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

Non-government schools set for multibillion-dollar funding boost

The Age reports that non-government schools are set for a $3.4 billion boost over the next 10 years as the Morrison government prepares to rewrite the funding rules for the Catholic and independent sectors. The extra funding would be distributed to private schools based on parents' taxable incomes, giving schools with a greater number of lower-income families the biggest slice. About 20 per cent of wealthier and high-fee private schools would have their public funding cut, but they would share in a $1.3 billion “choice and affordability fund” over the next two years to ease the transition. Those schools would also be able to ask for a review of any funding cut the new system imposes. The new national formula, called the direct measure of income, will require an amendment to the Australian Education Act. A bill was put to Parliament late last week. It is estimated that 810 independent schools will have their annual recurrent funding increased by 2.5 per cent or more, 133 schools will experience little or no change and 59 schools will lose funding. Mr Tehan said non-government schools would be given until 2029 to fully transition to the new model.

Who is vulnerable to coronavirus? So far children appear safe from COVID-19

According to the ABC News, as Australian authorities prepare for the coronavirus outbreak to be declared a global pandemic, health experts say there is already good evidence about who is most at risk from COVID-19. The good news is that children seem to be safe from severe symptoms. Chief Medical Officer Dr Brendan Murphy said one of the surprising features about the virus was how few children seemed to have been identified as infected. "It's very unusual compared to influenza," he said. Professor Robert Booy from the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance said for some reason children appeared to be getting a mild dose of COVID-19. "Those children who did contract the virus overseas have only had mild symptoms such as fever and upper respiratory symptoms," he said. So far, no children have been reported as having serious complications, but that is not the case for adults, particularly older ones.

States' pandemic playbooks reveal plan to combat COVID-19

According to The Age, sporting stadiums converted into quarantine camps, police guarding medical stockpiles and schools temporarily shut down are some of the actions authorities are prepared to take if Australia succumbs to a major coronavirus outbreak. The measures are detailed in NSW and Victoria's pandemic playbooks, which will be used to guide whole-of-government responses if the virus were to break through Australia’s stringent containment measures. The plans outline a range of "social distancing actions" including home isolation and excluding potentially infected people from work, universities, religious services, sporting activities, childcare or schools. International estimates suggest a sustained Australian coronavirus outbreak could affect between 25 per cent and 70 per cent of the population. Federal Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy stressed the virus remained contained in Australia so far.

Sydney hotspots where families are choosing private school early

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that parents on the north shore and in the eastern suburbs and inner west are most likely to send their children to private school in year 5. The Sun-Herald reported last week that independent schools had noted year 5 enrolments were outstripping the growth in private schools more generally. The enrolment data includes the 1740 students placed in a year 5 opportunity class (OC) – a selective stream for years 5 and 6 – in 2019. There are 75 OC classes at public primary schools and children often move from one public school to another to attend. That suggests that schools without OC classes would experience a drop in enrolment higher than the average for their region, but the department did not provide these figures. A department spokesman said: "The NSW Department of Education has not commissioned and is unaware of research into the effect of private school enrolments and opportunity class placements on primary school student (Year 5 and Year 6) outcomes."

“Unhappy” Minister to curtail school principals' freedom

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the NSW government will take back control of schools and reduce the power of principals, admitting it had lost its ability to intervene in classrooms and keep track of more than $1.25 billion in Gonski money. Education Minister Sarah Mitchell on Friday said she was unhappy with the way Local Schools, Local Decisions (LSLD) reforms – introduced by the Coalition in 2012 to give public school principals more power over their own schools – were working. "It is clear that changes are necessary to lift results," she said. "It is time to rebalance LSLD, giving greater ability for interventions in instances where schools are seeing particularly concerning outcomes for their students." Amid concern that the NSW Department of Education was too centralised, LSLD gave schools more authority to decide how to best meet students' needs. A key part of that was giving them a budget to hire the teachers they wanted and to choose their own staff-training providers and learning programs. The resulting paperwork led to a steep increase in principal workloads.

Mount Tamborine school principal wins defamation case over parents' social media post

The ABC News reports that a school principal from a small town on the Gold Coast has won her defamation case against two parents who made derogatory comments about her on social media. Judge Catherine Muir ordered Donna and Miguel Baluskas to each pay Tamborine Mountain State High School principal Tracey Brose $3,000 in damages over their posts to Change.org in 2016. The cases against two other parents were dismissed. Another three settled their cases out of court prior to the lengthy and taxing trial, with Ms Brose receiving a total amount of $182,500 from them. Speaking outside court, Ms Brose said the case was "never about the money" but to stop the harassment. Judge Muir ruled for each party to pay their own legal costs, which Ms Brose estimated was about $600,000. "The damages I have awarded are modest and well below what the plaintiff has sought," Judge Muir wrote. "But I consider them sufficient to vindicate the plaintiff in light of the unique contextual features of social media forums.

Tasmanian mother of children with autism faces continuing ban from school grounds

According to the ABC News, in 2018, Melinda Walkden spoke out about the treatment of her nine-year-old daughter, Jayarna, who was put in an open cardboard box enclosure in her classroom in 2017. The state’s Education Department wants to transfer Jayarna and her 11-year-old brother Addison to a new school, but insists a trespass order preventing Ms Walkden from setting foot on school premises must remain. Ms Walkden was issued with the trespass order by her daughter's primary school in October 2018, just a month after issues were raised in State Parliament and the media. The trespass order was issued on the basis of "unacceptable behaviour", alleging Ms Walkden had verbally abused staff, used aggressive and threatening language and had put her hand in close proximity to a staff member's face. The order came as a surprise to Ms Walkden who said the issues detailed in the complaint had never been raised with her in previous meetings with the school. Ms Walkden said she was convicted of assaulting a school principal in 2016, but said the incident was not related to the child's current school and was not related to the trespass order.

