Aurukun teachers all agree to return

All 16 teachers from Aurukun have agreed to return when the Queensland town's school reopens next month, after it was shut down due to attacks on staff.

Aurukun

Teachers at the Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy have agreed to return to the township. Source: AAP

All teachers who were evacuated from the troubled far north Queensland town of Aurukun last month due to ongoing unrest have agreed to return when their school reopens in July.

The Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy was shut down following the second attack in as many weeks on serving principal Scott Fatnowa, who was allegedly carjacked by repeat offenders.

Beenleigh State High School's Matt O'Hanlon has since been assisting with a distance education program, with the help of two teachers.
Queensland Teachers' Union president Kevin Bates said at a meeting last week, all 16 teachers who were evacuated on May 25 have agreed to return when the school reopens on July 11.

"That involved us having a full and frank conversation about the situation in the community," he told AAP.

"There have been other incidents involving health care staff - nurses and so on - and those things have been discussed."

The state government completed a safety audit and improvements had been made to fences and other security measures, he said.

But Mr Bates also highlighted a staffing shortfall of nine teachers, which increased when five opted against returning following an initial evacuation on May 10, and said it would be a significant recruitment exercise for the department.

"It's not a simple process of people walking into Aurukun and starting to teach," he said.

"There's a range of skill sets and issues that need to be addressed through an induction program before people take up that role."

The school's closure angered parents, who accused the government of allowing a handful of trouble-makers to control it like puppeteers.

A review is underway into the US-based direct instruction curriculum, but founder Noel Pearson has defended the teaching model and said investigations into policing, violence and alcohol were also needed to quell unrest in the community.

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Source: AAP



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