No change to structure of annual school holidays

18/1/95

The State Government has decided against any change to the structure of annual school holidays.

The decision comes after overwhelming public rejection of proposed changes which envisaged longer summer holidays and reduced term holidays.

Parents, teachers and schools have voted five to one against the proposed changes.

The proposal, which came from some educators, was to extend the end-of-the-year holidays to eight weeks (from the current six) and for the term one and term three holidays to be reduced to one week, from the current two.

Education Minister Norman Moore said today that in light of the public response, there would be no change to the current school holiday structure.

"Concerns were expressed about difficulties for child care arrangements, an adverse impact on tourism in some areas and a negative effect on sports camps, particularly in the State's country regions," the Minister said.

"Others were worried about Western Australia getting further out of line with other Australian states and with the likely increased difficulty with arranging national conferences.

"I made it clear from the start that the Government did not have a position on the issue and that no change would happen without significant support from the community and business sectors. This support has not been forthcoming."

The proposal for change, based on concerns about protecting students from the harsh summer heat, was floated by the Minister last October, with a three-month public comment period.

This attracted more than 680 submissions, including 279 from individual parents and teachers which overwhelmingly rejected the proposal.  A total of 224 schools across the State made submissions, including votes on the proposal which were generally about five to one against.

Mr Moore said the call for public submissions was a worthwhile exercise because it generated broad public input and ideas about a range of education issues relating to holidays and term dates.

Media contact: Ross Storey  (09) 339 3972  (09) 222 9595