Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / NT Council Of Government School Organisations President Tabby Fudge has welcomed clarification that the Education Department will fund a pay rise for teacher rather than schools

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NT Council Of Government School Organisations President Tabby Fudge has welcomed clarification that the Education Department will fund a pay rise for teacher rather than schools · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Well, there's certainly been a lot of discussion this week
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  Speaker 1: around education. We know that there was a review that
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: was announced earlier in the week. Towards the end of
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  Speaker 1: last week, we did learn about this teacher's latest payoffer
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  Speaker 1: which has been put on the table, but lots of
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  Speaker 1: questions still remain about exactly how it's going to be funded.
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  Speaker 1: Now you would have heard that I just replayed a
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  Speaker 1: bit of the interview with the Treasurer and indeed Minister
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  Speaker 1: for Education Evil Ala just a little while ago. Now
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  Speaker 1: joining me on the line, is nt Cogso President Tabby Fudge.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Tabby.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katy, and good morning to your listener, Tabby.
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  Speaker 1: How are you feeling about you? After hearing a bit
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  Speaker 1: further detail from the Education Minister earlier today around the
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  Speaker 1: teacher's pay increase that's being proposed and how it's going
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  Speaker 1: to be funded, I must.
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  Speaker 2: Say, Katie, I was very pleased and it was honestly
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  Speaker 2: an absolute relief to hear our Minister for Education conspirm
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  Speaker 2: that school budgets will not be funding the current ABA
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  Speaker 2: negotiations and that the fund for the negotiations will be
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  Speaker 2: coming out of the Department of educations underspend and I
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  Speaker 2: think that's the really crucial point here, that the Department
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  Speaker 2: of Education are underspending and that of course any EBA
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  Speaker 2: negotiations should be coming out of an underspent and not
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  Speaker 2: coming out of school budget. So it was really great
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  Speaker 2: to hear the Minister clarify that for us this morning.
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  Speaker 2: And I suppose going forward now we can look forward
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  Speaker 2: to the Department of Education writing to schools and to
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  Speaker 2: school rep bodies rescinding their current instructions for schools to
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  Speaker 2: put money aside out of their budgets for the EBA negotiations,
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  Speaker 2: So that means that money can now go back into
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  Speaker 2: their budgets to be spent on employing teachers at midden Star.
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  Speaker 2: And I think you know this is I suppose a
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  Speaker 2: testament to Minister Lawler as a long term educator and
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  Speaker 2: educational leader in the Northern Territory. Now I think she
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  Speaker 2: said early, you know, up thirty forty years now, there's
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  Speaker 2: no one better position to understand schools and Minister law
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  Speaker 2: and obviously you know the need for every available dollar
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  Speaker 2: to be spent on our children in schools today.
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  Speaker 1: And so why is there such a big under spent
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  Speaker 1: that it can actually that we could be affording to,
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  Speaker 1: you know, to have put this offer on the table
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  Speaker 1: by the sounds of it for a while. For the teachers.
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  Speaker 1: Why is there such an underspent I don't.
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  Speaker 2: I have no idea, you know, I have no idea.
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  Speaker 2: It's always been the mantra that education budgets should be
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  Speaker 2: spent on the children in schools today. You know, we
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  Speaker 2: should not be saving that money for a rainy day
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  Speaker 2: into the future. The money is in budgets today should
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  Speaker 2: be spent on children in schools today. So I have
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  Speaker 2: no idea why the Department of It holding funds to
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  Speaker 2: that tune. That would be a question better positioned for
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  Speaker 2: the CEE of Education. I would imagine it's a lot
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  Speaker 2: of money, isn't it.
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  Speaker 1: If we can afford seven mil it's a lot of money.
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  Speaker 2: Tabby Yeah, I think Menslawa said that the funds were
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  Speaker 2: around the underspend was around thirteen millions, So that should
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  Speaker 2: cover the ABA negotiations going into you know, for the
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  Speaker 2: back payment and for the next year's payment, and then
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  Speaker 2: I suppose it will be back to the negotiation table
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  Speaker 2: going forward for future you know, funding of the negotiated
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  Speaker 2: wage increase for our teachers. But I think what really
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  Speaker 2: stands out for me, and I say this often, you know,
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  Speaker 2: this is this is a space where there's a greater
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  Speaker 2: role for our federal government to play. You know, it's
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  Speaker 2: not just a matter of funding education, you know, and
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  Speaker 2: we know that a lot of you know, there's a
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  Speaker 2: lot of the tendency issues out in remote and very
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  Speaker 2: remote communities due to the you know, the movement of
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  Speaker 2: our school children and their families through different areas. We
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  Speaker 2: know that there's a greater role here for federal government
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  Speaker 2: to play when it comes to housing. You know, we
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  Speaker 2: have the greatest rates of homelessness and poverty in Australia.
