His family once faced homelessness. Now he's on a mission to ensure no child has to go through it
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ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Parents fight for independent democratic school Darlingia to reopen
When it was time for Deborah Schiel Zaini to choose a school for her son, she wasn't convinced a demand-avoidant child like hers could thrive at any of the available options. "As a teacher, I could see there were a lot of demands waiting for him at school," she says. "He was either going to shut down or lash out and be the naughty kid that got into trouble all the time, so he needed something different where there weren't so many demands." So, armed with experience from her career in the classroom, she founded a school. Initially run out of a small art deco building on the outskirts of Innisfail in Far North Queensland, Darlingia Forest School was to be "a home away from home where children can run around barefoot if they want". "We were a democratic school while we were operating and we were hoping to be a democratic school again," Ms Schiel Zaini says. In her words, that's a school where "children have real voice and choice about their learning". "There's encouragement but not coercion, and if kids didn't want to do a particular task, we didn't force them," she says. "We didn't keep them in at lunchtime; we didn't send it (work) home with them to do at home. "We'd try and figure out why the child doesn't want to do that particular piece of work." Ms Schiel Zaini said the approach helped struggling children "heal". "Those were the school refusers and children being bullied at school, or struggling for whatever reason, and then there were some other families who wanted this type of education from the get-go," she said. But despite enrolments growing to more than a dozen children, the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board shut it down in June 2024. Ms Schiel Zaini and the parents who believe the school changed their children's lives have been fighting ever since to help it reopen. Tara Garozzo, whose two youngest daughters attended Darlingia, recalls how "we all cried and cried and cried" when the school had to close partway through the school year. "It was just a treasure, and it was taken away from us, just so abruptly," she says. "I loved that they were able to take their time to find where their interests were. "We'd all sit down around the table for morning tea and we got to talk about what our approach to the day might look like." Laura Austin, her partner and three children were travelling up the Queensland coast with plans to head to Western Australia around the time Darlingia was opening. When COVID-19 border closures and the wet season struck, they got a rental in Innisfail and stuck around, enrolling their children in the fledgling school. Three years on, the family is still in town, the children having found their groove at Darlingia before it closed. "It was like watching a flower bloom for the first time," Ms Austin says. Part of Darlingia's philosophy was for students to spend two full days a week outside the classroom. Ms Austin says one of the school's strengths was that parents were allowed to join the students on these outdoor lessons to see their experiments and projects first-hand. Ms Schiel Zaini says one of the weekly excursions was to somewhere in nature, like the beach, rainforest or swamps, where they would do English, maths and science lessons. "And then the other excursion would be to town, so getting to know and love our small town, Innisfail, so hopefully when they grow up, they don't leave the town like a lot of people do," she says. The outdoor mode of learning was part of what brought Darlingia unstuck in its fresh application to reopen this year. The school ran afoul of the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (NSSAB) during its first year of operation, when an inspection found failures to comply with accreditation criteria. The school made some changes in response to a show cause notice, but not enough to convince NSSAB that its governance and finance arrangements were up to scratch. Darlingia appealed against NSSAB's 2022 decision to revoke its accreditation at the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) but after waiting almost two years for an outcome, it was unsuccessful and had to close. In an 18-page decision seen by the ABC, NSSAB set out its reasons for refusing to grant Darlingia accreditation in May this year. They included "significant risks with [its] proposed approach of obtaining blanket consents from parents at the beginning of each year to take children off-site". NSSAB's other potential concerns included: The refusal has left Darlingia with two options — launch another appeal at QCAT or submit a fresh application for accreditation. But time is not on their side, and Ms Schiel Zaini has had to rent out the rooms of her school to artists, turning the building into a creative hub. "I've been knocked down too many times," she says. Darlingia's board is instead hoping to negotiate a pathway to accreditation by showing it can satisfy NSSAB's