All PSA members working in schools across NSW are directed to BAN all interaction with School Administration and Management Marketplace until further notice.

The union has become aware, through our Delegate networks, that the Department of Education is decommissioning EBS4, the student management system used by schools which they introduced as part of ‘LMBR’.

Rather than replacing EBS4 with a functional and supported alternative, the Department has created the School Administration and Management Marketplace with a list of 12 ‘DoE approved’ third-party software providers. Schools will have to research and purchase from their own funds the external software their school chooses to run its basic operations.

The department has been implementing this by stealth without clearly showing staff what is involved. The PSA believes implementation will have extreme impacts on workload, staffing, school budgets and, as a result of potentially decreasing funds, the implementation of student focused programs and learning resources.

PSA has written urgently to the Department of Education Secretary to seek consultation on School Administration and Management Marketplace, which has the potential to impact every PSA member in schools.

The ban covers all PSA members and means you must not:

1. Attend webinars or undertake any training on School Administration and Management Marketplace
2. Spend time reading Quick Reference Guides, FAQs or documentation designed to prepare you for the implementation of School Administration and Management Marketplace
3. Undertake any research into third-party software to replace EBS4.

This ban has been brought on by Delegates’ extreme frustration at the Department of Education implementing yet another system (or in this case, multiple systems) that has the potential to dramatically increase workloads, as well as the absence of consultation with your union.

Support your colleagues who are following bans

Remember that the PSA ban relates to the whole of a task and process. This means that no member, no matter what classification they are, should pick up work that is the result of a colleague following the direction of their union.

If you are requested to take on the work, advise your Principal that the work is currently the subject of an industrial ban, and you are unable to complete it.

Members are protected when following bans

Members are advised that:

1. This industrial action has been approved by the General Secretary of the Public Service Association of NSW
2. Any direction to perform work covered by these bans can be refused without personal risk.

Should members receive any type of threat for refusing to break the bans they should contact their local Delegate or the PSA immediately.

If issues are raised with you about your compliance with the ban, provide your principal with a copy of this bulletin and politely explain that you have been directed by your union not to undertake this work.

Sign up your colleagues

You can support the work of the PSA and your local delegates by asking your colleagues to JOIN their union.