Monday 24 July 2006

Tuesday 25 July

Wednesday 26 July

Thursday 27 July

Friday 28 July

Saturday - Sunday, 29 - 30 July

Monday 24 July

• The West Australian
  
  
  • OBE role seen for Premier (early edition)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Alan Carpenter's former right-hand man played a key role in defusing teacher anger over the outcomes-based education crisis.

    "The Opposition yesterday cited the involvement of the Premier's former principal private secretary and close friend Peter Terlick in patching together a compromise deal between teachers' unions and education authorities as a clear indication that Mr Carpenter had taken control of the OBE issue from his Education Minister, Ljiljanna Ravlich.

    "The deal significantly slowed the troubled implementation of OBE into Years 11 and 12 after Ms Ravlich had steadfastly refused to delay the new courses despite widespread opposition from teachers who said they were not ready.

    "Mr Carpenter stepped in to help resolve the stalemate between unions and the Curriculum Council over OBE implementation last month, soon after Mr Terlick started work as an Education Department consultant.

    "Shadow Education Minister Peter Collier said he had no doubt Mr Terlick was employed as a troubleshooter for the Government. "It was a clandestine attempt on behalf of the Government to restore some form of legitimate governance to education in this State," he said.

    "But Mr Terlick denied he was representing Mr Carpenter when he attended OBE crisis meetings last month.

    "Mr Terlick, 44, who like the Premier grew up in Albany and went into journalism first with the Albany Advertiser and then with the ABC, had been with Mr Carpenter since 2002. He quit in May, saying he had intended to leave earlier but stayed on to ease Mr Carpenter's transition to the Premier's office.

    "Education Department director-general Paul Albert rang Mr Terlick days after he quit his job and offered him work as a consultant.

    "Mr Terlick denied discussing the progress of the OBE deal with Mr Carpenter, saying he was not even sure if the Premier knew of his involvement.
    
    'I didn't have any real status, I was just brought in to help the communication between the players,' Mr Terlick said yesterday.

    "He took part in meetings involving Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich but did not attend any meetings at which Mr Carpenter was present. 'I haven't discussed this issue with Alan at any stage since I left,' he said.

    "He admitted that he helped write a letter from Ms Ravlich's office outlining the terms of the agreement to teachers but said he was one of about 10 authors."
    
    

  • OBE role seen for Premier (page 4 -- later editions)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Alan Carpenter's former right-hand man played a key role in defusing the outcomes-based education crisis.
    
    "The Opposition yesterday cited the involvement of the Premier's former principal private secretary and close friend Peter Terlick in patching together a compromise deal between teachers' union and education authorities as a clear indication that Mr Carpenter had taken control of the OBE issue from his Education Minister, Ljiljanna Ravlich.
    
    "The deal significantly slowed the implementation of OBE into Years 11 and 12 after Ms Ravlich had steadfastly refused to delay the new courses."
    
    
    
    
  • Carpenter faces revolt on gas plan, police pay (page 4)
    by Robert Taylor, State Politics Editor
    
    "Alan Carpenter returns to work today after a week in Melbourne to face a backbench revolt on two key issues.
    
    "Collie-Wellington MLA Mick Murray yesterday stepped up his attack on the Premier's plan to quarantine gas supplies for domestic use and Kimberley MP Carol Martin called on the Government to cave in to police demands for a 20 percent pay rise over the next two years..."   [And the election gets closer every day     Web]
    
    
    
    
  • UWA to get most of 210 extra uni places tor WA (page 11)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "WA has been offered another 210 university places, Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop will announce today.
    
    "The places come on top of 225 medical, nursing and clinical psychology places previously announced.
    
    "The University of WA will receive most of the new general places with 150 – 85 assigned to engineering courses, 25 to the combined degree of economics/commerce and 40 to science.
    
    "UWA vice-chancellor Alan Robson said he had asked for 300 non-medical places for next year but 150 was a significant amount.
    
    "I would be dishonest if I didn't say I was a little bit disappointed – I had hoped for some more but I still welcome the places that we've got," Professor Robson said.
    
    "These largely are in engineering and science where we've had very strong demand and this will give us a chance to train some more West Australian in skills that are very desperately needed in WA."
    
    "While he was confident UWA could have filled all 300 places, Professor Robson said it may have had a flow-on effect to other universities that struggled to fill quotas.
    
    "I think there is a concern that giving us more places would weaken the other public universities in WA," he said.
    
    "Ms Bishop said new places had been allocated to areas of skills needs and student demand, particularly in regional and outer-metropolitan areas.
    
