Teachers’ union calls to change dates of summer school holidays

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has poured cold water on a suggestion to move Queensland’s school holidays in an effort to beat the heat in classrooms.

THE Queensland Premier has poured cold water on a suggestion to move Queensland’s school holidays in an effort to beat the heat in classrooms.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said there were no plans to change the school calendar, and that there was a progressive rollout of airconditioning in state schools. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

The Queensland Teachers Union has made the suggestion to bring Queensland in line with southern states and start and finish school holidays later, coming back at the start of February.

The NSW “western division” starts the school year on February 5 and finishes December 22.

It follows the state’s Liberal National Party opposition proposing a plan to aircondition every state school classroom in Queensland, with leader Deb Frecklington labelling the holiday move a “con”.

“The hottest day last year was February 12, so if you push the holidays back you’re still potentially going to have the hottest day of the year be a school day,” Ms Frecklington said.

But Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said there were no plans to change the school calendar, and that there was a progressive rollout of airconditioning in state schools.

“I think $21 million has been allocated this financial year, we’ve got our Cooler Schools program, so we have a range of measures happening across the state,” the premier said.

The LNP’s plan has been costed several years ago at around $2 billion, but Ms Frecklington insists those numbers are out of date, and her proposed plan would be cheaper, although she couldn’t offer more detailed figures.

OVERNIGHT: Queensland school holidays could face a shake-up in a bid to tackle the high costs of airconditioning classrooms.

The Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU) has proposed changing the start and end date of school terms to keep students and teachers out of classrooms during the hottest parts of the year.

It says it would also help keep airconditioning bills down.

It has proposed having end-of-year school holidays start closer to Christmas.

The move would mirror other states including NSW’s “western division” which started on February 5 this year, with Christmas holidays to begin on December 22.

While the union has not yet discussed the idea with its members, President Kevin Bates said all options should be explored when creating a better learning environment.

Queensland Teachers’ Union president Kevin Bates says changing the school holidays could lead to better outcomes for students and save on airconditioning costs. Picture: Liam Kidston

“This might be another way of dealing with some of those issues that might impact on children’s learning,” Mr Bates said.

“We need to explore all of the options available for creating a better learning environment for students and for our members.”

However, Education Minister Grace Grace said yesterday the government had no plans to change the calendar.

Scorching temperatures threw some Queensland schools into chaos earlier this year when some classrooms recorded temperatures around 40C degrees.

Queensland public schools started on January 22 this year and will finish on December 14.

However both the ACT and Tasmania started on February 5 and will finish closer to Christmas.

It comes after the State Opposition announced it would aircondition every public school if elected.

Education Minister Grace Grace says there are no plans to change the dates of the summer school holidays. Picture: AAP/Dave Hunt

Mr Bates said some schools were already looking at alternatives to avoid the heat, like starting and finishing the day earlier.

“There will be a view that (with) the way things are going, February isn’t much better than January so there may be a view that we’re not going to gain a lot, we just need airconditioning,” he said.

“There’s an opportunity there for that to be part of the conversations going forward.

“There are various models out there but it’s then about the extent to which we could capitalise on that in Queensland in terms of it being for purposes of accommodating this increased heat.

“I’m not suggesting this but there are other parts of the world that have their big holidays in summer that don’t have that same sort of heat we have.

“There is potentially a much bigger question than just putting airconditioning in.”

Minister Grace said the Government’s Our Cooler Schools policy ensured classrooms were cooled in the hottest parts of the state.

“This year, we’ve allocated $21 million for airconditioning in Queensland state schools and we will continue to work with school communities and P & Cs to assist with airconditioning and classroom cooling measures,” she said.