A LOCAL politician is urging other schools from across Victoria to learn from the experience Quambatook has faced with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s decision to vacate the town’s sole school.
Quambatook Group School’s six students will take part in a final week of classes from Monday before moving to schools at Boort and Kerang for term two.
The school will remain open but unoccupied after a replacement acting principal and teacher to take on the the respective roles for term two could not be employed due to a lack of applicants.
Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh recently visited the town following an invitation from local advocate, Chelle Espagne to discuss the school’s plight.
“I was concerned to hear of the pressures school council board members had been exposed to which may have stymied the kind of debate that should have taken place in the community before the decision to ‘de-man’ the school was arrived at,” he said.
“The school council president and committee have clearly acted in good faith in their negotiations with the department of education and it must be incredibly disappointing that the department did not offer a workable solution to save the school.
“While it is too late for Quambatook, making the issues known now may assist other rural communities who are facing the same circumstances.”
