That ICPA (Aust) requests that the Minister for Communications and the Minister for Education, investigate if all state and territory governments are offering the deliverance and maintenance of a high speed internet connection to geographically isolated families with children enrolled in chools of Distance Education and Schools of the Air at no cost to the families.
For the past couple of years, The Northern Territory Government (NTG) have been advising Schools of Distance Education, such as Alice Springs School of the Air (ASSOA), should recommend to families who are enrolling at the school, that they would receive a better connection if they organise and supply their own internet such as SkyMuster rather than STARS network; This is the free internet connection the NTG offers to families with a child enrolled on Schools of Distance Education.
The Northern Territory Government have an obligation to all Remote Schools and Schools of Distance Education to provide satellite internet connection. They are able to do this via the STARS network.
There is now only a hand full of families in the Alice Springs ICPA Branch who are still able to access the STARS internet connection. These are families who have been enrolled at ASSOA long term. These families experience no out of pocket expenses, no ongoing monthly fees, no initial set up costs, no out of pocket expenses for repairs/maintenance – the STARS connection is fully funded and provided by the NTG.
This leads us to the dozens of other families, mostly new enrolments to the school, who have been told they would be better off supplying their own internet service as the STARS network, provided by the NT Government, is not recommended.
Those families are then required to source, cover installation and initial equipment costs, ongoing expenses, repairs, maintenance and technical support all at their own up-front expense. With the option of applying to the NTG for a predetermined subsidy to help cover monthly bills, which doesn’t cover the minimal monthly amount available.
How is it reasonable that some of our geographically isolated families face these costs, while other families are having internet supplied into their remote classrooms that is fully funded and maintained by the NT Government via the STARS network.
The subsidy for families who incurred out of pocket monthly internet expenses to provide their own internet did not always exist. The NT ICPA have lobbied the NT Government to provide this subsidy and we have seen increases to this monthly amount over the past couple of years.
The core business of schools of distance education is to deliver a free public education to the most geographically isolated children in Australia. To do so, these families need access to High-Speed Internet without the burden of financial outlay of equipment, monthly connection costs and any ongoing repairs/maintenance.
If respective States and Territories are still using slow and obsolete satellite internet connections for their Schools of Distance Education, then it is time they invest in High Speed, reliable internet for ALL of the families who are currently enrolled at these rural and remote schools and schools of distance education. They should NOT be able to place this responsibility back on the families.
This raises the question, why are families responsible to provide the delivery mechanism (the internet) of education for their geographically isolated children?
It is so disappointing to hear that the NT Government / NT Department of Education are quietly instructing Schools of Distance Education (like ASSOA) to recommend that new families use their own internet connections instead of the FREE service provided and maintained by them.
If the department is supplying a slow internet service to families, they should be accountable to upgrade it – we are talking about our children accessing an education and to do so, they need to be supplied with a good High Speed internet connection. The Alice Springs ICPA Branch would like to ensure, ALL Children enrolled in Schools of Distance Education have access to High-Speed internet connections for their remote classrooms that is delivered and maintained by their relative state or territory governments with no upfront or ongoing cost to the families.
Extra Information STARS (internet) = Northern Territory Government is the provider and the responsible entity for the delivery, maintenance, costs etc.
STARS (internet) = Alice Springs School of the Air (ASSOA) is the conduit though which NTG delivers education to geographically isolated children in the remote home school rooms. ASSOA does bear some costs and responsibilities associated to STARS network does not have ultimate responsibility.
