ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry speaks about the government's response to ongoing compliance problems at Brindabella Christian College on June 14, 2024
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 So, Perindybala Christian College has repeatedly been non-compliant with conditions, post-moderates
00:05 approval, hasn't paid staff superannuation time. What are you planning to do about this situation?
00:10 So, the government has a non-government schools regulator now and we've made some changes to the
00:15 Education Act to put in those regulations so that independent schools are then having to comply in
00:22 different ways and have more regulatory meetings with the Education Directorate through the regulator.
00:28 I know that the Commonwealth Government has also been looking at what's been happening with
00:33 Perindybala Christian College and are paying close attention to some of the issues that have been
00:37 raised which we know about. The Education Act requires that non-government schools comply
00:44 with various legislation including with the Tax Office, Government and other legislation.
00:50 The independent schools regulator is meeting with and working with Perindybala Christian College
00:56 to get them to comply. The last thing we want to see is a school closed. We want to try and
01:03 keep the school open and operating in the best possible way and so that's why we're continuing
01:08 to work with them. That doesn't mean that at some point in the future we might have to put in some
01:13 more regulations for that particular school around their compliance but we're just continuing to work
01:19 with them about what that might look like. Does the Registrar have the power to remove the current
01:23 proprietors of the school? Look I'll have to get some advice on that. It's more about making sure
01:29 that they apply with the regulations that apply to that particular school so we can increase
01:36 regulatory powers on the school through the independent school regulator.
01:41 At the moment I understand there are some matters that are happening in the Supreme Court so I
01:49 wouldn't want to talk too much about some of the issues that have been raised there
01:52 but understand the community's frustration particularly with Perindybala Christian
01:56 College school parents and families frustration with the operation of the school currently
02:03 but I guess my message to them would be that the independent schools regulator is
02:07 working very closely on this matter as I understand the Commonwealth Government.
02:12 The school has spent more than a hundred thousand dollars on a robotic dog. Do you
02:17 think that's a good use of the school's resources considering it still has a large
02:21 tax debt to repay? Look I'm not going to comment on those kinds of matters. I'm not the regulator
02:27 but I am paying attention to what's happening at the school and as I said so is the independent
02:32 school regulator within the ACT and the Commonwealth Government. I mean the Commonwealth
02:37 Government has indicated they've only got two options left which is ceasing or pausing funding.
02:42 What's going to happen to the staff and over a thousand students if this happens?
02:46 And that's the reason why we're wanting to keep this school operating wherever we possibly can.
02:51 Because at the end of the day we want students to continue to get an education and we want teachers
02:56 and school staff to be supported to be able to deliver that. So we're looking carefully and
03:01 working very carefully with the Perindybala Christian College management team and the CEO
03:06 to get things working better. At the same time trying to provide assurances to the school
03:12 community that we're doing everything we can within our powers and the Commonwealth Government
03:16 are as well stepping through the different parts of the issues that we're raising to make sure that
03:22 we're covering off everything before we get to a point to making that decision. That is the last
03:29 option for us and we want to try and avoid that if we can. But is there a threshold where you
03:34 will have to resort to desegregating the school? Look this is an unusual situation so it's unique
03:42 and we want to make sure that we get it right and that's why we've changed the legislation to
03:46 include a non-government school regulator and more regulation on independent schools,
03:50 more visits to understand regulation being complied with. We'll continue to do that.
03:57 If we need to do more then we will but at the moment we're just working through the steps as
04:02 we see them and also working with the Commonwealth Government about what their responses should be
04:07 to this circumstance.
04:09 you
04:10 you
04:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]