❓ Mr. Hyde questions the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests regarding a case of alleged racial discrimination in ESL testing at Rostrata Primary School and the Minister's handling of the issue. The Minister deflects responsibility to other departments.
AnsweredQoN 4403Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
In regard to the handballing of the issue raised by Mr and Mrs Cresswell of Ferndale regarding the selection of their child for English as Second Language (ESL) testing purely because of his racial heritage and despite his only language being English, I ask:
(a) on what basis did the Minister decide that the issue did not fall under the Office of Multicultural Interests, specifically under the
Western Australian Charter of Multiculturalism
, in which the second key principle is fairness, which sets out the requirement for public policies to be free of prejudice, discrimination and inclusion on the basis of origins, perceived race, culture and ethnicity;
(b) after 5 weeks of waiting for a response from the Minister in which time the Minister told the Cresswells that it was the problem of the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), is the Minister aware that the EOC has not replied to them after 8 months; and
(i) is this an indication that it is not their problem either;
(c) did the Minister meet with the Cresswells and use a mystery protocol to exclude their advocate Mr Suresh Rajan and another parent with the same concern from the meeting;
(d) will the Minister now take up the issue and endeavor to assist the parents in achieving a multicultural interests response into how children at Rostrata Primary School were given ESL testing without their parents’ knowledge or permission purely because they looked different to Anglo-Saxon heritage children;
(e) how much in Commonwealth ESL funding was distributed to Western Australian schools, and Rostrata Primary School specifically in 2009;
(f) will the Minister’s Department investigate and offer counseling to a school which said it tested children solely for funding purposes, especially when there could be schools more in need of ESL funding for at-risk children; and
(g) does the Minster agree with Metropolitan Schools executive director Allan Blagaich who stated that he considered the matter to now be closed, despite the Ombudsman only focusing on six points of policy and not addressing the 37 separate issues that the Creswells raised?
(a) on what basis did the Minister decide that the issue did not fall under the Office of Multicultural Interests, specifically under the
Western Australian Charter of Multiculturalism
, in which the second key principle is fairness, which sets out the requirement for public policies to be free of prejudice, discrimination and inclusion on the basis of origins, perceived race, culture and ethnicity;
(b) after 5 weeks of waiting for a response from the Minister in which time the Minister told the Cresswells that it was the problem of the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), is the Minister aware that the EOC has not replied to them after 8 months; and
(i) is this an indication that it is not their problem either;
(c) did the Minister meet with the Cresswells and use a mystery protocol to exclude their advocate Mr Suresh Rajan and another parent with the same concern from the meeting;
(d) will the Minister now take up the issue and endeavor to assist the parents in achieving a multicultural interests response into how children at Rostrata Primary School were given ESL testing without their parents’ knowledge or permission purely because they looked different to Anglo-Saxon heritage children;
(e) how much in Commonwealth ESL funding was distributed to Western Australian schools, and Rostrata Primary School specifically in 2009;
(f) will the Minister’s Department investigate and offer counseling to a school which said it tested children solely for funding purposes, especially when there could be schools more in need of ESL funding for at-risk children; and
(g) does the Minster agree with Metropolitan Schools executive director Allan Blagaich who stated that he considered the matter to now be closed, despite the Ombudsman only focusing on six points of policy and not addressing the 37 separate issues that the Creswells raised?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
15 February 2011
Responded by
Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests
Response time
83 days
(a) The Western Australian Charter of Multiculturalism is an aspirational policy document with no specific legislative or regulatory basis. The role of the Office of Multicultural Interests is not to enforce the Charter - rather to promote the principles it articulates..
(b) On 21
st
July 2010 my office formally advised Mr Cresswell to make enquiries as to whether his concerns were covered under the
Equal Opportunity Act 1984.
(c) I met with Mrs Cresswell on 24 August 2010. The meeting request was made by Mrs Verna Cresswell's Local Member of Parliament and did not include an advocate or other parent.
(d) This is a matter for the Department for Education and not my Department.
(e) ESL funding is a matter for the Department of Education.
(f) This is a matter for the Department for Education.
(g) This question should be directed to the Ombudsman's Office.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
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(b) On 21
st
July 2010 my office formally advised Mr Cresswell to make enquiries as to whether his concerns were covered under the
Equal Opportunity Act 1984.
(c) I met with Mrs Cresswell on 24 August 2010. The meeting request was made by Mrs Verna Cresswell's Local Member of Parliament and did not include an advocate or other parent.
(d) This is a matter for the Department for Education and not my Department.
(e) ESL funding is a matter for the Department of Education.
(f) This is a matter for the Department for Education.
(g) This question should be directed to the Ombudsman's Office.
Notice: This document is created or edited using unregistered or evaluation copy of rtLib valid for testing or development purposes only. To use it for productive or any other purposes please register it. You may purchase the license on
http://www.rtlib.com
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