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  Speaker 2: You know, this needs this and education comes into this
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  Speaker 2: because you know, if we've got overcrowding in housing, we've
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  Speaker 2: got kids who are not getting the good night's sleep,
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  Speaker 2: who are then sleeping during the mornings and not going
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  Speaker 2: to school and things like that, you know, and it
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  Speaker 2: contributes to things like o tight as media and rhematic
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  Speaker 2: heart disease and you know, all these kinds of things
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  Speaker 2: you know, make attendance difficult and that affects our numbers.
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  Speaker 2: So you know, federal government really really needs to step
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  Speaker 2: up and help the Northern territory out.
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  Speaker 1: And so do you reckon that announcement earlier in the
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  Speaker 1: week about the current funding model being set to change.
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  Speaker 1: Is that a good move?
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  Speaker 2: Tabby absolutely, absolutely, it's a good move. I mean, obviously
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  Speaker 2: you'd like to see implementation happen at a rapid yea.
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  Speaker 2: If the first couple of recommendations are going to be
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  Speaker 2: implemented immediately and with a focus on those small schools
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  Speaker 2: which are nearly a third of our school population, know,
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  Speaker 2: those ones with enrollments of under fifty children, I think
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  Speaker 2: that will be a really good thing. So we'll just
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  Speaker 2: have to see how that plays out. But I think
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  Speaker 2: you know, taking away you know, funding on attendance is
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  Speaker 2: going to be good. It's going to give surety to
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  Speaker 2: those smaller schools.
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  Speaker 1: Now, what about that discussion as well, that obviously the
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  Speaker 1: minister had had about the review into secondary schools, so
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  Speaker 1: I know that it was something that they're looking at
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  Speaker 1: out in remote areas. But also she said that she'd
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  Speaker 1: been had quite a few people get in contact with
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  Speaker 1: her about middle school and high school and that model
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  Speaker 1: that we moved to I think it was back in
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  Speaker 1: two thousand and eight. Is that something that does need
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  Speaker 1: to be looked into.
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  Speaker 2: I think there's been quite a few reviews over the
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  Speaker 2: years done on the middle schools seeing a school model,
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  Speaker 2: and I think I haven't looked at anything in regard
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  Speaker 2: to those reviews lately, so I'm sort of trying to remember.
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  Speaker 2: I think the middle school model was sort of seemed
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  Speaker 2: to be lacking across some areas, and that why that
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  Speaker 2: was there was sort of a push to move back
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  Speaker 2: to that comprehensive seven to twelve model. I'm not really
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  Speaker 2: positive off the top of my head though, so and
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  Speaker 2: I think, as missed Lawla said earlier, we've only got
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  Speaker 2: a few teachers a few schools that are still in
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  Speaker 2: that middle school space. So yeah, I'm not too sure.
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  Speaker 2: But I know that when effective enrollment was boarding, that
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  Speaker 2: was when there was that move away from secondary schooling
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  Speaker 2: in remote communities. And there seems that the Australian Education
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  Speaker 2: Unions that actually put out a really really good study
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  Speaker 2: on attendance and funding just over the last week, and
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  Speaker 2: there's a correlation between you know, the funding model changing,
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  Speaker 2: the push for boarding schools away from homes to these
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  Speaker 2: children out in remote areas, and then you know the
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  Speaker 2: consequent you know, drop in attendance drop in achievement. So
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  Speaker 2: you know, there's been a lot of work in that
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  Speaker 2: space and I think, you know, the Deloitte report would
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  Speaker 2: be reflective of a lot of that work in the
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  Speaker 2: sentiment around you know, that secondary model.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, Tabby Fudge. Always good to catch up with you,
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  Speaker 1: and hopefully the schools have got a bit more clarity
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  Speaker 1: today following on from that interview with the Education Minister.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think we do have a bit more clarity
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  Speaker 2: and now we'll just have to wait for that letter
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  Speaker 2: from the Department of Air rescinding those prior instructions to
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  Speaker 2: put aside some money for the EBA negotiation.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Tabby, thank you as always for your time. Good
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  Speaker 1: to catch up with you this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, have a great day with you too,