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Monday, November 28, 2011

Mark Ryan: Every Queensland child to have the best possible start

The Queensland Labor Government is committed to giving every Queensland child the best possible start to learning and life.

State Member for Morayfield, Mr Ryan MP said "one way we can do this is by ensuring Queensland’s state schools have the flexibility and freedom they need to make the right choices for their communities."

"Research tells us that the highest performing school systems strike the right balance between central system support and local decision making, said Mr Ryan.

P&C members have already demonstrated their commitment to the schools and their desire to be a part of the decision-making process. To work out how we best divest more decision making power to school communities, the Minister for Education recently released a discussion paper, Local Decisions: stronger school communities.

The discussion paper canvasses a number of topics including:

• Allowing principals and school communities to have more say in the mix of learning programs

• Giving school communities more say in the appointment of principals

• Allowing greater community use of school facilities

• Allowing principals to appoint some teaching staff

• Allowing principals to make ‘early offers’ to student teachers

• More flexibility for schools to manage their capital works and maintenance budgets

• Giving principals more flexibility to secure funding through philanthropic arrangements

"Some of these opportunities may not be suitable for your school while others may work very well. This is why your feedback is so important," said Mr Ryan.

The Queensland Government’s education reform program is delivering results and the discussion paper will help ensure Queensland schools can continue to provide the best possible education for our children.