    "This enormous injection of new places will provide more students with opportunities to study at university and boost our graduate workforce in key areas," she said."
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Dilemma for teachers
      
      "The internal contradiction between the desire to implement outcomes-based education and the evidence which demonstrates that teachers are beyond their level of expertise in the classroom (Teachers unqualified: survey, 20/9 [sic: 20/7]) is symptomatic of the systemic problem in the teaching profession in WA today.
      
      "Over the past 30 years teaching has been the profession of choice made by high school graduates who did not gain a tertiary entrance score high enough for a place in their preferred degree, or by those looking for the sinecure of a well paid job for life with excellent conditions of employment.
      
      "Given the lack of intellectual and academic qualifications held by teaching students, the focus of university teacher education (and particularly that of the old WA College of Advanced Education) has become pedagogical: this is, to train teachers how to teach.
      
      "This poses real dilemmas for teachers who now are expected to produce educational outcomes based on actual subject knowledge – the depth of which they simply do not have.
      
      "The glib statement that "only teachers know how to teach" and tacit support for "a good teacher" over a qualified one made by WASSEA president Alison Woodman and indeed the Minister, "all teachers are trained to teach", ignores the fact that knowing what to teach is fundamental to learning outcomes. [Link to the article that is quoted.]
      
      "This essential point is forsaken because the delicate egos involved in this debate seem unable to accept that they do not hold the answers simply because they are (or were once) teachers."
      
      E. F. Lan, Mt Richon
      


Full stories in The West Australian



• The Australian
  
  
  • 4600 more uni places
    by Justine Ferrari
    
    "An extra 4600 Australian students will undertake tertiary study next year, with more than half of the new places created in medical and teaching courses.

    "Victoria is the largest beneficiary of the extra funding, securing 1326 new places, under a federal Government plan to increase the number of university places.

    "NSW universities are next, with 1307 extra students.

    "Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop will today announce the extra places, rising to more than 12,700 by 2010, which will target shortages in skilled workers.

    "The federal Government currently funds about 420,000 places for university students around Australia, while 16,000 places are occupied by local students paying the full fees for their courses..."
    
    "Ms Bishop said the places were targeted to boost the workforce in key areas, and included the announcement last week by John Howard after the Council of Australian Governments meeting of extra places in medical, nursing and other health-related courses.

    "New places have been allocated to areas of skills needs and student demand, particularly in regional and outer metropolitan areas," she said.

    "The biggest boost is for nursing students, with 1467 new places, followed by teaching, with more than 1000 new places including 390 tied to training secondary school teachers.

    "Other areas receiving extra places include engineering, with 510 new places, science, agriculture, accounting, planning and design and a boost for indigenous students..."

    "The resources boom in Western Australia prompted a boost in numbers for the physical sciences, with courses in engineering, mineral geoscience and petroleum geoscience receiving more than 100 new places. The majority of places are allocated to public institutions but 296 extra students will be able to study at private universities." [emphasis added]
    
    Full story in The Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19888317-12332,00.html
    
    Similar story in The Melbourne Age [Victoria emphasis]
    
    There are similar stories in most state daily newspapers, and almost all centre on what's in it for their state.
    
    
    

  • PM woos firms on black schooling
    by Steve Lewis, Chief political correspondent
    
    "John Howard will tomorrow enlist some of the nation's biggest companies for a campaign to improve life expectancy and schooling for Aboriginal Australians.

    "Casting aside Coalition leadership tensions, the Prime Minister will implore business to get behind his new "reconciliation action plans", designed to tackle the 17-year gap between the life expectancy of indigenous Australians and the wider population.

    "The ANZ Bank has decided to financially support the program, with more corporate names expected to sign up.

    "Mr Howard, who has been heavily criticised by sections of the indigenous community, will share the podium in Melbourne with one of his toughest critics, Aboriginal leader Mick Dodson.

    "The Prime Minister's incursion into indigenous policy comes as an uneasy truce has been declared between him and Peter Costello over the leadership issue.

    "Earlier this month, the Treasurer nominated resolving the problems for indigenous Australians as one of the five biggest challenges facing the nation.

    "Mr Howard, who has incurred the wrath of many people in the community over his failure to apologise for the so-called stolen generation of Aboriginal children taken from their families, will focus on the importance of education during his speech.

    "His campaign backs the push by indigenous leader Noel Pearson for a stronger emphasis on improved schooling and tertiary studies to lift Aboriginal children out of poverty.

