The Government is very pleased to announce that Ms Jenny Gale has been appointed as the new Secretary of the Department of Education.
Ms Gale has a 37 year career in education, having started teaching mathematics at Queechy High School and working across primary, secondary and senior secondary schools as a teacher and principal for 22 years, before being promoted to the position of Director, Office for Educational Review in 2000.
Since then Ms Gale has worked in a number of senior leadership roles across the department supporting schools, developing and implementing school improvement frameworks; leading the development of the Tasmanian Curriculum, including assessment standards and reporting; and on behalf of the Tasmanian Government negotiating national education policy and strategy .
Ms Gale was Acting Secretary of the Education Department between 2010 and 2011. Most recently Ms Gale has served as the Deputy Premier’s Chief of Staff.
Ms Gale was appointed through a rigorous competitive process, including nationwide advertising of the position. The panel was chaired by the Head of the State Service and included the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Students and Education at the University of Tasmania and the Chair of Tasmania’s Schools Registration Board.
Ms Gale will take up her position on 18 January 2016. The Government would like to pay our sincerest thanks to Mr Stephen Conway who has been Acting Secretary since mid this year. Mr Conway will return to his substantive position as CEO of TasTAFE.