Education Amendment Bill 2008
OBJECTIVES:
The Christian Democratic Party support the Education Amendment Bill 2008. The Bill amends the Education Act 1990 with respect to overseas students and admission to government schools; and for other purposes. The objectives of the Bill are as follows:
Firstly, it confirms that overseas students may be required to pay fees in order to attend government schools.
Secondly, the Bill gives principals of government schools the power to require proof of a child’s name, age, and residential address prior to the enrolment of that child at the school.
Thirdly, it adds the Department of Corrective Services to the list of agencies that may be asked to provide certain information about students in relation to health and safety at schools.
Finally, the Bill makes other minor amendments in respect of admission to government schools, exemption from attendance, district councils, and adult students.
COMMENTS:
Background Information
Sydney is a magnet for overseas students and consequently NSW draws the largest proportion of international students with approximately half of the national total.
Quality educational infrastructure plays a vital role in the State’s economic development and competitiveness. NSW’s education assets – its universities, technical colleges, and government and private schools – produce world-renowned graduates.
NSW is a leading supplier of education services, both in national and regional markets. As well as the high standard of teaching and facilities, the State’s desirable quality of life, good climate, secure political environment, and comparatively low living and educational costs contribute to its attractiveness as a regional centre for education for international students.
In the past decade, we have seen a great influx of students to this country. Many come from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, and other countries. The provision of education services to international students provides a number of benefits to NSW. These include: relationships with other countries and societies are built, participation in globalised knowledge creation takes place, and ‘brain gains’ occur when overseas high school students make the transition to university studies.
The contribution of overseas students to the NSW economy is substantial. According to the Australian Education International (AEI) data, there were around 135,000 international students on student visas enrolled across the NSW education system – including universities, government schools, vocational education, and training institutes – in 2005, representing 39% of the national total.
Payment of fees by overseas students
Section 31 of the Education Act 1990 provides that “instruction provided in government schools is to be free of charge”. Nevertheless overseas students are charged a fee to study in NSW government schools. The States of Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, western Australia, and Tasmania all have legislation allowing them to impose fees on overseas students attending government schools, although the details of the legislation differ in each State.
Financial contributions have been collected from overseas students studying in NSW government schools since the early 1990s. Overseas students, most of whom are from China and are on temporary visas, pay between $10,400 and $12,300 a year to attend a public high school. The program has attracted more than 2,000 overseas students to NSW public schools each year since 2003, generating $78.8 million in revenue. In excess of $35 million was paid for the enrolment of these students in NSW in the last financial year. In NSW, full-fee paying students are enrolled in more than 190 schools across the State. More than 30 government schools have each enrolled more than 20 of international students.
Under the proposed scheme, the Director General of the NSW Department of Education and Training will have the discretion to set fees to be paid by overseas students or classes of overseas students studying at government schools. This will include students who travel to Australia under a student visa and the children of temporary residents of Australia. These fees will be published on the department’s website. The Director General will also have the power to exempt an overseas student or class of overseas students from any requirement to pay a fee and to order the refund of a fee that has been paid.
No new categories of fee-paying students will be created by the legislation and this scheme will not apply to Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia. The Director General will take steps to ensure that the current categories of exemptions from the requirement to pay fees, such as those given to residents of Norfolk Island and participants in students exchange programs, will be retained. Existing requirements to give access to education to New Zealanders will also continue to be honoured.
However, the Department of Education and Training’s power to charge these fees is vulnerable to legal challenge because of section 31 of the Education Act 1990 (which provides that instruction in government schools is free).
While an argument could be made that section 31 does not prevent the collection of fees from visiting overseas students (essentially because they would not be though of to be within the class of persons who have a legal right to enrol in a local school) the success of this argument is open to doubt.
Legislation governing the State’s educational system must be flexible in order to sufficiently address the needs of students while still ensuring that rigorous standards are maintained.
Obtaining proof of a student’s name, age, and residential address
Section 22 of the Education Act 1990 requires parents to enrol a child between the age of 6 and 15 in a school or to register that child for home schooling.
Subsection 34(2) of the Education Act 1990 provides that a child is entitled to be enrolled at the government school that is designated for the intake area in which the child’s home is situated at that the child is eligible to attend.
While it is standard practice for a principal to ask a parent who is enrolling a child for proof of the child’s identity, age and residential address some parents refuse to provide this information or even provide false information to the principal.
This can lead to the enrolment of a child who is too young to be at school or who lives out of the drawing area of the school. It can also result in a child who has been removed from the custody of one parent by another in breach of family courts being enrolled under a false name.
This Bill also amends the Education Act to empower a principal to require a person seeking to enrol a child at a school to provide proof to the satisfaction of the principal of the child’s identity, date of birth, and home address. This may include a requirement to produce any document or to provide a statutory declaration or both. The Director General may terminate the enrolment of a child at a government school if the child was enrolled as a result of providing false information.
Adding the NSW Department of Corrective Services to the list of agencies in relation to health and safety at schools
The Bill further amends the Education Act to add the Department of Corrective Services to the list of agencies that can be asked to provide information to schools about students with a history of violent behaviour.
Making other minor amendments in respect of admission to government schools in respect of admission to government schools, exemption from attendance, district councils, and adult students
Section 22 of the Education Act provides that a child must attend school at all times when the school is open for the child’s instruction or participation in school activities. The Education Act is being amended to clarify what factors can be taken into account when determining whether or not a child can be accommodated at a particular school.
Section 25 of the Education Act provides that the Minister for Education and Training can exempt a child from being enrolled at a school. Exemptions of this nature are usually given when expert evidence indicates that a child who is of usually compulsory school age is not yet ready to be at school. Such an exemption would be granted to meet a student’s personal circumstances.
An example of where this may be necessary is when a child who has been ill for sometime is transitioning back to full time schooling. Such a child may attend school for only some of the time initially and then work their way back up to full time attendance. Moreover, the Principal may make part time attendance for student returning from long suspension.
Section 34 of the Education Act provides that the parent of a child may enrol the child at any government school if the school can accommodate the child. The bill amends section 34 of the Act to make clear what the school being able to “accommodate the child” means. The question of whether a school can accommodate a child becomes relevant when the parents apply to enrol the child in a school that is not designated for the local area in which they live. The Act will now make clear that a child’s age, the type of school chosen by the parents, the resources allocated to the school, and its existing classroom facilities will be able to be considered when a decision is made whether or not the child can be accommodated at the school.
CONCLUSION:
Education is a basic human right, vital to personal and societal development and well-being. The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, which Australia is a signatory member, protects children’s rights by setting standards in education; health care; and legal, civil, and social services.
Education enhances lives. Education is the key to the new global economy, from primary school on up to life long learning. It is central to development, social progress, and human freedom.
I, therefore, welcome the Education Amendment Bill 2008 and I commend it to the House.