    "Mr Pearson, an adviser to the Howard Government, has argued that indigenous high-school students should be sent to boarding schools in the cities to address chronic levels of academic under-achievement.

    "The Year 12 retention rate for Aboriginal students, at 38 per cent, is about half that for non-indigenous children.

    "The education drive signals a shift in the Government's recent focus on tackling law and order issues in remote Aboriginal communities, while also pushing the need for tougher welfare measures.

    "In a more conciliatory tone, Mr Howard will argue that improving schooling and university opportunities should be paramount."
    
    Full story in The Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19888067-2702,00.html
    
    
    

  • Letters to the Editor
    

    • Lessons on curriculum
      
      "I was most disconcerted to read Christopher Pearson's reckless advocacy of the postmodern scam of critical literacy in the secondary history curriculum through students developing a speculative attitude towards the seeming certainties of the times ("Let history be the judge", 22-23/7).

      "The eminently reasonable Pearson has otherwise been a bulwark against the new age, politically correct mantras of faux-Marxist educationalists who appear determined to dumb down the curriculum and make relativism the order of the day.

      "The recent example of students audaciously satirising the Howard Government's new industrial relations laws in an impertinent rock eisteddfod piece suggests that encouraging critical thinking in schools, rather than the acceptance of received wisdom, will lead to the political hijacking of the nation's classrooms by the worst extremes of progressivism."
      
      Mark Howie, Lawson, NSW
      
      

    • "Christopher Pearson's article (22-23/7) contained an illustration of Sir John Monash and, more particularly, his helmet, said to be used at Gallipoli. The steel helmet could not have been worn by Monash as they were not on general issue until 1916 when the Australian troops had arrived in France."
      
      Des Martin, Mountain Creek, Qld
      
      
      
    • "From his rather narrow range of topics, Kevin Donnelly is again attacking English syllabuses ("It's all depths and deconstruction", 22-23/7). One basic concept about effective writing is shared by the sort of traditional English teaching that Donnelly hankers after and the quality of work being done in progressive English classrooms around the country. It is the notion that subject matter and the vocabulary selected to represent it should be appropriate for the intended audience. An explanation about jet engines in a primary school science book should certainly use different language from an article on the same topic in a journal for aeronautical engineers.

      "It is well to remember that the target audience for syllabus documents is the teaching profession and not, in the first instance, the general public. What can be cheaply decried as impenetrable jargon can also be seen as appropriate technical language. Is there a media outcry because professional publications in medicine, science and engineering contain vocabulary that the person in the street is unlikely to understand? A large chunk of human knowledge would have to be jettisoned if we were to restrict ourselves to ideas and vocabulary that the uneducated can readily understand.

      "New syllabus documents provide an opportunity for teachers to be presented with cutting-edge ideas. They should provide an element of challenge rather than being dumbed down to be within easy reach of the lowest common denominator."
      
      Garry Collins, Stafford Heights, Qld
      
      

    Complete Letters to the Editor of The Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/index/0,,21223,00.html
    
    
    

• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • Opinion
    Stopping the brain drain
    by Morag Fraser
    
    "A dedicated educator from Mars or beyond might have some trouble reading the mixed messages about teaching and research in Australia at the moment.

    "Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop is reported as wanting universities to spend more on teaching and less on administration.

    "Good idea. Better funded teaching and greater encouragement of teachers at all levels can't be a bad thing, especially at a time when Australia is facing both teaching and skills shortages on a scale we haven't seen for decades.

    "But what does it tell us when the minister's reported call for cheaper administration and better teaching coincides with an interesting advertisement in one of the metropolitan dailies. Over four (expensive) broadsheet pages, Macquarie University calls for researchers to join their high-profile teams: "We're recruiting for the best research brains." Line drawings personalise the ad and the academics. And good luck to them. But work out the administrative costs of such a "Concentration of research excellence" (COREs) scheme and you will have a neat illustration of where the money and emphasis is in Australian universities: it's in research, not in teaching.

    "Two events in the past few weeks reminded me - again - of how Australian universities are falling behind the teaching of the best universities in Britain and the United States..."
    
    Full editorial in The Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    

  • Victoria to get a quarter of new uni places [similar to story in The Australian, with very pronounced Victoria emphasis]
    
    
    
  • Baillieu backs school metal detectors

    "Victorian schools would get the backing of a Baillieu Liberal government to use metal detectors to crack down on students who carry knives to class.

    "Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu yesterday said it would be "tragic" if schools were forced to introduce metal detectors, but he supported the move on a case-by-case basis — provided it was endorsed by the school council and parents.

