The Catholic Church says that it has agreed to a way forward for the teaching services commission and it is a compromise with the ministry of education which allows the Church to retain the right to hire and fire teachers. That’s huge news and according to a press release from the Bishop’s Commission the Ministry of Education have, “agreed that the church’s managing authority’s existing role and authority to manage their schools, including to employ, terminate, collaboratively establish conditions of service for its teachers and ensure their compliance therewith, which the Church rightfully possesses, would be retained.”
The right to hire and fire? That’s a major concession and the release goes on to say that, “with the roles of the Teaching Services Commission and the Managing Authority clearly delineated, the Bishop’s Commission is of the view that once the agreed amendments are incorporated into the Draft Education and Training Bill, respect for the enshrined partnership between the Church and State will be fully restored.”
It adds that the Minister of Education has agreed to even sign an agreement recognizing this historic partnership with the Catholic Church. And the Catholic Bishop Dorrick Wright will do his part by making representations to the relevant Education House & Senate Committees to incorporate the agreed upon amendments to the Draft Education & Training Bill.
It points to a major shift since the Education services commission was all about taking the right to hire and fire out of the hands of the church and putting it in the hands of a commission with multi-sectoral representation. So then, game, set and match for the church right? Not quite.
We spoke to Education Minister Patrick Faber this evening and he told us that there is no shift. Faber says the Ministry remains committed to the principle that managing authorities should not be given the opportunity to discriminate against people – and the commission will retain its right to regulate. Faber stressed that the commission will have the authority to regulate.
As regards the document committing to an “evolved role” for the commission which the church says he’ll sign, he says he’s agreed to “look at and consider” a document for signing, but did not agree to sign. Faber held off on further comment says he will explain his position and reinforce the role of the commission when the bill is tabled in the House for first reading next week.
And if he sounds slightly icy, he is. Senior sources in the Ministry told us on the condition of anonymity that they find the tone of the release arrogant and condescending and that there have been no changes between the final draft that was approved by Cabinet in October and the version of the bill that will go to the House on Friday.
So there is disagreement, major disagreement, but it seems that the often feisty Ministry and Minister would rather leave this one to lie, so that there’s no great disturbance before the bill goes to the House next week. We’ll tell you what happens at that stage.
