Education and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
Friday 27 May 2016 @ 10.37 a.m. | Legal Research
On 24 May, the Queensland Legislative Assembly introduced the Education and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 into Parliament. The primary objective of the bill is to make the Preparatory Year (Prep) the compulsory first year of school education in Queensland. The bill also improves the regulation relating to the teaching provisions in Queensland. The bill also introduces a statutory debt recovery mechanism to recover State and Commonwealth funding paid to non-state schools in excess of their entitlement.
Introduction of the Bill
In her second reading speech, Queensland’s Minister for Education, Kate Jones, made the case for prep school since its introduction in 2007 by the then Labor government. She said:
“The introduction of prep gave Queensland parents the opportunity to ensure their children had a strong foundation for success at school. Evidence indicates that children who participate in high-quality early childhood programs such as prep gain significant long-term benefits including higher levels of completed education and subsequent employment.”
She went on to explain that the current education system does not make prep compulsory for young children and thus, these children are missing out on the benefits of prep education prior to commencing year one.
Amendments in the Bill
The bill therefore, as stated earlier, makes prep school compulsory for all children prior to commencing year one. The bill essentially forbids a principal of a state or non-state school from enrolling a child into year one unless the child has undertaken prep school in a state or non-state school. This can include registered home education or equivalent education in another jurisdiction. The principal of the school is still afforded some discretion where the child has not undergone prep school if the principal is satisfied that the child is ready for year one.
The bill does not lower the compulsory schooling age of six years and six months. However, a parent will have the choice to allow for prep school at the age of five if they determine their child ready for education.
Along with this, the bill also makes amendments to strengthen the Queensland College of Teachers’ powers to suspend a teacher’s registration to ensure the safety of school children. The Queensland College of Teachers will have their abilities further strengthened by streamlining governance structure and improve the teacher disciplinary framework.
The bill also introduces a statutory debt recovery mechanism to recover State and Commonwealth funding paid to non-state schools in excess of their entitlement. Further to this it will strengthen oversight of non-state schools by enabling the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (the Accreditation Board) to disclose relevant information with law enforcement agencies and reduce red-tape for non-state schools by reducing requirements for the provision of school survey data.
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Sources:
Education and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016, Bill, Explanatory Speech and Notes as published on LawOne
