The information in the Weekly Wrap is aggregated from other news sources to provide you with news that is relevant to the education sector across Australia and worldwide. Each paragraph is a summary of the subject matter covered in the particular news article. The information does not necessarily reflect the views of CompliSpace.

AUSTRALIA

“Don’t ignore us”: Faith leaders demand quick action on religious freedoms

The Age reports that faith leaders have urged the new Labor government to move quickly to introduce legislation outlawing religious discrimination. The Coalition’s attempt to pass laws against religious discrimination failed in February after moderate Liberal MPs crossed the floor to support an amendment protecting transgender students from being expelled from religious schools. LGBTQIA+ rights groups, meanwhile, want the Government to pass separate legislation within its first 100 days, protecting gay and transgender students in religious schools against discrimination. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the Government had promised to pass religious protections before the next election but would not commit to a more specific timeline. Dreyfus confirmed that the Government would legislate to protect LGBTQIA+ students by changing the Sex Discrimination Act, which allows schools to discriminate against students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Stories about bullying and exclusion of school students with disability heard by royal commission

ABC News reports that the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability continues its public hearings, examining the experiences of various education settings for students with disability. More than a dozen witnesses including students, parents, advocates and education officials gave evidence over five days. The Royal Commission will not be making any findings of negligence nor breaches of law from its hearings, which are being held between now and 16 December. Senior counsel assisting the commission Kate Eastman said the hearing was not intended to be a "referendum" on the "merits of regular versus segregated educational settings" nor any "judgement" on the choices made by parents. The Royal Commission will continue its public hearings around the country until the year's end.

Regional teacher shortage will cause greater disparity between students, psychologists warn

ABC News reports that the return to face-to-face learning after two years of lockdowns has not brought an end to classroom chaos across the country, with fears the teacher shortage will cause even more students to fall through the cracks. Psychologists warn that school staff shortages, particularly in rural, regional and remote areas, will see vulnerable students fall drastically behind, leading to greater disparity between students down the track. "There's a group of students that have more vulnerabilities, so that could be a learning disorder, a trauma in the home space or it could be retention problems," Australian Psychological Society president Tamara Cavenett told the ABC. "And the greatest issue is that it creates that disparity between those who are more vulnerable and those who are not." Regional teacher shortages, while not new, have been exacerbated by COVID-19 and a particularly virulent flu season.

Commonwealth and states failing on productivity targets

The Australian Financial Review reports that Federal and state governments are failing to meet most of their productivity-boosting policy targets, according to new data from the Productivity Commission. The failure by governments to meet their targets encompasses a broad range of policy areas, including education. The goals tracked by the Commission are embedded in a range of national partnership agreements – the funding deals agreed between the Federal and state governments on areas including health and education. In education, Australia has made “no improvement” in lifting the Year 12 or Certificate Three attainment rate, while the proportion of students attending school 90 per cent or more of the time has gone backwards. Governments are achieving “mixed results” in their attempts to get more students into the top two bands of the NAPLAN reading and numeracy tests, according to the Commission.

One group most likely to be bullied at school

According to news.com.au, a new study has identified autism as the top risk factor for bullying among all neurodevelopmental disorders, presenting opportunities for schools to develop better intervention programs. One of the report’s authors, University of New South Wales Professor and Chair of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Valsamma Eapen, explained behaviours exhibited by people with autism made them vulnerable to being picked on, particularly at high school, where differences can be more pronounced. The study also found those who were higher functioning were often more at risk. “Those who have more obvious challenges and special care needs seem to be getting less targeted,” Professor Eapen explained. The study found rates of autism-related bullying increased in high school compared with primary school – the opposite trend to that of non-autistic children.

Victorian inquiry into far-right extremism warned children are being radicalised

ABC News reports that a parliamentary inquiry into the rise of far-right extremism in Victoria has heard children as young as 10 are being radicalised. The inquiry is investigating how mainstream and social media has influenced a surge in right-wing nationalism, as well as how the COVID-19 pandemic fuelled the proliferation of misinformation and neo-Nazi groups. Investigative journalist Nick McKenzie, who infiltrated a neo-Nazi group, told the inquiry one of the biggest concerns was the increasing number of children being radicalised. "[This group] is dedicated to recruiting young, impressionable Victorians, and is having some success in doing so," McKenzie said. McKenzie said deradicalisation programs were falling short of countering the influence of extremism, and called for the committee to conduct an audit. "Our deradicalisation programs in the prison system, others targeted at schools, aren't actually working," McKenzie said.