Jurors to hear legal secrets in child abuse cases

According to The Australian, jurors in child abuse trials will be permitted to hear evidence of the accused’s prior convictions and their sexual interest in children under landmark legal reforms being adopted nationally that are almost certain to increase the number of guilty verdicts. The NSW government last week became the first of several jurisdictions to introduce legislation that relaxes the threshold for past offending to be put before jurors in molestation cases. Comparable bills are expected to be introduced in Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT, the Northern Territory and federally, following agreements struck between Attorneys-General. The NSW reforms, likely to be supported by the opposition, will also make it easier for multiple victims to give evidence against the same offender in the one trial setting, rather than having to do so in separate, siloed proceedings. Until now, such joint trials, as they are known legally, have been possible but difficult to achieve; defence lawyers have successfully argued that evidence of past convictions, or untested allegations of similar behaviour, would unjustly prejudice a jury into handing down a guilty verdict.

Senator calls for child abuse anime review

According to Channel 9, Japanese manga and anime depicting child sexual abuse would be banned from Australian shelves under a crossbench senator's plan. Centre Alliance's Stirling Griff was to move a motion last Wednesday calling for the urgent ban as he ramps up criticism of the classification board for rating controversial anime. The South Australian senator used a speech to parliament to highlight anime and manga depicting child exploitation. "There is, unfortunately, a dark side and a disgusting side to anime and manga, with a significant proportion of the two media featuring child abuse material," he told the Senate. Japanese law exempts manga and anime from exploitation laws because the images do not depict real children. In Australia, the production, possession and distribution of abuse material depicting a representation of a person who appears to be under 18 is illegal. Experts have warned that explicit anime and manga can be used by paedophiles as tools to groom children and act as a gateway to the abuse of real children.

Dreamworld's parent company Ardent Leisure could face up to $3 million in fines over fatal accident

The ABC News reports that Dreamworld's parent company Ardent Leisure could be fined up to $3 million if it is prosecuted and found criminally liable over the theme park ride tragedy in 2016. An inquest into the deaths of Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi revealed a litany of failures at the Gold Coast theme park dating back decades — including "shoddy" record keeping and safety systems that were "rudimentary at best". In handing down his findings last week, Coroner James McDougall said he suspected Ardent Leisure "may have committed an offence under workplace law" and referred the company to the Office of Industrial Relations to weigh up the case. The inquest heard a water pump feeding the ride had broken down, causing water levels to suddenly drop. Mr McDougall said if a qualified engineer had properly inspected the ride, the accident could have been prevented and it would have been shut down. "Such a culpable culture can exist only when leadership from the board down are careless in respect of safety," he said.

Stagnant NAPLAN results prompt Minister Dan Tehan into action

The Australian reports that Education Minister Dan Tehan has vowed to work with the states and territories to improve student results after a report into average national student scores revealed Australian students’ critical literacy and numeracy skills were languishing. The 2019 NAPLAN national report, released last week, shows average national student scores across most age groups and domains have barely budged since testing began more than a decade ago. The report confirms the initial results of a preliminary report released last August that highlighted a stark divide in education results between jurisdictions, with Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory showing sustained improvements. But the ACT has seen scores fall or stagnate across several literacy categories. Mr Tehan said the Morrison government would fast-track its review of the curriculum and would investigate ways to reduce red tape affecting teachers.

New toolkit to protect students from online abuse

The Educator reports that, according to the latest data on the privacy of young people in Australia, 60 per cent of parents say their child is exposed to risks from being online. The office of the eSafety Commissioner has released a set of resources to help schools keep their students safe online. The toolkit, which was officially launched during the SMH Schools Summit, includes over 25 individual resources to aid school leaders in preventing and responding effectively to incidents. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said that as technology increasingly becomes part of school operations, there will be more challenges to student wellbeing and safety – and even greater workloads for school leaders and staff. The resources, which seek to support a consistent approach online safety issues, also include content on how to engage and educate staff, parents and students on online safety. The release of the toolkit is a response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the Bullying and Cyberbullying Senior Officials Working Group.

Holocaust education becomes compulsory in Victorian state schools in bid to tackle rising anti-Semitism

According to the ABC News, Victoria's Education Minister says that high school students are receiving sub-standard education about the Holocaust, as the Government makes learning about the atrocities of World War II compulsory for years 9 and 10 students. James Merlino said that all government secondary schools would be made to teach students about the Holocaust, which is in the current Victorian curriculum but is not taught in all schools, and Mr Merlino said it was often not taught as well as it could be. He said he hoped more education about the Holocaust would help address racism and prejudice. ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said neo-Nazis were emerging as one of Australia's most challenging security threats. Mr Merlino said he was glad a parliamentary inquiry was underway into Victoria's anti-vilification laws. The inquiry was announced after Reason Party MP Fiona Patten proposed amendments to extend the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act, and could lead to Nazi memorabilia and flags being banned in Victoria.

INTERNATIONAL

Coronavirus map: how Covid-19 is spreading across the world (Global)

According to The Guardian, the vast majority of infections is being reported in mainland China but cases have now been confirmed in 67 countries, including 36 cases in the UK. The number of confirmed cases has risen rapidly since the respiratory virus emerged in December from its suspected source in a Wuhan wildlife market. If Covid-19 cannot be controlled, it could affect about two-thirds of the world’s population, according to a leading public health expert in Hong Kong. Thousands of people affected by the coronavirus globally have already recovered. As Covid-19 is a viral illness, antibiotics are of no use and neither are antiviral drugs that work against flu. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system and many of those who have died were already in poor health. The World Health Organization recommends people take simple precautions to reduce exposure and transmission.