Teachers watchdog agency members wagged an average of a quarter of last year’s meetings

BOARD members at the taxpayer-funded watchdog agency meant to regulate the teaching profession wagged an average of a quarter of the meetings they were supposed to attend last year

Education Department chief executive Vicki Baylis has defended her appointment of Yalmay Yunupingu as Aboriginal representative on the Northern Territory Teacher Registration Board despite Ms Yunupingu not attending many of its meetings. Picture: Helen Orr

BOARD members at the taxpayer-funded watchdog agency meant to regulate the teaching profession wagged an average of a quarter of the meetings they were supposed to attend last year.

The Northern Territory Teacher Registration Board’s latest annual report shows the 17 members who sat on the board last financial year skipped as many as five of the nine board meetings the board held in the 2017 financial year.

Only two of the board’s members – chair Karen Blan­chfield and Independent Education Union representative Elsabe Bott – showed up to every meeting on time.

Among the worst attendees was Aboriginal representative Yalmay Yunupingu, appointed by Education Department chief executive Vicki Baylis.

In a statement to the NT News, Ms Baylis defended her reappointment of Ms Yunupingu as one of her representatives on the board, despite her missing eight of nine meetings in 2012 – the last year of her previous term.

“The (chief executive) nominated Ms Yununpingu (sic) based on her experience as an educator,” Ms Baylis said.

Ms Yunupingu did not respond to questions addressed to her through the board, which she has since quit.

Board meeting attendance records show three meetings in the 2017 financial year came within a whisker of having to be abandoned when only eight members showed up, just one more than the required quorum of seven, and one of those meetings only had a bare quorum of seven for part of the meeting.

Board director Maree Garrigan defended the non-attendance of board members, for which only some members are paid a stipend on top of their usual salaries.

“There are times when personal and work commitments impact on the ability of a member to attend a meeting,” she said.

“This is a fact of life.”

In previous years, board members have skipped or been late to an average of 40 per cent of meetings.

“I have every confidence in board members’ commitment to the role, the ethical behaviour of members, their diligence and thoughtfulness in the decisions they are required to make, impacting ultimately on the lives of students,” Ms Garrigan said.

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Documents obtained by the NT News show that among the decisions the board has made are allowing violent criminals to continue working as teachers, including in cases where teachers had assaulted children.

The board will on Thursday vote on whether it will release documents detailing the findings of teacher misconduct ­inquiries, documents which it has chosen to keep secret for years despite documented failures of the board’s vetting and disciplinary procedures.

Originally published as Teachers watchdog agency members wagged an average of a quarter of last year’s meetings