    "He said a Liberal government would also change privacy laws to give teachers the right to search students' lockers and bags for knives and other weapons, a move supported by the president of the Victorian Association of Secondary School Principals, Andrew Blair.

    "But Labor spokeswoman Rebecca Spiteri said the Government had already moved to curb knife crime by prohibiting the use, possession and sale of dozens of types of knives and similar weapons.

    "Absurd and unworkable laws that people can drive a truck through are no help in the fight against knife crime," she said yesterday.

    "Teachers, principals and parent groups have long called for measures to clamp down on knife-carrying students."
    
    Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
    
    

  • The Melbourne Age Monday Education Section
    Usually several good stories, in fact too many to put them all here, so unless they are OBE-related or really "Breaking" news, I'll just provide the link to the section (as I've done today). Of today's offerings, I particularly enjoyed "Teetering over the great high school divide" by freelance writer Susan Biggar [and the editorial on the "brain drain", above].
    
    
    
  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Howard's way with history

      "John Howard's push to revitalise the teaching of Australian history in schools is admirable, our history is important, and I agree it should be pursued. There is, however, a worrying aspect to his view that the past needed to be understood "on its own terms", not judged by "our own contemporary standards" (a reference to the "stolen generation" argument).

      "Is this Mr Howard's way of ensuring that history regards his prime ministership in a favourable light? Is he paving the way for future generations to gloss over his obvious failures and disasters, from his broken promises, his distortions of the facts and his failure or refusal to get to the bottom of the truth on many issues? History must always be seen through the lens of contemporary standards, otherwise we could easily justify Hitler's pogrom, along with the other countless brutal dictatorships over the ages.

      "Mr Howard should beware of dabbling with history, and stick to sorting out this country's economic and social problems. That is what he and his Government were elected to do, not rewrite history in his mind's image."

      Geoff England, Reservoir
      
      

    • Full fees and the politics of envy
      
      "The ALP plan to abolish full-fee university places ( The Age, 21/7) has nothing to do with fundamental fairness and everything to do with the politics of envy and limiting opportunity.

      "Education has become a major export earner. Many foreign students study in Australia. This provides enhanced income for universities. Full-fee places to overseas students increase capacity, not limit it. The same is true for local full-fee-paying students.

      "The VCE does not absolutely determine comparative abilities. While fair as a rating system for government funding, it is wrong to deny capable Australians, whose TER narrowly missed the cut-off, from studying a course, forcing them to study interstate or overseas, while allowing overseas students into that course here.

      "Full-fee-paying students can come from wealthy parents or from battlers prepared to work and carry debt to meet their educational and career desires. No Australian will opt for a full-fee position when the same course is available funded by HECS.

      "Fairness is enhanced when we provide greater opportunities for all. No one is better off when we simply deny others. The ALP should concentrate on increasing funding and capacity, not reducing options and opportunity."

      Harry Lubansky, Doncaster
      

    Complete Letters to the Editor of The Melbourne Age at http://www.theage.com.au/letters/
    
    
    

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Low-income families turn to private schools
    by Anna Patty, Education Editor
    

    "One in six children at independent schools is from a low-income family, a report on social trends has found.

    "Data collected for 2003-04 and published in the Australian Bureau of Statistics report Australian Social Trends 2006 shows 16 per cent of students at independent secondary schools and 17 per cent of Catholic school students were from low-income families. More than one-quarter of students in government schools were from low-income households and 8 per cent were from high-income-earning families.

    "The proportion of students from high-income households at independent schools was 26 per cent, compared with 16 per cent at Catholic schools.

    "The head of Christian Schools Australia, Stephen O'Doherty, said 80 per cent of students in schools belonging to the organisation were from families in the bottom half of income groups.

    "It is not the high-income families that have driven enrolments at all. The growth of enrolments in Christian schools are people in low income groups," he said.

    "It tells us that low-income families will spend money on education rather than other things. People will work two jobs and the perception is that they get quality education from non-government schools, values and discipline."

    "Mr O'Doherty said even non-church goers were seeking "biblically-grounded values".

    "The Federal Government is reviewing its formula for funding private schools. Mr O'Doherty said the low-fee schools could become unaffordable for low-income families unless the Government addressed the way its formula was being applied.

    "Brian Croke, who heads the Catholic Education Commission NSW, said the proportion of families who could afford to send their children to Catholic and independent schools was declining. Both were looking at expanding their scholarship programs to ensure low-income families were not shut out.

    "The report also shows that parents spent an average of $8690 on independent secondary school fees. Government secondary school fees were about $390. Fees at Catholic secondary schools averaged $3600.

