Fed: WA teacher's union slams Gillard's comments on NAPLAN

AAP General News (Australia)
04-30-2010
Fed: WA teacher's union slams Gillard's comments on NAPLAN

PERTH, April 30 AAP - West Australian teachers say Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard
has misled people by saying other unions should follow its lead and ignore calls to boycott
national literacy and numeracy tests.

The State School Teachers Union of WA (SSTUWA) says it has been forced to comply with
the state's industrial relations commission but its lawyers were seeking "any and every
legal option" to challenge the ruling.

Ms Gillard earlier welcomed the decision of the WA union to support the NAPLAN tests.

She called on other state unions to also break ranks with the national union, which
voted to boycott the program earlier this month.

"I welcome that decision by the Western Australian teachers' union - it's a responsible
decision, it's the right decision, and is leading the way for the rest of the nation,"

she told reporters in Sydney on Friday.

"I would be calling upon teacher unions around the country to follow the lead of Western
Australia."

But the WA union's general secretary David Kelly called Ms Gillard's comments false
and misleading.

"For Ms Gillard to suggest that education unions across Australia should follow the
SSTUWA's lead and simply give in is blatantly false and misleading," he said in a statement.

The controversial NAPLAN tests, which will be held from May 11 to 13, have divided
the ranks of teachers, who have largely decided to back the national boycott.

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KEYWORD: SCHOOLS WA

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