Prime minister links campaigning to poor results in international rankings, saying ‘teachers should be focused on teaching’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Malcolm Turnbull has condemned teachers planning to wear T-shirts with messages protesting offshore detention of refugees, labelling the plan “absolutely inappropriate”.

From next week a group called Teachers for Refugees plans to wear shirts with messages including “close the camps, bring them here”, calling for an end to offshore detention on Manus Island and Nauru.

A spokeswoman for Teachers for Refugees, Lucy Honan, told Guardian Australia 500 teachers in Victoria and more in New South Wales would take part.

Opening Hearts unwraps offshore detention: 'it's about letting yourself feel something' Read more

Asked about the protest on Melbourne’s 3AW Radio on Thursday, the prime minister said the protest was “absolutely inappropriate in classrooms” because “teachers should be focused on teaching”.

Turnbull linked the activism to recent poor results in science and maths and the three-yearly international Pisa standard, noting “our ranking has gone backwards” in the tests.

“There is a lot of work to be done in our schools, and it doesn’t involve political campaigning.”

Honan said it was not surprising that Turnbull and the federal government wanted to silence the protest, noting the Border Force Act prohibited teachers who worked in offshore detention from speaking out about conditions there.

Honan said the protest would still go ahead because teachers were “very good at standing up to bullying” and had strong support from the Australian Education Union and refugee advocacy groups.

The federal education minister, Simon Birmingham, has reportedly written to his Victorian and NSW counterparts, urging them to ensure teachers were aware of their requirements under policies.

“Parents rightly expect teachers to have the education of their students as their priority and not a focus on ­advocating a political position,” he wrote.

A spokeswoman for the Victorian education department said that teachers in government schools “are free to support causes in their own time but they should not use their professional position to make political statements”.

“Principals can advise teachers about how they can take part in this type of activity and still comply with their obligations as teachers.”

Honan said the community expected teachers to stand up against the abuse of children and the treatment of children in Nauru constituted “mass scale abuse”.

She said teachers had a right to political opinions and protest. The group was not concerned about possible disciplinary consequences because they were confident in their numbers and the tide of public opinion, Honan said.

Over the past three years the remote immigration detention facilities have been plagued by reports of shocking conditions, poor management and deteriorating mental health of asylum seekers.

The Guardian’s publication of the Nauru files showed the trauma and abuse inflicted on asylum seekers and refugees – particularly children – on Nauru.

An asylum seeker was beaten to death by guards in a wave of unrest on Manus Island in February 2014, and on Nauru in May 2016 an asylum seeker self-immolated in front of staff from the UN high commissioner for refugees.

Turnbull also expressed confidence that Australia’s refugee resettlement deal with the United States would go ahead, despite reports that congressional Republicans wanted greater scrutiny of the deal, which could lead to the president elect, Donald Trump, tearing it up once in office.