requirements. "We can have all this stuff, and mitigate every concern they have, or we can show evidence of everything they think is missing, literally within less than a few days," Darlingia chairman Michael Ha says. "I would hope that a governing body always has an open and equitable process for everybody that's fair, that's transparent, that's clear," he says. "We don't want to have to reapply and waste another six months because ultimately, it's the students who are going to miss out. "We're not the lone wolf here and what we're doing — it's been done so many times." In a statement, a spokeswoman for NSSAB said legislation restricted its ability to comment publicly on individual applications and assessments. However, NSSAB said it had provided Darlingia's board "with significant support to assist it to be compliant" before cancelling its accreditation in 2022. QCAT concurred in its 2024 ruling that upheld NSSAB's decision, finding it had "exhibited an extraordinary degree of patience" and that it was not its obligation to be an ongoing advisor to the school. Darlingia is one of four proposed independent schools in Queensland to be refused accreditation since the start of 2021. In that time, NSSAB has approved 22 of the 34 accreditation applications it has received, while three were withdrawn and five remain under consideration. Mr Ha, who is deputy principal of Toogoolawa — an independent school on the Gold Coast for boys who have struggled to fit in at mainstream schools — says he has "no worries about [Darlingia's] financial viability once the school operates". "[We're] keeping it at a relatively low student number," he says. Darlingia proposed to run its entire program on the base government funding independent schools receive, with consideration to be given to charging parents a small fee for meals provided to students. Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek recently met with Mr Ha, Ms Schiel Zaini and local state MP Shane Knuth, who has backed the school's bid to regain accreditation. Mr Knuth, from Katter's Australian Party, says he is "just absolutely impressed" with the school's approach and parental involvement. "We asked the students, 'If your parents said to you that you don't have to go to school tomorrow, would you stay home?" he says. Mr Knuth said it was "very unfair" for NSSAB to judge Darlingia's accreditation application based on its first iteration at its former school campus. Mr Langbroek said legislation prevented him from intervening in accreditation decisions. "But I will work with the Darlingia School applicants to obtain answers to the questions they have around the Non-State School Accreditation Board's processes," Mr Langbroek said. A spokesman for the Department of Education said it was working with stakeholders, including NSSAB, to implement accepted recommendations from a review of accreditation criteria for non-state schools. For now, the parents of about 20 prospective Darlingia students have made other arrangements for their children's education, including homeschooling or enrolling at another independent school. Independent Schools Queensland, the peak body for non-state schools, has been contacted for comment.
ABC News
6 days ago
- ABC News
Rethinking religious education within the lived realities of pluralism in the Middle East: A reply to Paul Heck - ABC Religion & Ethics
Paul Heck's recent article on religious pluralism and education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) provides a valuable diagnosis of regional gaps in religious education. He identifies the disinterest and polemicism that characterise much current discourse among faculty and students. Yet the academic landscape is far from monolithic: universities across the MENA region employ diverse, context-sensitive approaches to pluralism and inter-religious relations, each reflecting its institutional mission, language of instruction and local realities. Recognising this plurality of pedagogies is essential to advancing Heck's call for religious synergy — affirming one's own faith while acknowledging that others are also guided by God. As a historian and historian of religions who has taught students for nearly six years in Qatar, and online at Dar al-Kalima University in Palestine, and with international cohorts from Muslim, Western, African and Asian backgrounds, my perspective on religious pluralism and inter-religious engagement is shaped by sustained, first-hand engagement with diverse student bodies and local contexts. This experience informs my approach, which emphasises historical nuance, interdisciplinarity and the lived realities of pluralism in the Middle East. In my experience, interdisciplinary teaching of pluralism and interfaith relations — incorporating historical, social, political and theological perspectives — was welcomed by both students and faculty. When we engaged with multiple viewpoints and learned to analyse and critique them with intellectual rigour and empathy, students not only excelled academically but also demonstrated a remarkable capacity for critical thinking and mutual understanding across lines of difference. Pluralism — beyond theology and identity