    "The Government was contributing an average of $10,000 for each student in public schools, almost double the $5600 it spent on students in private schools. Parents contributed more than $400 million in school fees and donations to government schools.

    "Independent schools received more than half, and Catholic schools 22 per cent of their funding from fees and charges.

    "The data confirms the drift from public to private schools: 67.1 per cent of students were in government schools last year, against 71 per cent in 1995."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    

  • Unis suffer as number of casual academic staff rises
    by Harriet Alexander, Higher Education Reporter
    

    "The proportion of casual employees working in academia is about to top 50 per cent, threatening the quality of teaching and deterring young starters from joining the ageing workforce, academics warn.

    "The figure is already more than half at some universities, and the proportion is expected to rise again with the latest round of enterprise agreements. Anne Junor, the deputy director of the Industrial Relations Research Centre at the University of NSW, said the market had become more deregulated since Work Choices legislation took effect and the Federal Government had introduced regulations last year that threatened to penalise universities that capped the number of casual employees.

    "We've seen it plateau and it will rise again," Dr Junor said.

    "Although casuals were usually good teachers, their limited time on campus meant they were not available to see students face-to-face and had less time to liaise with other academic staff.

    "The thing that makes for quality is when a group of people who are teaching in a course sit down together and touch base," Dr Junor said.

    "I'm always in a dilemma. I want the casuals to come to my lectures but I can't pay them.

    "And what are they teaching if they don't come to lectures and don't know the intricacies of what we're doing?"

    "Research she conducted four years ago showed that no casual staff liked the conditions of their employment.

    "Many of them had PhDs and had been waiting years for permanent full-time positions, and spent many more hours designing courses and fielding student emails than they were paid for, Dr Junor said..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    

  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Both parents are needed for a child's development

      "The recent Australian Bureau of Statistics figures suggesting that fathers want to spend more time with their children - and children want to spend more time with their fathers - are an encouraging sign ("Long working week still keeps fathers absent", July 21).

      "They suggest a resurgent appreciation of the value of fatherhood. For too long we have been quelled into accepting that parenting is an androgynous activity. There are intrinsic differences between what fathers and mothers are able to offer their children. While gratefully respecting the often-heroic efforts made by lone parents, people do not usually enter into parenthood intending to be a single parent. Single mothers and fathers generally wish that they could still enjoy the complementary contributions of a spouse to the raising of their children. To suggest that fathers' and mothers' contributions to the raising of children are exactly the same is to dumb down sexual difference and complementarity..."
      
      

    Complete Letters to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald at http://www.smh.com.au/letters/
    
    
    

• The Melbourne Herald Sun
  
  
  • Universities back Labor fee plan
    
    "Labor's higher education plan, to wipe out domestic full-fee-paying places and give cash-strapped students a break, has been cautiously backed by Australian universities.
    
    "A federal Labor government would give students greater access to Centrelink payments.

    "The Group of Eight, which includes Melbourne and Monash universities, said it "generally supported" Labor's Australia's Universities: Building our future in the world.

    "Executive director Virginia Walsh said the group supported Labor's plan for flexible funding, where universities would distribute places as they saw fit."
    
    Full story in The Melbourne Herald Sun at link
    
    
    

• The Canberra Times
  
  
  • Uncertainty hits school morale
    by Robyn Powell
    
    "Proposed industrial action by teachers and the threat of school closures had created a difficult learning environment and falling morale within the ACT school community, according to teachers and the Save Our Schools lobby group.

    "SOS spokesman Ian Morgan said last week that students and teachers would be returning to the classrooms tomorrow under a cloud of uncertainty.

    "One of things that is clear is those most likely affected by this sort of uncertainty are those who are most vulnerable and come from a disadvantaged background or have special learning needs," Dr Morgan said.

    "Generally it is students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have the least resources to cope and that runs counter to everything the Government stands for in terms of social justice."

    "The SOS lobby group intends to intensify its campaign this term and will mount a protest at the local ALP branch conference on July 29.

    "We will be attempting to make the point to ALP delegates [school closures] are in breach of ALP policy and don't correspond to the feelings of most ALP members," he said. Months before final consultations are made on December 6, Dr Morgan said he saw no signs of the Government changing its mind on plans to close 39 public schools.

    "Australian Education Union ACT branch secretary Clive Haggar said the threat of closure had taken its toll.

    "The morale of teachers at this point in time is fragile," he said.

    "Whether schools will be open is of great concern because it detracts from the teaching and learning process."

