Submission from the Tasmanian Council of State School Parents and Friends Associations Inc
Introduction
- The costs for families associated with education for children in rural and/or remote areas
- The equity and adequacy of social security and other provisions to support children in education
- Funding models for education and related services, including transport and accommodation
- Teacher incentives, professional development and retention
- The quality of distance education
- The quality of technological support for teaching and learning in rural and/or remote areas
- The cultural appropriateness of education services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their communities
- Community Leadership
- Culture of Complaint?
- Conflicting Interests
- Sexual Minority Groups
- Conclusion
Sources of Information for the Submission
Bibliography
Introduction
The Tasmanian Council of State School Parents and Friends Associations includes in the preface to its policy document the following statement:
"The Tasmanian Council of State School Parents and Friends Associations holds than an education should be provided to all which enables the development of their abilities.This provision should ensure that all achieve their maximum potential irrespective of capacity to pay, class, disability, gender, culture, level of ability or where they live."
Therefore, when Tas Council received notice of this inquiry, Executive gave its full support to the School Community Liaison Officer to arrange consultation sessions for parents in outlying areas of Tasmania. Six consultation meetings were held at Zeehan Primary School, Smithton Primary School and Smithton High School, St. Mary's District High School, Winnaleah District High School and Geeveston District High School (see map, Appendix A). Parents involved in all local schools adjacent to these centres were invited to participate. By this means, approximately 60 parents from geographically disparate areas of Tasmania (not including the Bass Strait Islands) were able to directly express their feelings and thoughts about what it's like to educate children in rural and remote Tasmania.
The Youth Research Centre at the University of Melbourne made contact with Tas Council, and thus was able to arrange for surveys of parents, students and staff to be circulated prior to the consultation sessions. To date, approximately 200 surveys have been forwarded to the Centre from Tas Council, and others have been forwarded by individuals or schools utilising the REPLY PAID facility.
The consultation sessions were informal, and each participant received a copy of Bush Talks and the Terms of Reference to which we referred during the meetings. Participants were informed that their discussion feedback would be included in Tas Council's submission, but that they could also make individual or group submissions according to the invitation included in the Terms of Reference document.
Many parents appreciated this opportunity to contribute to the national inquiry.
These were advertised as parent meetings, but occasionally principals or teaching staff participated and where appropriate their comments have been included. It became apparent that the personal and social issues for teaching professionals are sometimes quite different to those of the parent population.
The topics cited in the Terms of Reference are addressed, and some others which became apparent during the course of the meetings. Reports which were prepared for participating parents and schools have been included in Appendix B. This submission is a summary of these reports, which contain anecdotal and specific details.
1. The costs for families associated with education for children in rural and/or remote areas
All parents agreed that there were costs associated with schooling in rural and remote areas which were not applicable in urban situations. Some costs are borne by schools, others by parents. These relate to:
- Sporting events and school-related activities such as camps, learn-to-swim campaigns
- Cultural opportunities, eg excursions to major centres to see performances, or performances brought to schools
- Boarding costs for senior secondary students and tertiary students not able to live at home, especially where the student was not eligible for the Common Youth Allowance
- Transport and fuel costs borne by parents wishing to give their children sporting or cultural experiences during non-school time.
Details and particular examples are included in the summary sheets attached.
2. The equity and adequacy of social security and other provisions to support children in education
As mentioned above, the common youth allowance is only available to families on limited incomes. In small rural communities, it is difficult for young adult children to be dependent on their parents, even though in some cases they have dependent children themselves.
Tasmania has a large number of students who access the Basic Boarding Allowance (non-means tested) under the provisions of the Commonwealth's Assistance for Isolated Children, which enables senior secondary students to live away from home to attend college provided the geographic location of their homes fulfils certain requirements.
The State government also pays a senior secondary accommodation allowance for students in Grades 11-12 of $828 per annum, non-means tested. Some parents had accessed this payment.
Some parents feel the extra assistance given to children of aboriginal descent in Tasmania is discriminatory. Examples were cited of non-aboriginal students not being able to access additional help in the form of tutoring provided for aboriginal students. This perception has obvious implications for aboriginal students and parents in the way they are regarded by and relate to other members of the community.
3. Funding models for education and related services, including transport and accommodation
Tasmanian schools each receive a School Resource Package, which is funding based upon the number of children in the school, socio-economic factors, and rurality. Thus, schools are entitled to extra funds if they are 75 kilometres or more from an urban centre of more than 50,000. Distance factors also influence the disbursement of Commonwealth government funds through program such as the Literacy Program (formerly Country Areas and Disadvantaged Schools Programs).
In one case, the fact that it was half a kilometre less than the required distance signficantly affected one school's budget.
Tasmania's education system, though based in Hobart, is administered through six education districts. Each district has developed particular ways of administration and various models for the disbursement of funds and the provision of services.
Some districts have found it difficult to employ specialists such as speech pathologists, and relief teachers are either non-existent or fully employed in some areas such as the West Coast which is in the Arthur District (refer to Appendix A).
