The letter also provides insight into the rushed decision-making required as agencies respond to COVID-19,with the NSW Education Standards Authority’s COVID response committee having 36 hours to provide a paper to crisis cabinet based on information that changed a week later.
The government last week said NESA had suggested moving the HSC to November 9,angering many private principals who said students were stressed to breaking point. They wanted to know why exams could not begin on October 25,when year 12 was allowed back into classrooms.
However,many of those principals run schools in the north and east. In Sydney’s west and south-west,where case numbers are higher,schools may not reopen as early.
Dr Newcombe represents independent sector principals on the committee,and Ms Allum is an independent member.
In a letter to private school principals,they said NSW Department of Education secretary Georgina Harrisson informed the committee of Health’s decision to begin the exams on November 9 at a meeting on Monday last week.
The committee,which includes the heads of the public and Catholic sectors,a Teachers Federation representative and NESA chair Peter Shergold,was also told no students in other cohorts could be on-site while an HSC exam was in progress.
“The NESA COVID-19 response committee was given less than 36 hours from the time we received that Health advice to the time we were required to present a paper for the crisis cabinet. (The paper had to be finalised by Tuesday evening,24th August),” their letter said.