    "The Stanhope Government plans to cut 145 teaching positions as part of a trade-off to fund a 4 per cent per annum salary increase.

    "An additional 90 positions that provide support to schools in the central Education Department office will be slashed..."
    
    Full story in The Canberra TImes at link
    
    
    
    

• The Sydney Daily Telegraph
  
  
  • Pupils 'stoned' in classes, police say
    by Sharri Markson

    "Police are being called to public schools every second day to catch students using and dealing drugs including cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis and speed.
    
    "Figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics reveal there have been more than 170 police investigations into drug use at public schools during school hours in the 15 months to March this year.

    "A separate investigation by The Sunday Telegraph found that students are openly smoking and dealing cannabis in the playground and are turning up to class stoned.

    "At Randwick Boys' High School, students said cannabis was being sold in school hours with teenage dealers charging $20 for a "stick" of marijuana and $50 for marijuana buds.

    "At lunchtime, boys gather on the side of the sports oval next to a school building to smoke marijuana, in clear view of other students.

    "After being alerted to the drug deals, The Sunday Telegraph witnessed a group of seven boys passing around a joint between classes last week.

    "Eastern Beaches police youth liaison officer Constable Kurt Webb confirmed police have been called on several occasions when students have brought drugs to school.

    "He said police would investigate claims of drug use at Randwick Boys' High and would counsel the students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol use.

    "I have two or three youth cautions a month relating to drugs," he said. "When teachers locate it, we get called straight away. It has happened a few times."

    "Students at Randwick Boys' High said senior students are selling drugs to those as young as 15 every day and are often stoned in afternoon classes.

    "There's people from Year 9 to Year 12 smoking marijuana every day in the toilets or on the school oval. You can smell it. Some of them are stoned during class," said one student, who asked not to be named. "The dealers are students".

    "Teachers are oblivious to the drug deals, the student said..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
    
    
    

Tuesday 25 July

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Diversify or die, Bishop tells unis (page 28)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "With more university places available than students to fill them, institutions had to diversify to survive, Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop said yesterday.
    
    "In a sign the Federal Government does not plan to significantly increase funding for higher education, Ms Bishop said it was imperative that universities consider merging or specialising.
    
    "Speaking at a forum organised by the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, Ms Bishop said universities had to stop trying to be all things to all students.
    
    "Diversity did not mean more universities. "Indeed, I hope over time it will mean either the same number of perhaps fewer," she said.
    
    "I do not propose to force universities into mergers," she said, "but I encourage universities to look at their future, and determine which direction to take – merge or reform. Standing still is unlikely to be an option."
    
    "Unmet demand for university places was at its lowest for decades, with just 14,200 eligible students missing out on a place this year compared with 100,000 in 1992.
    
    "UWA vice-chancellor Alan Robson, who has announced a 12-month review of UWA's course structure, said institutions had to work out how to help themselves.
    
    "Curtin vice-chancellor Jeanette Hacket said Ms Bishop had flagged teaching-only institutions that did not require research to be carried out, which could lead to US-style liberal arts colleges. Curtin already specialised in resources, health and computer technologies.
    
    "Curtin senior politics lecturer Alan Fenna said the diversity agenda was flawed. While other countries were investing heavily in higher education, OECD figures showed the Australian Government's input was flat or declining.
    
    "In other parts of the world, it's not specialisation that makes universities great, it's heaps of money," he said."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
• PerthNow / The Sunday Times Online
  
  
  • Further reader comments on Steve Kessell's Letter: New Pressures on Students
    
    
    "The latest booklet sent to reassure parents is very worrying. It is insulting that the DET thinks we are ignorant of what OBE is, if we oppose it. We oppose it BECAUSE we understand it, innovation except a shonky assessment method, whereby, if the level is not used first up, it wiwe don't need further explanation, which is just the same old arguments, invalid as they are. I don't accept that our state's education is up there with the elite of the world, no matter how many graphs are produced to claim that. It would be unrealistic to expect that. I also reject the claims that OBE works well inevery other state or country. It has problems everywhere."
    
    Posted by: Jennifer Balson of Carine
    
    Full comments at link
    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Focus on science, or industry is history
    by Louise Dodson
    
    "Who needs a national summit on teaching Australian history in schools? Don't get me wrong, learning about history is important. Where we have been is important to where we are going.

    "For John Howard the summit is part of a wider debate on Australia's national identity, and inevitably there's an ideological aspect. He believes history teaching has been hijacked by academics and others with a "black armband" view of our past, particularly as it relates to the treatment of indigenous Australians.