Many schools rely on bus contractors to bring their students to school, and there are some problems associated with contractors who follow the guidelines but whose timetables are seen to disadvantage rural students.
Excursions and essential trips are usually very costly. The driver's time must be paid for, even when not actually driving the bus, eg waiting while students attend performances, sporting carnivals, etc., and the cost of getting a bus to the school to collect children is also levied. The transport budgets of schools are usually stretched to cover essentials, which means that some worthwhile but not essential activities, eg participation in an eisteddfod, are not always given high priority for funding. The time taken to get to events by bus is another impost on both the students and accompanying teachers, and this is recognised by parents.
Parents expressed a high level of dissatisfaction with accommodation facilities, especially in Launceston and Hobart. Sometimes, students in Year 7 (approximately 12 years) are boarding in the same establishments as senior secondary students (16-18 years), with varying levels of supervision and assistance with homework. The cost associated with this (approximately $140 per week) had made this option impossible for at least one family represented in the meetings. Where families had made the effort to send senior secondary students away so that they could access specialist subjects, it also necessitated the provision of a motor vehicle so that the students could get to college at times when public transport was not available (which is very often, in some regional centres).
4. Teacher incentives, professional development and retention
Parents want school teachers to show more commitment to these local schools. In many cases, the principal lives elsewhere and either drives to the school each day, or lives in the community for a short week. However, the financial incentives to live in these communities which used to include very cheap rental of department-owned housing, and free or subsidized electricity, no longer apply. Consequently, married teachers or principals with families do not always bring their families with them, but commute to a home-base elsewhere. The relatively short distances involved in Tasmania make this a possibility.
Recent staffing practices, including the large number of temporary teachers employed especially in outlying areas, discourage the settlement of teachers in communities where they do not have guaranteed future employment.
Access to professional development is sometimes practically impossible, due to the unavailability of relief staff. Sometimes PD is restricted to original area of expertise. Thus, a music teacher required to teach woodwork in Queenstown, can only access PD related to music teaching.
Parents want their children to have access to specialist teaching in physical education, art, music, library and drama. All schools in Tasmania have had to make choices about how they utilise their full-time equivalent (FTE) hours, and if numbers are too low in small rural schools, it is not possible to employ additional specialist teachers even if they are available in the community.
Where community members have specialised skills which they are prepared to demonstrate for the benefit of students, their volunteer status has sometimes encouraged behaviour problems amongst students and a degree of resentment that they (the volunteers) are providing skills at no charge but teachers must be present for duty of care reasons, and are paid.
The Department of Education had a large stock of housing throughout Tasmania, which has been drastically reduced. Adults who accept teaching positions in outlying areas often have to share accommodation with other adults or younger teachers, and thus their privacy and choice is compromised. This is especially the case for married teachers with families elsewhere. Sometimes teachers find student motivation and behaviour particularly challenging in these settings, and after a very hard day at work, are forced to return home alone or to company not chosen. It is not surprising therefore that these teachers do not seek to remain longer than absolutely necessary. Sometimes the lack of privacy in rural areas, and the inability to draw a distinction between work and home, cause temporary teachers to "give up" much sooner than expected or hoped.
5. The quality of distance education
One of the benefits of information technology is that some minority interest subjects, such as languages, may be studied in outlying areas through videoconference facilities. Where senior secondary annexes or subjects are available in district high schools, these are supported by the senior secondary college in the district which offers course material and some tutoring. The comment was made that a college was extremely slow in sending out materials to students.
Parents whose children are enrolled with the Tasmanian Open Learning Service (TOLS) which provides education services to rural and remote students, have made a submission to this inquiry also.
The Department of Education also makes an allowance of $1,000 for primary students and $1,500 for secondary students to defray the costs associated with long distance education, eg telephone costs.
6. The quality of technological support for teaching and learning in rural and/or remote areas
Due to an initiative of the previous Liberal state government which has been maintained by the current Labor government, some of Tasmania's outlying areas now have public access to the internet and education services delivered via the Net. Access centres have been established in many centres, sometimes housed within existing premises such as the school or community library.
Recently, the Minister for Education announced the immediate roll-out of more computers to all schools. One rural high school has experienced significant networking problems, and the cost of accessing specialist technicians is high and involves significant travel. Thus, in this school a significant amount of teaching time had been lost due to the computer system being unavailable.
7. The cultural appropriateness of education services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their communities
Only in one location was Aboriginality raised. One Aboriginal parent of identified herself, but no other ethnic or racial groups were represented. However, a parent meeting on another subject early in 1999 in a country area was attended by a Filipino woman who elected to leave because she found the language impossible to understand, even after more than 10 years in the town. She had been invited and genuinely welcomed, but her discomfiture continued and she left the meeting.
The Department of Education includes an Aboriginal Education Unit, and also employs aboriginal education officers and workers in each district. At a recent conference attended by the School Community Liaison officer, parents of aboriginal students expressed the following wishes:
- that school/home communication be based on mutual respect
- that teachers communicate with them in terms they can understand
- that teachers not only hear what they say, but listen (which involves time)
- that true partnerships based on equality develop between parents and schools
- that they be genuinely welcomed into schools which display symbols of indigenous culture.
