CORONAVIRUS —
SCHOOLS
211. Hon DONNA FARAGHER to the Minister for Education and
Training:
I refer to the minister's
statement in the house today regarding COVID-19 and the response from the
education sector. Before I ask the question, I thank the minister for the
briefings that have been provided to me thus far.
(1) Can the
minister provide more detail on the change in procurement process that has been
made to assist schools in accessing soap, hand sanitiser and other products in
a timely manner?
(2) Should
schools have difficulty in obtaining these products, what process is now in
place at the department level to rectify this as soon as possible?
(3) Can the
minister provide more detail on the support team that has been put in place to
assist principals?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
not just this question, which we discussed behind the Chair, but also the
attitude and approach she has taken to how we are dealing with what is a very
difficult circumstance for education in Western Australia.
(1)–(2) On
the changes to the procurement process, the government has lifted the
requirement that schools must follow the common-user agreement to make their
purchases, so schools are able to buy from wherever they can to get the
material they need. All schools are required, and were required prior to the
outbreak of COVID-19, to have soap in their bathrooms. I know members will not
be shocked to hear this, but sometimes students treat that soap as if it were
for purposes other than washing their hands.
Several members
interjected.
Hon SUE ELLERY: I know; it
is shocking! It would not be unusual to go into a bathroom at a particular
point in time and perhaps find liquid soap
all over the floor or whatever. Nevertheless, it has always been a requirement
that soap be provided in school bathrooms. Soap is not in short supply
for schools; they have what they need.
In
addition to lifting the normal procurement arrangement so that schools can buy
as they need rather than go through a quite bureaucratic process, the
department has purchased a central store, if you like, of tissues, toilet paper
and the like, which is stored in a warehouse.
If schools need something—nobody else—it is available and will
be provided to those schools. Since
that arrangement was put in place two weeks ago, one school has requested
material from that warehouse and was provided with it immediately. There
is no issue with schools being able to get what they need to ensure the highest
levels of personal hygiene and regular handwashing. I think that answers parts
(1) and (2).
(3) On the
question asking for more detail on the support team that has been put in place
to assist principals, I can inform members
that a couple of working principals have been seconded into the department to
assist other principals. They are part of a centralised, core working
group in the department that is completely focused on providing regular, daily
assistance to principals who call in with questions around interpreting a policy
or how they should respond to a particular matter that has arisen.
These are difficult times. The
situation is still evolving. The advice we have from the Chief Health Officer
today may not be the advice that is in place
next week, so schools are having to be adaptive and flexible. I want to commend,
as I am sure the honourable member does, principals and their staff for the way
in which they are continuing to operate schools to ensure that students are
getting the best possible learning outcomes. I know that they are being
professional and calm in a set of circumstances that is testing for everybody.
I thank the honourable member for her question.