Students rally against Groom's education cutbacks

By Ben Courtice

HOBART -- Over 250 students from Hobart's four secondary colleges rallied at Parliament House on August 24 to protest against the Groom Liberal government's cutbacks to education.

The recent budget includes a $6 million cut to education and the arts which will result in the loss of 18% of the state's collage teachers (98 teachers from the eight colleges around the state).

Speakers at the rally included Christine Milne, leader of the Tasmanian Greens, who angrily denounced the cuts and state ALP leader Michael Field, whose government became so unpopular between 1989-1992 largely as a result of cuts to education.

Speakers from student unions, who organised the rally, stressed that more not less teachers were needed. One student vowed that if nothing was done, then a rally would be held every Tuesday.

When the education minister, John Beswick, tried to explain why cutbacks to staff wouldn't affect students because teachers would teach more hours per week he was quickly surrounded by 20 angry students making plain their thoughts on the subject.

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