Heck warns that ignorance breeds hostility: 'If you want others to study your religion as you understand it … you have to study the religions of others as they understand them.' Building on Heck's understanding of religious pluralism as both a 'theological and social reality', we might further emphasise that pluralism encompasses complex social, philosophical and intellectual dimensions that extend beyond interfaith dialogue within a theological framework. Hussam al-Obaidi, for example, situates religious pluralism within philosophy of religion, distinguishing doctrinal debates from the lived reality of diversity. Mohammad Hashim Kamali's Qurʾānic hermeneutics differentiates plurality (diversity as fact) from pluralism (ethical engagement and legal recognition of difference), exemplified by the Constitution of Medina's inclusive ummah — which included the allied Jewish tribes as equal partners in a multi-religious civic community, each group retaining religious and legal autonomy yet bound by mutual obligations. Eric Geoffroy, moreover, demonstrates that Islam's scripture and history affirm pluralism, highlighting Qurʾānic verses such as 49:13 and 5:48, which emphasise diversity and mutual recognition as part of the divine plan. Crucially, the discourse on pluralism in Islamic education is enriched by Muslim voices from beyond the Arab Middle East. Kamali (Afghan) and Geoffroy (French Muslim) exemplify how global perspectives — rooted in diverse cultural, intellectual and historical contexts — expand and deepen understandings of pluralism within the Islamic tradition. The classroom as laboratory for critical inquiry While Heck is right to identifies disinterest and polemicism in current discourse among faculty and students, the classroom functions as a laboratory for critical inquiry where diverse pedagogical approaches can facilitate the co-creation of learning spaces in which objections rooted in both tradition and practice are subjected to rigorous scholarly analysis. This analysis is grounded in phenomenological methodologies that bracket ultimate truth claims while examining how religious traditions understand themselves. Contemporary MENA universities illustrate tailored pluralism curricula rather than a single template. Consider the following examples. Georgetown University in Qatar THEO-3920 'Religious Pluralism in the Middle East and the Islamic World' introduces students to the study and practice of religious diversity in the Middle East and the broader Islamic world, while also exploring pluralism in a range of global contexts. The course adopts an interdisciplinary approach — drawing on history, theology, sociology, politics and anthropology — to examine how religious pluralism has been constructed, experienced and contested across different societies and time periods. Students analyse pluralism from classical Islamic and Middle Eastern contexts to the present, consider foundational texts, formative historical developments and modern challenges, and engage with global case studies from regions such as south-east Asia, Africa and Europe. Comparative analysis, critical engagement with different models of diversity, and applied learning through historical documents, media and interview-based case studies are central features. THEO-3920 is taught variously by instructors whose backgrounds — ranging from historical and case-study methods to phenomenological, mystical and interdisciplinary analyses — shape the course's emphasis and pedagogical style. Saint Joseph University in Beirut The Institute of Muslim-Christian Studies, which was established in 1977, offers an interdisciplinary postgraduate degree in Christian-Muslim Relations (with both Arabic and French tracks), combining comparative methodology, conflict-transformation practicum and community-based research, exemplifying Lebanon's confessional mosaic of pluralism education. Both models attest to the fact that pluralism education in the MENA is non-monolithic: each institution crafts its curriculum to align with its identity, language policy and community needs. Curricular reform and public engagement in Iraq The evolving landscape of Iraqi higher education offers a compelling, if complex, case for how universities can serve as catalysts for pluralism in societies marked by histories of sectarian violence and mono-religious curricula. While Iraq's public education system has long privileged a singular religious narrative, recent years have witnessed a discernible, if uneven, shift in both curricular content and institutional ethos. Initiatives such as the Institute for the Study of Religious Diversity in Baghdad — which has developed new courses on minority faiths in collaboration with community scholars — signal a move toward curricular inclusivity that was previously unthinkable. At the University of Kufa, the UNESCO Chair for Interreligious Dialogue has not only produced research and organised symposia on Sunni-Shiite relations and the rights of non-Muslims, but it has also foregrounded the Qurʾānic and historical resources within Islam that support pluralism and coexistence. Likewise, the University of Karbala's College of Education for