The Australian Education Union has launched an industrial case challenging the dismissal of Punchbowl high school’s two former principals over a dispute about a school-based deradicalisation program.
In March, principal Chris Griffiths and deputy principal Joumana Dennaoui were transferred from the school by the New South Wales education department.
While the circumstances of their departure are not fully known, the department suggested it was in part due to a dispute surrounding the implementation of a controversial program designed to counter violent extremism in NSW schools.
The state’s education department secretary, Mark Scott, said in March that “one of the reasons for transferring him out is that we felt that some policies and protocols that the school should have been acting on weren’t being followed. But we were also concerned with the broad direction of the school”.
A range of serious allegations about the school were publicly levelled.
The Australian Education Union’s NSW Teachers Federation branch has launched a dispute in the New South Wales industrial relations commission over the removal of the two teachers.
A preliminary conference took place last Tuesday, and a further compulsory conference for the dispute is scheduled later in April before acting chief commissioner Inaam Tabbaa.
The education department’s decision to publicly criticise the two principals is likely to come under scrutiny, along with the procedures that were initiated to remove both teachers.
The deradicalisation program the NSW education department has sought to impose at schools across the state has been contentious. It requires teachers who suspect students of sharing terrorist propaganda or exhibiting other overtly religious displays to report the behaviour to a new hotline, passing all details to the NSW police.
Not much is known about the details of its implementation, and the department has refused to release details of the program to Guardian Australia.
But documents published by the Association of Independent Schools set out the guidelines for implementing the program. Signs that a student could be vulnerable to extremism behaviour, according to the program, include decreased attendance at school and sport, statements of moral superiority and “increased interest in or devoutness regarding religious beliefs”.
Scott has previously rejected concerns the program could be used to build a watchlist for law enforcement and security.
“That’s not what’s it’s designed to do,” he told 60 Minutes. “What it’s really designed to do is to help schools deal with children who are at risk, to help teachers have the skills to identify young people who may just need an eye kept on and to try and help overcome isolation that they may have.”
Contact Paul Farrell by email at paul.farrell@theguardian.com or using the Signal secure messaging app on +61 457 262 172.