    "He wants a greater awareness of Australian history to foster national pride and no doubt will be taking a swipe at critics he sees as motivated by political correctness.

    "But this debate misses the real educational challenge facing Australia: we need to encourage more students at all levels to study science, engineering and technology. More than ever, future economic growth is reliant on nations developing and expanding innovation as well as science, engineering and technology skills in its workforce.

    "Increasingly the world of elite students and researchers educated in science and engineering is a highly competitive global market with countries forced to introduce greater incentives and educational reforms to attract the brightest and best. Not only is Australia falling behind the rest of the world in producing its own elite students and attracting those from other countries, but we are barely aware there is even a problem.

    "Holding a national summit to focus attention on the role of science and technology could at least change public attitudes before it is too late.

    "An audit conducted by the Department of Education and Science found Australia faces a shortage of 20,000 scientists and engineers within six years. When releasing the audit last week, the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, said the proportion of students in science, engineering and technology courses has remained static or is declining.

    "The audit was conducted partly in response to industry concerns that companies - especially in the booming resource sector - could not get the engineers and skilled workers they needed to expand. The shortages were already hampering growth opportunities.

    "The audit found that Australia was already lagging behind other countries. Overall Australia has a relatively high proportion of people with tertiary qualifications compared with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, but it had a low proportion of those with science, engineering and technology qualifications. It also had fewer women in these disciplines than other OECD countries.

    "One reason found by the Education Department for the declining or static numbers of students in science, engineering and technology was a "lack of community awareness" of the disciplines, including limited knowledge of careers based on these choices.

    "While the audit found career advice provided by parents often discouraged students from science, engineering and technology, it also showed advice from teachers and career counsellors was a turn-off.

    "This, at a time when countries around the world are determined to expand their science, engineering and technology capacities. The European Commission has set a goal of making Europe the world's most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based region by 2010. It has relaxed visa restrictions for elite students, expanded research facilities and upgraded and harmonised tertiary education systems between countries.

    "The US has increased investment in research funding and relaxed visas for elite students, while China, India, Russia and Brazil are all massively expanding science, engineering and technology education. India now produces more engineers each year than the whole of Europe.

    "The Australian Government has implemented some initiatives and Bishop is establishing the Australian School Education Framework to promote science education, but more has to be done. Our future depends on it."
    
    Louise Dodson is the Herald's chief political correspondent.
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    

  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Young scientists need to be feted and funded

      "There are others far more qualified than I to comment on the dearth of young Australians taking up science, but our attitude as a nation to the achievements of these bright young people cannot go unremarked.

      "We read ("Where have all the scientists gone?", July 19) and hear the Government is setting up a committee. But look no further than the ABC's recent documentary Battle of the Brains, about the biology team which represented Australia in Beijing at the worldwide Science Olympiad.

      One hundred young people worked all through 2004, taking intensive courses and sitting exams in the hope of being selected in the biology team.

      "Twenty were selected and invited to a camp at the Australian National University over the Christmas holidays to compete for the four places available. They crammed the first-year university biology course into 16 days. Four young women were selected and invited to Canberra to be presented with blazers. The Prime Minister was "too busy" to attend the ceremony, and the handout to the press gallery, which informs journalists of the day's doings, never mentioned it.

      "I did some phoning around and was told by the education editor of one newspaper that "these students may well have done a lot of work, but we are not interested".

      "They competed in a world competition where 20 gold, 20 silver and a number of bronze medals were awarded. This team came home with a gold, two silver and a bronze - and the vast majority of Australians do not even know that there is such an event.

      "The students heard from contestants from other countries of how they were interviewed by the media, spoken to by politicians and heads of state before they left. Later, they heard from these contestants of how they were met by the media and heads of state when they returned home. This was across the board, including teams who won nothing.

      "The Herald ran a small article on two of the young women in the biology team. That, until the ABC's Battle of the Brains, was that.

      "What of the other 100-odd youngsters? What of the youngsters in the other science disciplines? These are the brightest young people in Australia. They have been given the message, loud and clear, that Australia and Australians don't give a damn about their incredible talent, their personal achievements or their achievements for Australia.

      "The public, the Government and the media need to get behind these youngsters, make sure that they get the recognition that they deserve and, if we hope to keep them in Australia, make certain that the funds and the facilities are available, including support for pure research."

      Peter Hindrup, Bondi Junction
      
      

    • School scandal

      "I'm not surprised by the headline "Low-income families turn to private schools" (July 24). Despite most students still attending public schools, and the many wonderful success stories coming from them, the Government's flawed calculation for allocating funding to private schools is contributing to the decline of the public system.

