Department of Education, Training and Employment's new Director General Dr Jim Watterston. Source: Supplied
THE man who challenged Canberra schools to stop coasting on the back of smart kids from rich families is set to head Queensland's education system.
Dr Jim Watterston, who was behind an ambitious school reform agenda in the Australian Capital Territory, will head Queensland's Department of Education, Training and Employment from next month.
He was praised in the ACT Legislative Assembly last year for leaving their school system "in a better position than when he started", after accusing schools three years before of "coasting" on the results of "already smart kids from high socio-economic families".
Under Dr Watterston a three-year plan was introduced to increase collaboration with non-Government schools and raise the performance of disadvantaged students.
The current Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development deputy secretary courted controversy this year when he signed a department memo, amid an industrial dispute, stating hours spent at school camps outside the allocated 38 hours were free time rather than working time.
Queensland's national search for a new DETE Director-General (DG) comes after former DG Julie Grantham quit suddenly last year.
In a message sent out by acting DETE DG Annette Whitehead it states: "It is with great pleasure I announce that after a nationwide recruitment process Dr Jim Watterston has accepted the position of Director-General of the Department of Education, Training and Employment".
"He will join our department on Monday 15 April 2013."
Like former DG Julie Grantham, Dr Watterston was a teacher and then principal before rising through the ranks to take on DG roles.
He is also the current Australian Council of Educational Leaders national president.
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