AUSTRALIA
The Educator
by James Reid
30 Aug 2016
An outspoken Catholic school principal has called for an urgent review of Catholic primary and secondary schools, saying their governance models are “antiquated”.
In a submission to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Paul Tobias, principal of St Joseph’s College Geelong, said that people who expressed different views to the church could “expect to be penalised, isolated or have their careers impacted”.
“The Catholic Church persists with antiquated governance models which are no longer appropriate, rather than distribute power appropriately,” he said.
“In the case of primary schools, the local Catholic Priest is often the Canonical Administrator. This is a role unsuited to many Parish Priests, due to their other work commitments, lack of interest or expertise in education, lack of understanding in relation to modern work place practices, etc.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.