodation," Mr Ryan said.

"Yet the state budget announced in June utterly failed to deliver the funding levels required to provide safe, secure, adequate and sufficient housing in these areas."

Details of strike times and schools affected are available on the website www.qtu.asn.au

Teachers walk out

Teachers will stage a 24-hour strike today following the NSW government's refusal to negotiate over new staffing arrangements.

The strike, which the union has flagged as the beginning of a wider industrial campaign, is expected to disrupt classes at all public schools in NSW.

Education Minister John Della Bosca said while some schools would be forced to close, the majority would provide supervision for students.

Teachers from 2,200 public schools and 400 TAFE colleges will rally in Sydney as part of the strike over the changes, in particular a phase-out of the service transfer scheme.

The scheme gives priority in appointments to teachers who accumulate points for years of service in remote areas or other regions where it is difficult to attract staff.

The government wants school principals to have the power to directly employ staff, and not necessarily take them from the transfer list.

NSW Teachers Federation vice-president Gary Zadkovich said yesterday schools would struggle to retain teachers without the scheme.

"This industrial campaign will continue. There will be further disruption to student's education. Parents will be inconvenienced," Mr Zadkovich said.

"No one wants this. We appeal to the minister, to the director-general, (to) return to the negotiation table. We can work this out."

But Mr Della Bosca said the government would not back down, saying the changes give teachers better employment options.

"We can't budge on this position because it's good for public education ... to make sure that schools have a say in the teachers that come to their schools," he said.

Mr Della Bosca said the federation's threat of more strikes was regrettable.

"It's something that shouldn't happen," he said.

Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell lambasted the government's failure to reach a deal.

"It's never acceptable to use the public as a bargaining chip in a dispute between the government and any union," Mr O'Farrell said.

Parents also have urged teachers and the government to reach a compromise, saying students were the ones who would ultimately suffer.

"Parents care greatly about the future of the teaching profession, but its discussions and actions should not impact the teaching and learning that occurs in the classroom," NSW P&C president Dianne Giblin said.

Updated: 2:00pm (AEST)

Teachers to continue strikes

NSW teachers will continue rolling industrial action next month until the government changes its plans.

Thousands of teachers have turned out for a rally in Sydney today outside the state government and education department offices at Farrer Place.

Waving colourful banners and signs lampooning Education Minister John Della Bosca, the rallying teachers chanted "quality teachers here we are, Della Bosca's gone too far".

NSW Teachers Federation president Maree O'Halloran said industrial action was set to continue next month.

On June 14, teachers would vote on another statewide strike to be held early in term three, which begins on July 28, she said.

"For 15 years, teachers have been able to negotiate with both Labor and coalition governments a mixed staffing system which contains local choice and transfers," Ms O'Halloran said in a statement.

"With 16,000 teachers eligible to retire by 2012, it is clearly possible to allow transfers to occur and accommodate more local choice.

"However, finding a solution does require both parties to be willing to negotiate.

"Teachers stand ready to do so in the interests of public education."

Union urges PM to act on Stolen Generations promise

The Australian Education Union (AEU) wants the Federal Government to follow Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generations with a significant funding boost for Indigenous education in the Northern Territory.

AEU president Angelo Gavrielatos says despite the intentions of the Federal and Territory governments to improve the standards, funding is still inadequate.

"Kevin Rudd's sentiment in terms of what he decides for Indigenous students and all students is correct," he said.

"The sentiment expressed by the Northern Territory Government in terms of Indigenous educational outcomes is also correct but it falls in the absence of adequate resourcing and adequate funding."

In his apology to Indigenous Stolen Generations, Mr Rudd resolved over the next five years to have every Indigenous 4-year-old child attending an early childhood facility.

The AEU argues this will not happen under current funding.

"It's now time to give substance to the education revolution and it's also time to give substance to what needs to happen beyond the national apology - it's time for the Rudd Government to invest dramatically in education and invest dramatically in Indigenous education," Mr Gavrielatos said.

The AEU will meet in Darwin today to reiterate its call for $1.7 billion to be invested in the Territory over the next five years to improve the poor education standards of Aboriginal children.

Mr Gavrielatos says the Commonwealth must significantly increase funding for an extra 14,000 teachers.

"It requires a dramatic investment in teachers and it requires a dramatic investment in infrastructure,'' he said.