Human Sciences has foregrounded the ethical and scriptural dimensions of religious pluralism, situating these debates within both classical and contemporary Islamic thought. Notably, these reforms are not simply top-down mandates but are emerging from sustained engagement between faculty, minority communities and civil society — often in response to student demand for more relevant, inclusive approaches to the study of religion. Such developments, while still nascent and at times uneven, illustrate the potential for universities to move beyond mere rhetorical commitment to pluralism, instead embedding it in the lived academic and civic experience. In this sense, Iraq's universities are not only responding to Paul Heck's call for a more robust engagement with religious difference, but they are also advancing the regional conversation by demonstrating how curricular reform and public scholarship can begin to reshape societal attitudes toward diversity and coexistence. A significant example of team-taught or collaboratively designed interfaith courses in Iraq is the Institute for the Study of Religious Diversity's curriculum, which was developed with input from both Muslim and minority community scholars and is now piloted in Islamic sciences faculties and seminaries. This initiative not only incorporates multiple faith perspectives in course content but also models collaborative pedagogy by drawing on the expertise of diverse instructors and community representatives. Classrooms as microcosms of pluralism Classrooms reflect not only ethnic and cultural diversity but also religious diversity, particularly at Georgetown University in Qatar, where students from over seventy nationalities practice diverse faiths — including Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism — creating naturally occurring interfaith learning environments through daily academic dialogue. At St Joseph University in Beirut, while the number of nationalities is lower, the student body remains notably international and multilingual, contributing to a vibrant, pluralistic campus culture. Notably, Palestinian universities such as Bethlehem University and Dar al-Kalima University have emerged as regional leaders in collaborative and team-taught interfaith education. Bethlehem University's Department of Religious Studies emphasises ecumenical and interfaith dialogue, often bringing together Christian and Muslim students under the guidance of faculty from diverse backgrounds, and employing dialogical, cross-disciplinary teaching methods. Dar al-Kalima University has developed a regional inter-religious dialogue curriculum designed for collaborative, co-taught delivery, with explicit recommendations and practice of faculty from different religious backgrounds leading courses together. These pedagogies, now increasingly common in the Middle East, demonstrate that team-taught interfaith courses are not merely theoretical ideals but are being realised across the region in both Palestinian and Iraqi institutions. From generalisations to nuanced particularities Heck's call to move beyond generic critiques aligns with these varied approaches. In Lebanon and Palestine, community-specific curricula reflect historical confessional arrangements rather than a unified program. Jordan's post-Amman Message reforms embed respect for 'People of the Book' in state textbooks and sponsor civil society dialogue initiatives. In the Gulf, Bahrain's legal guarantees of worship co-exist with Qatar's designated Religious Complex and more constrained pluralism elsewhere. Acknowledging this patchwork of pluralisms enables targeted pedagogical strategies — embedding comparative modules in theology, law or the humanities — rather than prescribing a single standalone course. Advancing religious synergy Paul Heck's notion of religious synergy — affirming one's own truth claims while recognising divine guidance in others — finds concrete expression across these diverse institutional models. At Georgetown University in Qatar, THEO-3920 cultivates what Diana Eck describes as pluralism — not mere diversity or tolerance, but the active, engaged encounter of commitments and the seeking of understanding across lines of difference. This approach encourages students to maintain their own convictional integrity while developing 'epistemic humility', a stance that acknowledges the limitations of human understanding and remains open to learning from religious others. Meanwhile, St Joseph University's postgraduate program fosters what can be termed intercultural mediation — the capacity to bridge differences through dialogue rather than elimination of those differences, thereby preparing graduates to serve as mediators in Lebanon's complex confessional landscape. These pedagogical approaches align with Keith Ward's understanding that religious diversity should be seen as 'a challenge to fuller understanding in our many ways of pursuing the search for a supreme objective Good'). Building on this foundation, a team-taught 'Theologies of Belief' course — co-led by Muslim and Christian faculty members — could further advance the rigorous mutual inquiry Heck advocates. Such collaborative