Hundreds of Greek Australian parents and their children from the inner western and southern suburbs of Adelaide have rallied against the State Government’s changes to the CBD school zone.
The protesters walked form Thebarton Theatre to Adelaide High School on Sunday morning, voicing their opposition to the decision to restrict enrolments at the two CBD high schools including newly opened Adelaide Botanic High School.
“Adelaide High is a fantastic public high school and has one of the best Greek language programs in the state. That was important to my parents when choosing my school and these new zone changes will prevent lots of students learning Greek – an absolute travesty,” said Steve Georganas MP, Federal Member for Hindmarsh who is a lifetime resident of Mile End and walked with the protesters joined by former SA treasurer Tom Koutsantonis and opposition leader Peter Malinauskas.
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“I walked with families who had specifically bought their family home in the west for the sole purpose of being included in these school zones. I spoke to children who are distressed they now won’t be attending the same high school as their friends – despite planning this for year,” he said.
According to Mr Georganas, prior to the 2018 election the government had expressed their commitment that future changes implemented would not not impact the Adelaide High school zone.
“Fast forward a few months and a decision was made to cut western suburbs from the school zone of Adelaide Botanic High and Adelaide High School. This was done with zero consultation with impacted families and we are asking from the government to retract their decision,” concluded Mr Georganas.