Young students who are also asylum seekers “all of a sudden just disappear” when they get sent back to their home country or to offshore detention centres by the immigration department, the principal of Glenroy College in Victoria, Paul Dingle, has said.
Dingle said with the high court last week upholding Australia’s right to detain asylum seekers in foreign countries, he fears the removal of three of his current teenage students who are asylum seekers is imminent.
The students are among 267 asylum seekers, including 39 children and 33 babies who were born in Australia, who face being sent to Nauru.
It has prompted him to jeopardise his job by speaking out about their plight, and to call on the federal government to let them stay in Victoria and continue their education at Glenroy College.
“In the past our kids we’ve had from the detention centre who all of a sudden just disappear,” Dingle said.
“In this case, it was brought to our attention that these three kids were likely to be sent to Nauru, and that’s a terrible consequence for young people enjoying their education.
“There’s a lack of certainty for us as their educators, and there certainly must be a lack of certainty for them. These kids are teenagers who enjoy being at our school. there are no problems in the classroom and they love having the opportunity to associate with other kids.”
It was upsetting for teachers at the school when their students did not return, Dingle said. Over the past three years, about 10 asylum seeker children at the school had come and gone, he said. About 470 students attend the co-educational school for children in years 7-12.
“Speaking out about this is certainly not something I do lightly and it’s not something that I’m used to doing but it is the right thing to do,” Dingle said.
“If I don’t speak out at a time like this, and allow an unsatisfactory process to go ahead, then that’s not a good outcome and I’m in a position I think where I can have a say.”
Schools on Nauru are often in poor condition, classrooms are dilapidated and toilets are often broken. Many young people lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, a Nauru government report has said.
Guardian Australia has contacted the office of the federal education minister, Simon Birmingham, and the Australian Border Force and Department of Immigration and Border Protection, for comment.
Victoria’s education minister, James Merlino, told reporters on Wednesday he was proud of Dingle for speaking out.
“This principal is facing possible trouble for speaking out? Absolutely, and this is outrageous,” he said.
“I’m proud of this principal, of his comments, and the support he’s providing for these kids.” On the weekend Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, wrote to the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, saying Victoria was prepared to house, educate, and take responsibility for all 267 asylum seekers facing removal.
The Australian Education Union’s Victoria branch president, Meredith Peace, said the union supported Dingle in his comments and would continue to do so if there were repercussions for him.
“I think it’s brave of him,” she said. “It indicates just how important it is to let the community know what the real impact of the federal government decisions are.
“These kids are part of their communities, and are in a safe and supportive environment at school that teachers don’t want to see disrupted by deportation of their family.”
She said she was unsure of the exact number of asylum seekers in Victorian schools who faced removal to Nauru.
“I think there’s so much secrecy about this issue and has been for a number of years,” Peace said.
“We now have a law that prohibits people speaking out and of course staff in our schools take that very seriously, but it’s an indication of where the debate has come to and the strength of feeling about the welfare and emotional wellbeing of young people and their families that has resulted in this principal making the decision he has to take that risk and say something.”
