SUBJECTS: Operation 10,000; school autonomy scheme

PETER GARRETT: It’s really good to be down here with Penny and with some of the expert lifesavers for Operation 10,000, to really lift the profile of how important it is that all kids know how to perform rescue techniques, and how to do CPR.

I really encourage all the work Royal Life saving is doing and I thank the sponsors, Uncle Tobys. I know there are others who are supporting this particular endeavour and I encourage everyone to get involved.

I’ve said before that I think it’s incredibly important that every Australian child knows how to swim. And not only knows how to swim but knows how to rescue a mate, or a friend, and knows how to perform the right CPR techniques on anybody that gets into trouble.

And because I’ve said before that I reckon all Australian kids need to know both how to swim and how to perform those rescue techniques, I’m strongly encouraging the national curriculum to include this kind of information in the PE and health part of our curriculum as we roll it our nationwide.

I really want to see the states and education ministers and the school systems recognise that we’ve actually got too many kids in the country now who don’t know how to swim, and we’ve got too many kids who don’t know how to look after a friend if they get into trouble.

So it’s beaut to be down here with Royal Life Saving and Uncle Tobys, and I strongly support this campaign. I want to see this input, rescue techniques and swimming lessons, come into the curriculum and be taught right around Australia.

JOURNALIST: Minister just on another issue today, will schools get the power to hire and fire, is that true?

MINISTER: We believe that school communities and principals do need more of a say over how their schools are run, over things like the board, staffing arrangements and the like.

But we do not run the school system and we are not proposing to be involved in issues around the setting of salaries, or firing staff. That is a matter for state governments.

The Empowering Local Schools Initiative that we have put in place is about making sure that principals get more of a say over what goes on in their schools and that local communities get more of a say over that as well. But matters of staffing arrangements and the firing of teachers, they are matters for the states.

JOURNALIST: Will parents get more say in the salaries of teachers?

MINISTER: Again, what I would say is this. We want to roll out a program around Australia and we’ll have some 290 or so schools in NSW as a part of that program, which sees principals look at the best ways that they can provide effective teaching in the school by having more say over what goes on in the school.

Now that might involve for example setting up school boards, it might be issues around governance, it might be around staffing arrangements. But it is not about the principal or school community having say over issues that are the province of the states, namely the setting of wages and salaries, and any issues around firing.

JOURNALIST: If though you’re giving them the power to decide what’s happening in their schools, does that then follow that they’ll be able to determine who they hire and who they fire?

MINISTER: Well we want to see implementation plans put in place by the states which give the principals the best opportunity to provide the most effective teaching that they can in their school community, and any other matters around industrial relations and industrial arrangements are for the states.

JOURNALIST: But what if the principals say the best opportunity is for us to have that power to hire and fire our own staff.

MINISTER: Well I can only say this in so many ways. Let me make it clear to you. We recognise that greater school autonomy leads to better and more effective results for kids, and provides both the teacher and the principal with the opportunity to really focus their efforts in the local school. We strongly support principals and schools having more autonomy.

At the same time, any questions around industrial arrangements are a matter for the states. They always have been and they always will be.

JOURNALIST: NSW and QLD have now officially signed off on these agreements, are you hoping that will put pressure on the other states to officially say yes and toe the line?

MINISTER: Well you know we’ve got a significant investment in Empowering Local Schools and I strongly urge other states to finalise their discussions with the Commonwealth. We want to see hundreds and hundreds of schools in every state actually have more of a say over the way in which their local schools are run.

We recognise there’s a strong community interest in doing that but there’s also a strong education interest in doing that because our kids are going to be the better for it.

JOURNALIST: Do you get the sense that some states aren’t willing to sign up? Are you hitting a roadblock?

MINISTER: I strongly expect that we will have good co-operation across all the states. This has been welcomed by the states, it’s a very solid initiative on our part.

And it’s part of the greater level of investment that we’ve given in education, the initiatives that we have underway with things like Teach for Australia and Teach Next, and also on the national partnerships providing more than $500 million on teacher quality.

All of these measures together go towards directing our attention to what’s most important in the classroom. That the teachers are the most effective and give the best education possible, and that the principal in the school is the most effective person to determine how best to organise their own school.

JOURNALIST: Would you like all the states to have signed off on it before the Gonski report’s released on February 20?

MINISTER: The states will do things within the arrangements with the Commonwealth in their own time. I think I’ve said enough now. Thanks everybody.