The Tasmanian Government has backed down on its decision to close 20 schools.

 

The Minister for Education and Skills, Nick McKim, said the Government had listened to the community and would not proceed further with its plan to close up to 20 schools.

 

“I acknowledge the pain and hurt that resulted from the announcement that up to 20 schools would be considered for closure and I apologise for that,” Mr McKim said.

 

“The potential closure of any school is a highly emotive issue and I am genuinely sorry for the anxiety that has been caused to all involved.

 

“I always said that I was engaged in a genuine consultation process, and I hope that people can now see that was the case.

 

“While we are not proceeding with the current process, the Government is not walking away from this issue. The fact is that Government school enrolments are declining significantly every year and we need to address this challenge.

 

“We will now engage in genuine consultation, which I hope will lead to a broad consensus about how we tackle this issue in the future.

 

“We got the process wrong, but we have listened to the community’s concerns and acted on them.”

 

Mr McKim said it had become apparent to him that the government should have engaged with school communities before the announcement was made. He said a new process would be devised that has broad community consensus to address concerns about the viability of schools. A reference group will be established to consult with the community and advise him by the end of the year on a new process.

 

As a result of the decision, the Education Department will withdraw the additional $2 million for Raising the Bar Closing the Gap 7 Up initiative which was allocated in the 2011-12 State Budget as additional support beyond the level already allocated in schools.

 

A further $2 million will be withdrawn from the funding allocated to Learning Services who currently support schools in their areas of the State. This will include further restructure of Learning Services.