Tutors in high demand, but doubts on Victorian program for next year

The Age reports that the future of a $480 million tutoring program – touted by the Victorian Government as the best way to help students whose learning stalled during the pandemic – is uncertain as many tutors are needed to cover absent teachers. The program put thousands of extra staff in Victorian classrooms but has been hampered by ongoing teacher shortages caused by COVID-19 and influenza. Every government and low-fee private school was to benefit from the tutoring program, with 6400 retired teachers and final-year teaching students deployed to help students who fell behind in their learning or were at risk of disengaging from school. The program is supposed to provide small-group tutoring for students who needed help after long stints of remote learning during the pandemic, such as those already with low-level English skills, or at risk of disengaging from school, and those whose home environment was not conducive to online learning.

Schools could ban parents and take them to court

According to news.com.au, Victorian schools will have the authority to ban parents who engage in threatening behaviour online or in person, with a possible penalty of up to $10,000 for those who don’t comply. The Victorian Government announced the extended powers last month to combat aggressive parental behaviour and better protect teachers and students at schools. Under the new laws, schools will have the authority to ban aggressive and violent parents from entering school grounds by issuing School Community Safety Orders, which would restrict their access to school property. Those who disregard the order would face fines of up to $10,000 in a Magistrate’s Court. However, the school authorities must ensure the parents can still be updated on their child’s education, attendance and activities. The new laws will come into effect at the start of Term Three on 28 June. If the abusive behaviour continues, school authorities will have the option to extend bans for a further year.

Joint inquests to be held for six victims of Tasmania's Hillcrest school jumping castle tragedy

ABC News reports that the completion of the investigation into Tasmania's Hillcrest Primary School jumping castle tragedy is still months away, but a public inquest will be held as a matter of priority, according to a coroner. Six students in Grades 5 and 6 were killed when an inflatable jumping castle they were playing on was lifted into the air in December last year. Witnesses watched as children fell to the ground from a height of about 10 metres, and part of the jumping castle came to rest in a tree. Three other students were injured but survived after spending several days in hospital. Almost six months on, evidence into the incident is still being gathered, with Coroner Olivia McTaggart overseeing the investigation. A public inquest into the deaths of all six children will be held jointly. The coroner has recently been provided with evidence as part of the Tasmania Police investigation, including eyewitness accounts of what happened.

Education Amendment Bill 2022 (ACT) passes Legislative Assembly

The Education Amendment Bill 2022 (ACT) has passed the Legislative Assembly with substantial amendments and is awaiting notification. It will now commence on 20 December 2022. All ACT schools (government and non-government) will be required to report transfers, expulsions, exclusions, unenrolments and contract terminations through the directorate’s Student Movement Register. Registration for non-government schools will change from a five-year registration period to ongoing registration and regular reviews. New registration standards cover the four key areas of governance, educational courses and programs, safety and welfare, and other requirements for operation. A recent School Governance article gives further details, but please note that it is based on the Bill as introduced into the Legislative Assembly and doesn't take account of the amendments.

INTERNATIONAL

Little point in lengthening school closures, new study suggests (Canada)

According to o.canada.com, a new study has found only a small increase in COVID-19 cases when schools reopened in January 2021 in Ontario – and authors estimate lengthening closures further might have only cut cases by a 10th of a percentage point. The study, which used administrative health data from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, was carried out during a provincewide shutdown in December 2020, which was followed by a regionalised approach to reopening schools in January and February 2021. Dr. Astrid Guttmann, co-senior author of the study, said, “Our study findings estimated that had schools not reopened, only 213 fewer cases of COVID-19 would have occurred in Ontario between 26 December 2020 and 28 February 2021.” The researchers believe the study suggests in-person schooling risks are manageable with “sufficient, layered mitigation strategies.”

More states are allowing students to take mental health days off (United States of America)

According to wfae.org, the state of Illinois is allowing K-12 students in public schools to have five excused absences per school year for mental health reasons, an example of the growing acknowledgment among lawmakers that emotional and physical health are intertwined. The new policy, which went into effect at the beginning of 2022, passed both chambers of the state legislature unanimously. Seventy per cent of schools that responded to a federal survey in April said more students had sought mental health services since the pandemic started. The National Center for Education Statistics' polling also showed that only 56 per cent of schools said they effectively provide mental health services to all students in need, and just 41 per cent reported hiring new staff members to help address students' mental health needs. Even in places where mental health professionals are more plentiful, they often do not accept public insurance, making them inaccessible to many kids.