Could someone please explain the role of a School Chaplaincy Program in a secular school?

[i-need-a-martini]

I don't understand how parents at secular public schools can accept this?

[freakiness]

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@azureline** wrote:

What is the point?

the education department won't fund a psych/social worker for every school, chaplains are cheaper and funded elsewhere.

Not saying it's a good thing.or not. I have no children in school now and the grandies are too young to require it.

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What do you mean by funded elsewhere?

Just curious.  I don't think the chaplains are cheaper. 

This government seems intent on only allowing religious chaplains, probably with LNP ties.

[freakiness]

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@bella_again wrote:

I'm not saying the program is perfect but just to get on ones high horse and assume its useless is a shame too.   Chaplains play a very important part of the school community regardless of belief systems.  They are not all christian either.

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The previous government allowed secular student welfare officers into the program. They will no longer be allowed, if that bit of the budget is passed

[bella_again]

You know I just think schools need the flexiability to hire someone that best reflects their needs.  Salaries depending on state start at 38,000.

[bella_again]

I'm sorry freaki I didn't actually see that.  Yes that could be a problem and under those circumstances I understand schools feeling frustrated. I think maybe their thinking is that those services are accessable out in the community.  The problem there is disadvantaged families won't access them where as currently they can.

They need both I think.

[boris1gary]

Bella, i don't think anyone is calling them useless, but with the massive cuts to public education it's a little odd that $248.3 million can be found for a chaplaincy program. The program offers schools up to $24,000 per year to support a chaplain, but will no longer allow principals to elect for a secular student welfare worker instead of a chaplain.

Not providing the funding for the 5th and 6th year of the Gonski Funding.......

“State governments are unlikely to make up the loss and may not even meet their own commitments to increase funding, in which case the loss to government schools will be even bigger,” he said. “It is a disaster for the future of public education in Australia.”

At Queanbeyan South Public School, where 44 per cent of students are in the bottom socio-educational quarter and a quarter are indigenous, the Australian Education Union says the decision will leave students “short-changed to the tune of $650,000”. 

“Eden-Monaro won’t see $30 million that was promised to kids in this electorate,” AEU federal president Angelo Gavrielatos said. “There will actually be a cut in real terms in the fifth year of Gonski.”

Mr Gavrielatos said the decision would leave 20 per cent of schools nationally below the determined minimum resource standard, and also noted there was no additional funding for disabled students, as previously promised by Education Minister Christopher Pyne.

Queanbeyan South principal Genevieve Jackson has been able to fund several programs under previous national partnership funding, which was successfully closing achievement gaps within the school, particularly with the indigenous students.

“I know I can’t maintain the programs within my school because I simply can’t hire the personnel,” she said. “We employ a speech pathologist; 50 per cent of my kindergarten students alone were recognised as having speech difficulties. With the funding we have now – which is running out in the next couple of months – we can only address 20 per cent.

“[These programs are] imperative for the future of these children; so we need that funding; it’s not just for literacy and numeracy, it does have social and emotional implications as well.”

[freakiness]

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@bella_again wrote:

You know I just think schools need the flexiability to hire someone that best reflects their needs.  Salaries depending on state start at 38,000.

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It is just change to revert it back to the original Howard model. They don't think Labor should have allowed secular counsellors in and are removing funding for them while increasing the overall chaplaincy funding.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-15/cut-to-secular-advisors-program-in-federal-budget/5455176

The Federal Education Minister's parliamentary secretary, Scott Ryan, has defended the change.

"A lot of those welfare services are provided to schools by either state governments or by other school systems," Senator Ryan said.

"When we initially conceived the school chaplaincy program under the previous Howard government it was to provide an additional resource to schools that wasn't available," he said.

The program is worth more than $240 million over four years.

School principals have welcomed the extra money but they are puzzled by a decision to exclude non-religious counsellors, who currently cover a quarter of all participants.

Australian Primary Principals Association president Norm Hart says he is scratching his head about why Labor's extension of the program to include non-religious welfare workers would be specifically defunded by the Abbott Government.

"I would hope that people who are working with students have built relationships with children and with schools, won't lose that role as a result of this decision and secondly I believe that our association, when we've considered this matter, will advocate again for a change in the employment arrangements," he said.

Parliamentary secretary for education, Senator Scott Ryan says the Government is restoring the original vision of the Howard government for the program.

"The Coalition committed to providing a school chaplaincy program. We believe that chaplains play an important role in pastoral care for students and communities. Student welfare officers and similar services are and should be provided by schools and state governments and schooling systems," he said.

[i-need-a-martini]

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@azureline** wrote:

Some of them have degrees in psychology and /or social work.

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So why change the previous system where schools had an option of using the funding for secular counsellor or, if they  preferred, a religion based one?

I got a letter from our school (private secular) informing the school community that as at the end of June, we have lost our funding for our schools Child Welfare person (a qualified psychologist). Funding would only be available if we selected another Child Wefare person with church connections.

Our school has refused as we pride ourselves on our diversity and equality.

Our Wefare Person is fulltime and our school currently supports the salary 3 days out of 5. The remaining 2 days were funded through the program. In our case the school believes the position is so crucial (we had a student suicide 3 years ago which we are still affected by) that they will pay the extra to keep this person on. Lucky we can do this. Not many others can afford to.

Why should a school like ours that deliberately does not address religion have to accept a religious position to keep it's funding?

[freakiness]

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@i-need-a-martini wrote:

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@azureline** wrote:

Some of them have degrees in psychology and /or social work.

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So why change the previous system where schools had an option of using the funding for secular counsellor or, if they  preferred, a religion based one?

I got a letter from our school (private secular) informing the school community that as at the end of June, we have lost our funding for our schools Child Welfare person (a qualified psychologist). Funding would only be available if we selected another Child Wefare person with church connections.

Our school has refused as we pride ourselves on our diversity and equality.

Our Wefare Person is fulltime and our school currently supports the salary 3 days out of 5. The remaining 2 days were funded through the program. In our case the school believes the position is so crucial (we had a student suicide 3 years ago which we are still affected by) that they will pay the extra to keep this person on. Lucky we can do this. Not many others can afford to.

Why should a school like ours that deliberately does not address religion have to accept a religious position to keep it's funding?

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Because it was not in the Howard vision to have secular participants and this is all about erasing any trace of the previous government and it's dirty little red head female atheist leader.  This is about a vindictive ideology.

[boris1gary]

This video gives a history of the School Chaplaincy Program, how it started and what it's about.

http://vimeo.com/92299474

[bluecat*dancing]

When my kids were at school, there was a school psychologist who serviced three primary schools and a school psychologist who serviced four secondary school. By the time, my kids had completed secondary school apart from the school psychologist there was a full-time counsellor. I have young family members in primary school and their school psychologist was replaced by a chaplain, who, even though she is lovely, has no formal training and was hired mainly because of her religion. She has gone on a steep learning curve being required to give evidence at Court. 

I'm sure that child psychologists, social workers etc are religious as well but do not use it as a tool to help kids.