NT Eduction Minister Marion Scrymgour says there has been an increase in funding from the Territory Government.

"None of it's easy - if we found an easy solution for this many years ago it would have been implemented,'' she said.

The AEU estimates 7,500 Indigenous children in the Territory are not getting an education.

Related:

Union calls for $2.9b to fund education shortfall
The Education Union is calling on the Federal Government to provide an extra $2.9 billion in funding for public schools

Govt, union defend remote community schooling
The Centre for Independent Studies says Aboriginal students in the Northern Territory are finishing school with the numeracy and literacy skills of five-year-olds.

Govt, union defend remote community schooling

The Centre for Independent Studies says Aboriginal students in the Northern Territory are finishing school with the numeracy and literacy skills of five-year-olds.

The "Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory" report says the Territory education system in the bush is second rate and is forcing Aboriginal people into a lifetime of welfare dependence.

Professor Helen Hughes says remote schools don't follow mainstream curricula, have inadequate space and lack sufficient teaching materials, and argues 10,000 young Indigenous people in the Territory are unemployable because they can't speak English, are illiterate and non-numerate.

Professor Hughes says the Territory Government has known for 10 years that the education system for Aboriginal students isn't working, but has failed to act.

The Northern Territory Education Minister Marion Scrymgour says the claims are based on one remote school and can't be substantiated.

"Helen Hughes is talking about Yilparra. I just find it astounding that she bases a report and a generalisation across the Northern Territory Aboriginal communities based on one small homeland centre that she has visited."

The Northern Territory president of the Australian Education Union Nadine Williams has also attacked the report, saying teachers in Aboriginal communities are being unfairly targeted.

"It would be helpful if Helen Hughes had ever been to some of the places she's talking about and if she could possibly cease to stop generalising from a number of individual children and young adults she's met and had experience with to what she says are all homeland schools or all remote schools."

The Territory Opposition Leader Terry Mills says the Professor Hughes report concerns him and he wants an independent inquiry to determine the standard of Aboriginal education in the bush.

"The Territory Government has no option but to immediately implement an independent assessment as to whether the claims made by Professor Helen Hughes are correct or not. Now there is no other option."

Teachers urge Govt to stem school violence

New South Wales teachers say the State Government should be putting more resources into tackling violence in public schools, after it was revealed 252 official reports of assault or serious threats were made last year.

The figures are contained in reports released by the state's Education Department, which show more than 10 per cent of the state's schools reported at least one serious incident in the six months to September last year.

The figures also show a drop of more than 15 per cent in the number of pupils expelled for misbehaviour, pointing to an increase in suspensions for problem pupils.

The department says more than 13,000 long suspensions were handed out last year - a rise of more than 1,000 from the previous year.

NSW Teachers Federation president Maree O'Halloran says programs such as special suspension centres are underfunded.

"There's a very long waiting list for the special suspension centres," she said.

"Secondly, there's a general issue of professional development of teachers for behaviour management - putting money into developing the skills of teachers. That's something the department is not doing enough of."

Reporting concerns

A report in today's Daily Telegraph says instances of drug use, bullying and teacher assaults are not being recorded after changes to the reporting procedure.

A spokesman for the Education Department has denied it is covering up the full extent of crime in the state's schools.

He says changes have been made to record each incident with more accuracy and denies any censorship is taking place.

But Ms O'Halloran says the department is sifting through the information and reporting fewer incidents.

"I think the number of instances where there have been an issue in school about safety may be greater," she said.

"What the department collects now is the very serious instances. There is probably some low-level disruption that still causes distress that's no longer reported."

Govt defends funding

However, NSW Education Minister John Della Bosca says the figures released by the Education Department show more resources and greater authority given to school principals are working.

"They're making sure that schools are becoming safer and safer places, and that teaching and learning is happening in schools and disruption is minimised," he said.

Mr Della Bosca says schools remain among the safest places in the community and students are responding to disciplinary measures.

"It sends a strong message both to the student, the school and to the family that community standards and expectations need to be met," he said.

"What we're finding is 88 per cent of students who are sent to a suspension centre or a behaviour school learn their lessons, improve their behaviour and don't need to return."

Related:

Principals agree: cut out social subjects
"The curriculum is far too crowded and we know from our research that not all schools can do what is being asked of them," she said. "The social responsibilities being placed on primary schools are ever increasing, taking time and resources away from our core business."