The Commonwealth government funds Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Awareness groups in schools. Some schools find it difficult to attract aboriginal parents even to groups such as this, for a variety of historical and cultural reasons. In other cases, active ASSPA groups contribute in significant ways to the whole school community, and are highly valued.
Other issues
8. Community Leadership
Many small rural communities are grappling with social problems such as unemployment, and present quite challenging workplaces for teachers. Principals are sometimes forced into "social work", due to lack of any other readily available specialist. Some rural communities have been described as in a state of mourning, due to the closure of employment outlets, gradual shifting away of population, including youth and dwindling of services. In some communities, teachers are expected to provide leadership, sporting and cultural as well as educational. The local inhabitants do not always take up initiatives even when instigated by local councils. One principal commented that following the closure of the main employment engine in his rural locality and the drastic reduction in population, "the people with any get up and go have got up and gone". It was the opinion of this person that those who were left did not have the initiative to exploit the other natural advantages of the vicinity.
The wish was expressed in some meetings that teachers with some rural background or experience be appointed to their schools in the hope that they will be better prepared for the environment and will stay longer. However, the Tasmanian Education Department gives priority in staff transfers to teachers who have stayed in "non-preferred" appointments (rural or isolated) for three or five years. A minority of teachers elect to remain in rural areas long-term.
9. Culture of Complaint?
At the beginning of these meetings, participants were asked to individually complete the sentence starter "The best thing about living in my community is.' Invariably, respondents valued the closeness of the community, the support of friends or family, etc. Various ways of expressing this security were used. Often the clean environment, safety, and relative absence of distractions to youth were also mentioned. Yet these parents also expressed dissatisfaction with the educational opportunities provided, often for very small groups of students. There was acknowledgment that for example, greater subject choice would involve increased funding and this was unlikely to be provided.
One principal commented that by choosing to live in these communities, parents had to accept that the same opportunities were not be available to their children as in urban areas. This was, he said, their choice. However, this person is one of comparatively few who choose to remain in small rural towns for lifestyle reasons. In that sense, this professional was truly exercising choice: some long-term inhabitants do not feel they have a choice.
10. Conflicting Interests
It became apparent that teachers and long-term inhabitants of rural or isolated communities often have vastly different experiences and attitudes. Tas Council's meetings were designed for parents to attend, and the few teachers who participated had quite different issues which they did not necessarily feel able to raise in a parent forum. These related to living conditions and community expectations. It is to be hoped that appropriate industrial unions and employment authorities are also making submissions on behalf of their members or employees.
11. Sexual Minority Groups
This issue was raised once by the facilitator as an invitation during a meeting, but the issue was not initiated in any other consultative meetings. However a recent study of sexual minority youth in North West Tasmania (1998) revealed the difficulties faced by young people and students in coming to terms with, or living non-heterosexual lives in rural areas. The fact that no parents raised this issue illustrates that non-heterosexuality can be extremely difficult to discuss in public, whether or not it is a personal issue.
12. Conclusion
As is widely known, the situation in many parts of remote or rural Australia is challenging and the reasons are many and complex.
Most critically, young people are choosing to move away for education and are not returning. All the effects of this basic choice flow on to drastically affect rural and remote locations.
It is very difficult to know where to start in addressing this huge social and cultural change, which began thirty years ago or more. For a variety of reasons, many Australians have come to see rural life as undesirable including those born and raised in the country. Schools reflect this perception in microcosm.
The future role for school principals may be to formally undertake community leadership roles, and schools to become the springboard for community redevelopment. This is already happening informally in some settings, but obviously requires the support of government. School principals therefore should be trained appropriately for work in rural and remote settings, and work alongside other professionals such as community development officers, social workers, health professionals, tourist and other business enterprises with the aim of both reducing the isolation of these professional working lives, and making real and permanent improvements to rural communities.
Instead of rural and remote schools being seen as disadvantaged and undesirable, often by the students themselves, administrative measures should be taken to ensure that they are truly excellent schools with the best professional staff available.
Service in rural and remote Australia must also be rewarded appropriately. Whether as a principal or teacher, staff members who work in these areas should receive incentives in salary and conditions, perhaps increasing with the years of service in the country area. One suggestion is that long-service leave be accrued more quickly in rural and remote areas. It is important to change the perception that service in a country area is something to be "got over" and "behind" in the teacher's career. Teachers have lives outside school as well, and these must be interesting and enjoyable if they are to remain in rural areas. Rural communities must be encouraged to "look after" their teachers, but also to respect their privacy.
Sources of Information for the Submission
Parent Meetings: Zeehan Primary School, Smithton Primary and High Schools, St. Mary's District High School, Winnaleah District High School, Geeveston District High SchoolBibliography
Rachael Hogge, (1998), Working it Out: a needs analysis for sexual minority youth in North West Tasmania, Australian Youth Foundation.
Last updated 2 December 2001.
