Teachers Registration and Standards Amendment Bill passed through Parliament
The Parliament has passed the Teachers Registration and Standards Amendment Bill Thursday 15 October.
Education Minister John Gardner welcomed the passage of the Bill but was muted in his recognition of the role played by the IEU and AEU in mobilising the profession to protect and maintain the role of profession in regulating itself and the right of the Unions to nominate 6 practicing teachers in a board that must have at least 50% registered teachers.
Minister Gardner said, “I am very pleased the Parliament has passed this bill, which represents the most significant set of reforms to the Teachers Registration Board of South Australia since its commencement. Among other things, the Bill provides formal recognition of highly accomplished and lead teachers, creates a five year registration for teachers with the option of annual fees, streamlines the Board’s composition with guaranteed representation for early childhood teachers and enhances child safety provisions. This Bill has been the product of enormous and comprehensive consultation, and we have incorporated a wide range of feedback from many stakeholders.”
The cited “enormous and comprehensive consultation” included the Unions leading the resistance to the proposed changes to minimise practitioner representation and to remove the role of the Unions. He overlooked mentioning the driving force behind this set of reforms – union activism.
In solidarity, the IEU and AEU collected over 11,000 petition signatures of protest to a bill that proposed removal of the governing of teachers by teachers, handing control to bureaucrats.
Despite the lack of recognition, the appreciation that actually counts is from our members – they are very appreciative of this win for the profession.
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