Minister for Education Selena Uibo has today announced Karen Weston has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Territory Department of Education.
Ms Weston joins NT Education from South Australia's Department for Education, where she has been leading reforms of a number of programs including early childhood, inclusion and an Aboriginal Kindergarten-to-Year-12 lifelong education strategy.
She has more than 20 years' experience in the education sector, with particular expertise in early childhood education and broader school reforms. Ms Weston also holds a Master of Education focusing on education policy, educational leadership and evaluation.
Appointed following a national recruitment process, Ms Weston will formally commence in the role on Monday, 23 March. She replaces Vicki Baylis, who retired on 14 February after serving the Northern Territory Department of Education with distinction.
Leanne Nixon, who has been Acting CEO since Ms Baylis' retirement, will return to her role as Deputy Chief Executive of the Department of Education.
As stated by Minister for Education, Selena Uibo.
"The Territory Labor Government puts children at the centre of all decisions it makes and so the leadership of the Department of Education is one of the Northern Territory's most important jobs.
"Karen Weston brings a wealth of knowledge to the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Education. Her extensive experience in early childhood education particularly aligns with our government's goals to focus on generational change and to be the most improved education system in the country.
"Ms Weston joins NT Education at an important time; our government has delivered successive record education budgets, we have seen recent improvements in our NAPLAN scores and last year, we had our highest ever Year 12 completion rates, including record Aboriginal student completion rates.
"I have every confidence Ms Watson will effectively manage the Northern Territory Department of Education, including its $1.16 billion budget, 4000 staff and, of course, the Territory's most important asset: our children.
"I thank Deputy Chief Executive Leanne Nixon for acting in the CE role while the recruitment process was undertaken and I warmly welcome our new Chief Executive to her role."
