In what the Government is touting as the biggest overhaul of education legislation we are still missing an Education Ombudsman – despite the Liberal party having previously supported the creation of an Education Ombudsman.
Quotes attributable to Tammy Franks MLC:
“We have an Ombudsman for many areas of life, but not for education. This is despite the fact that every South Australian will spend more than a decade in the school system, and despite the fact that the education system is the second largest government employer.
“There is currently no specialist independent person or body to handle complaints within the education system. We are desperately lagging behind other OECD countries, where approximately two thirds of countries have an Ombudsman or agency to receive complaints related to public schools."
“Where does a South Australian parent go with a complaint? The only avenue is the education department, which must then investigate itself. This is completely unsatisfactory."
“Reports of problems in our education system are all too common, from teacher’s union complaints about stress placed on under-resourced staff, to parents feeling pressured to vote for school closures, to a seeming epidemic of bullying. It’s deeply disappointing that we still don’t have an independent person or body to handle an education complaint, particularly given the number of times the Greens have raised this issue in Parliament."