PRINCIPALS' HOTLINE
282. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Premier:
I refer to the recent letter from
the Minister for Education and Training to all principals confirming that she
will be setting up a principals' hotline direct to the minister to
discuss education generally or issues at their school.
(1) Does this
suggest that the minister has no confidence in the director general, who in the
majority of cases is the direct line manager for these principals?
(2) Does the
hotline meet the standards set out in the Public Sector Management Act, which
require ministers to stay at arm's length from operational matters?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
(1)–(2) If I understand this correctly, the Nationals WA
are now criticising the Minister for Education and Training for seeking
to talk to principals across Western Australia and hear their concerns about
issues that might need to be resolved in the
education portfolio. They are criticising the minister for seeking to hear
feedback from a thousand or so principals across the state. That is an
interesting line of criticism. One day they say we do not consult enough and we
are not transparent enough, and the next day they attack us for consulting and
being transparent. It is hard to win with them! The opposition needs to work
out some consistency and strategy in what it
is saying. It needs to maintain a line on something for more than a couple of
minutes; that would be my advice to it.
The Minister for Education and
Training has decided to take a direct approach to consultation with people in
the education portfolio. I am at a loss as to what is wrong with that. It is an
opportunity to listen to principals across the state. Generally, teachers come
out of university with a diploma in education at the age of probably 22 or 23. By the time they are principals, they are in
their 30s or 40s and have huge amounts of experience. We actually have
thousands of years of experience out there amongst the principals across the
state, and the minister wants to hear from them about that. It is not like
Kennedy and Khrushchev's hotline to avoid nuclear war. I do not know
whether members recall that back in 1962, a hotline was set up between the
Kremlin and the White House. Perhaps they should see whether it is still
working! That hotline was designed to avert
nuclear war. I do not think the minister's hotline is of that
significance, but it is worth listening to our teaching workforce, and I
think that is all the education minister is trying to do.