teaching models, already realised at institutions like Bethlehem University, Dar al-Kalima University and through the Institute for the Study of Religious Diversity in Iraq, enable students to explore how each tradition understands divine guidance, religious authority and human flourishing while witnessing scholarly dialogue in practice. Together, these varied approaches operationalise the synergy Heck envisions without erasing doctrinal conviction, creating what interfaith educator Michael Atkinson describes as spaces where 'bridging difference does not lie in making religious comparisons but rather in accepting religious ambiguity in pursuit of truth'. Building on these institutional and curricular innovations, it is clear that the future of pluralism in higher education depends not merely on the presence of such courses, but on a genuine prioritisation of their historical and interdisciplinary value. The study of religious pluralism draws its strength from a deep engagement with history — not as an abstract backdrop, but as a living record of encounters, negotiations and sometimes ruptures that have shaped the present landscape of belief and coexistence. Likewise, interdisciplinarity is not simply a methodological add-on; it is essential to understanding pluralism as it operates across theological, social, legal and political domains. It is precisely this historically informed and interdisciplinary commitment that risks being sidelined if universities allow market trends to dictate curricular priorities. The displacement of courses on pluralism, inter-religious relations and religious studies in favour of offerings that merely fill perceived niches would not only marginalise these fields but also erode the university's ability to foster the kind of critical, contextually aware citizenship that our pluralistic societies demand. Religious studies — and more broadly, the rigorous, cross-disciplinary study of pluralism — can no longer be consigned to the academic periphery. They must be recognised as central to the university's mission to equip students to navigate, interpret and help shape the complexities of an increasingly interconnected and diverse world. Religious pluralism in the MENA region is inherently non-monolithic. Effective curricula must leverage existing institutional strengths — Islamic tradition (texts and history), Jesuit social justice, phenomenological methods, confessional heritage, ethical jurisprudence —while collaboratively embedding pluralist insights across faculties. By mapping and learning from these varied approaches, policymakers and educators can transform disinterest and susceptibility into dynamic, humble pluralism that equips students for genuine inter-religious coexistence and civic engagement. Josef Meri is a Senior Fellow and faculty member in the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, Washington, DC. He is an historian of interfaith relations in the Middle East and of religions, specialising in pluralism, interfaith relations, Arab autobiography, identity and belonging.
Daily Telegraph
7 days ago
- Daily Telegraph
Queensland mum gives back to charity after $24 million lotto win
Don't miss out on the headlines from Real Life. Followed categories will be added to My News. A big-hearted Queensland mum is already making good on her dream of giving back, just days after winning an incredible $24.29m in the Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot. The Darra woman scored the entire jackpot in draw 11027, drawn on July 11. Her winning entry, made up of six randomly selected numbers, was purchased via The Lott app. The jackpot had climbed to $24.29m after going unclaimed for 183 consecutive draws. 'This is a dream come true. I can't tell you how long I've dreamt of this moment,' she said. 'This is a beautiful day. I can't hold back the tears.' The Queensland mum's first thought was donating to causes that matter to her. NewsWire/ David Crosling While the win opens the door to endless possibilities, the selfless mum said her first priority was donating to causes that matter deeply to her. 'There's a lot of things I could do, but donating to charity is the most important,' she said. 'I would like to donate to some cancer and domestic violence charities. These are the sort of charities that hold a special place in my heart.' She also said she wouldn't be quitting her job, and that helping her family was another key goal. 'I love my job, so I'll continue showing up to work. I'll also be able to help my kids out a lot.' The game is a raffle-style lottery where each ticket is unique, meaning prizes aren't shared. The Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot now resets to $630,001 for draw 11029, while the Mega Jackpot stands at $7m. In 2024, Lucky Lotteries 1st Prize and Jackpot winners across Australia took home more than $52.2m. Australia's official lotteries contributed over $1.8bn last year to support hospitals, medical research, disaster relief, and education. The Lott also backs Play For Purpose, a charity raffle that helps over 500 causes across the country. Originally published as Queensland mum's generous act after $24m lotto win
