Some Australian State Schools, both primary and high, are supported by Parents and Citizens Associations. These groups provide volunteer support, raise funds for infrastructure and other expenses and assist in the administration of their school.
A large part of many P&C activities is the provision of subsidies to school excursions and other supplemental and extracurricular activities.
P&Cs encourage the general public and local businesses to become involved with their local schools.
Recent years have seen a number of changes to the environment in which P&Cs operate.
- Volunteers sometimes require Blue Cards (criminal record checks) if they do not have children in the related school.
- Tuckshops and fundraisers are required to sell only healthy foods.
- Education Queensland has devolved many costs onto the school communities that were previously covered by the department. This has led to some schools requiring a "voluntary" payment from parents to cover consumables.
In Victoria, School Councils are similar to P&Cs, although they also have a more formal role in helping to manage the school.
Read more about Parents And Citizens: See Also
Famous quotes containing the words parents and, parents and/or citizens:
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—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“Who are we? And for what are we going to fight? Are we the titled slaves of George the Third? The military conscripts of Napoleon the Great? Or the frozen peasants of the Russian Czar? No—we are the free born sons of America; the citizens of the only republic now existing in the world; and the only people on earth who possess rights, liberties, and property which they dare call their own.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)