Education Minister Rob Stokes warned students that attending climate protest is against the law
The NSW Government has warned students who attend protests for climate change on Friday would be breaking the law.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- City of Sydney supports student activists in protest
- Climate activists coach children on staging school walkout
The NSW Government has warned students who attend protests for climate change on Friday would be breaking the law.
Thousands of students across the state are expected to ditch school in favour of marching for Australian action on climate change.
On Wednesday, Opposition Leader Michael Daley encouraged students to take part in the protest.
However, State Education Minister Rob Stokes warned students that if they participate they would be breaking the law.
“The law has been clear for many years,” he told 2GB.
“The education act from 1990, and also the education acts from way back in the past, provides that our school system is compulsory.
“The law is clear and always has been, kids are required to be at school on school days.
“Around a fifth of the year, there is no school so there are plenty of occasions for kids that are passionate about a whole range of issues to engage in extracurricular activities.”
The protests began when a Swedish student Greta Thunberg left school in September to protest the Swedish government’s stance on climate change outside their parliament.
Since then thousands of school children around the world have joined in the protests that demand countries focus on more ambitious greenhouse gas emissions cuts.
Student rallies reveal radical decline in spelling skills
Radical climate change activists are ramping up efforts to incite children to wag school on Friday in defiance of warnings by education authorities — and in the face of growing concerns about Australia’s plummeting education rankings.
Eco-activists are predicting tens of thousands of children will walk out of classrooms around the country to attend a national day of “school climate strikes”, including a lunchtime march in the Sydney CBD.
Labor leader Michael Daley on Wednesday threw his support behind the strike, claiming it was “a demonstration of young leadership”.
But the NSW Education Department warned that students skipping class would be marked absent and “subject to the school’s disciplinary code”, while Catholic schools implored students to attend school in a show of support for an anti-bullying program.
MORE NEWS:
Peakhurst car crash: Beloved Sydney teacher killed with friend
‘Baby-faced killer’ denied parole over Tania Burgess murder
Cops protecting premier restrains man claiming to be journalist
Dr Kevin Donnelly, education expert and author of How Political Correctness Is Destroying Australia, said the “indoctrination” of children into a “deep green ideology” about climate change was “appalling”.
He said the Australian Education Union’s backing of the truanting was “unbelievable” in the light of the nation’s dramatic slide in international literacy, numeracy and science rankings.
“The focus should be on raising standards and addressing the issue that Australian students are going backwards in maths, science and literacy,” he said.
ELECTION PODCAST: DALEY ENDORSES WAGGING KIDS
“The focus should be on overcoming what is a very serious problem. Our ranking in the recent Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) results for reading was shocking.
“We’ve gone backwards in the past 10 years in terms of basic education standards.
“The curriculum has been dumbed down and students are being taught ideology.”
Last year’s NAPLAN results revealed writing scores had dropped to the lowest level recorded since national tests were introduced a decade ago.
In NSW, 81.3 per cent of Year 9 students reached the national band 6 minimum standard in writing compared to 83.7 per cent the year before.
At the inaugural student climate rallies in November many of the signs held up by protesting children contained spelling mistakes.
Social media pages run by the taxpayer-funded Australian Youth Climate Coalition promoting the strike are sharing alarmist headlines such as “prevent mass climate suicide by coal”, while some environmentalists are offering free “celebration” BBQs for kids.
Poster-making sessions, social media memes and paid advertisements are also being used to pressure children to take the day off school to attend the march from Town Hall to Hyde Park.
Mr Daley said young people should insist on having a voice. “They are inheriting from us a world that is, at best, precarious,” he said.
“They do have a right to protest. I support these young people.”
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said suggestions students should attend a protest rather than school were concerning.
“This (children expressing their views) is a good thing for our democracy. However, they must attend school during school hours,” she said.
Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney said students were reminded school attendance was compulsory.
“Catholic school students are asked to attend school on Friday to show support for their fellow students who may have experienced bullying in the schoolyard or online,” he said. “We note the planned strike day — but unregulated protests of this type are outside the control of our schools and therefore cannot receive our endorsement.”
The Education Department said it understood students were passionate about issues but all students were expected to attend school.
Under its Controversial Issues in Schools policy, “attempting to recruit students or staff into non-school approved groups for religious or ideological reasons is not permitted in schools”.
CLIMATE TEACHER’S CLASSES DRY UP
High-school teacher who urged students to sign up for an activist-promoted “climate change strike” has been stood down from teaching.
Greens candidate for Bega Will Douglas attended a daytime youth forum at Moruya Golf Club alongside other politicians last week and urged students “please, don’t forget March 15, the climate strike”.
The maths, science and English teacher, who is a casual at Moruya High, said he attended the forum on his lunchbreak, with the full knowledge of the public school.
He told the audience of 12- to 25-year-olds to get online and register for the strike “because there’s a whole community out there wanting to support you guys, young people”.
But the NSW Education Department has told him he would not be offered more work.
The Daily Telegraph revealed last month the taxpayer-funded ecoactivist charity Australian Youth Climate Coalition is orchestrating a campaign to pressure students to wag school and teachers to get behind the action.
Mr Douglas defended his actions, saying, “I was just giving them some facts about climate change. Now I don’t have any work.
“It’s not my job to tell students to strike. They will make up their own minds and have been clearly leading the debate.”
Education Minister Rob Stokes said: “The Greens candidate for Bega was not on his lunch break and had not informed the school he was taking part in a political activity for his own benefit.”
Greens MP David Shoebridge defended Mr Douglas.
Viva La Vida Sydney
Sydney will serve up a Super Sunday smorgasbord of stadium entertainment to end a week-long events menu worth $100m to the local economy.
‘No time for sideshows’: Top Lib lays down the law to his troops
Liberal leader Mark Speakman has shrugged off criticism of his leadership and declared he will be leading the party to the next state election.