After receiving a petition on Helensburgh Public School letterhead about asylum seekers, Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm says it appears kids as young as nine are being used by teachers as political pawns.
Senator Leyonhjelm is concerned this demonstrates teachers have lost the plot.
“Teachers should teach kids how to think, not what to think,” Senator Leyonhjelm said. “Some of the kids have clearly had their names written down for them. It’s disturbing to think what pressure was put on these youngsters, none of whom would have much understanding of the complexity of the issue.
“I am particularly concerned about whether or not this was carried out with the knowledge or permission of parents.”
Senator Leyonhjelm says the petition appears to be a clear breach of the Department of Education Code of Conduct which states teachers should not use departmental resources to assist with political, community or personal activities.
“Parents who are upset about their children being used for political activism should be making a formal complaint,” Senator Leyonhjelm said.
“On top of the poor NAPLAN results, this seems to indicate that we need to find ways to make teachers more answerable to parents. One way of doing this would be to fund children instead of schools, and give parents greater choice about where they can send their kids to school.”
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Contact Gavin Atkins at Senator Leyonhjelm’s office on 0448 164 844.