      "Why is the Government putting so much money into private schools, when there are public schools where sewage floods the playground?

      "It is a vicious cycle, encouraging more people to opt for the private system, which further decreases the funding, which further erodes the facilities, which encourages even more to abandon the public system for private.

      "Eventually, we will end up like Britain, where the state system caters mainly to the very lowest on the socio-economic ladder, with all the associated social problems. As the rich get richer, becoming better educated and getting the higher- paid and powered jobs, it should come as no surprise when the poor, the less well-educated and the disenfranchised rebel."

      Kathryn Newburg Burraneer

    Complete Letters to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald at http://www.smh.com.au/letters/
    
    
    

  • Could do better, schools say
    by Anna Patty, Education Editor
    

    "Ascham and Sydney Grammar are among private schools that have rejected a new salary package for teachers that is designed to replace the existing award.

    "The headmistress at Ascham, Louise Robert-Smith, has written to teachers advising them that she has rejected the Association of Independent Schools' draft employment agreement.

    "The agreement proposes large wage increases for newly graduated teachers and cutting the existing 13 award-based salary steps to three bands, with movement between these based on merit.

    "Teachers would be required to forgo 10 days of their annual leave for professional development. Long service leave would be cut from 20 weeks to 8.66 and holiday leave loading removed, with the value of these transferred into superannuation.

    "At this stage, Ascham has decided not to enter into this agreement, but to continue with our current approach which will be to maintain conditions such as superannuation, leave entitlements and holidays," Mrs Robert-Smith's letter says. "We also intend to continue our current policy of giving annual increases and setting salaries above relevant benchmarks."

    "The headmaster at Sydney Grammar, John Vallance, said his school would not adopt the salary agreement.

    "This is an independent school and we've always made independent arrangements," Dr Vallance said. "We want to continue that."

    "Sydney Anglican Schools Corporation, which oversees schools including Danebank, Roseville College and St Luke's Grammar, Dee Why, presented the Association of Independent Schools' proposal to teachers yesterday.

    "The corporation's chief executive officer, Laurie Scandrett, told the Herald that Anglican schools regarded themselves as constitutional corporations, and were therefore covered by the Federal Government's new WorkChoices legislation.

    "He said he was particularly in favour of the association's proposal as it would reduce the existing salary steps to three bands.

    "At the moment teachers get an increase from each step automatically as part of an annual increment," Dr Scandrett said. "This is an opportunity to improve teaching across the board."

    "The Independent Education Union's general secretary, Dick Shearman, said many teachers in large schools would go backwards under the agreement. "Once teachers see the detail of this agreement, it's dead in the water."

    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    

• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • Bishop tells unis: merge or reform
    by Adam Morton
    
    "Universities will be encouraged to merge or specialise under a push by federal Education Minister Julie Bishop to reduce the number of traditional public institutions to about 12.

    "Australia had too small a population and not enough high-quality academics to justify continuing with 37 generalist universities, Ms Bishop said.

    "There is a place for perhaps a dozen universities like that," she told the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy in Perth.

    "Ms Bishop said she did not plan to force mergers but would give funding priority to universities prepared to specialise.

    "I encourage universities to look at their future and determine which direction to take — merge or reform. Standing still is unlikely to be an option."

    "The speech, Ms Bishop's most in-depth on higher education since taking over the portfolio six months ago, comes at a time when vice-chancellors are arguing that universities are underfunded, over-regulated and increasingly reliant on fees.

    "Labor launched its reform agenda last week, embracing the idea of diverse institutions to ensure Australia can compete internationally.

    "It set itself apart from the Government by pledging to increase funding, abolish full-fee places for local students, reduce HECS rates in areas of national priority, and create a new standards watchdog.

    "The Coalition remains committed to full-fee places for students who are prepared to pay up to $200,000 for a degree.

    "Ms Bishop yesterday said she would do everything possible to encourage a diverse system that gave students greater choice, increased competition and led to more innovation.

    "As a result of this relentless pursuit of sameness, we miss some of the great heights of our international competitors," she said.

    "The Australian university sector had nothing to compare to specialist technological, aeronautical, arts or medical research institutions overseas, she said.

    "Ms Bishop said some Australian universities were moving towards diversification, and more specialisation would be encouraged by:

    • Letting universities that enrolled fewer students than planned keep some of the excess funding if they agreed to spend it on "identifying and pursuing their strengths".
      
      
    • Increasing funding for universities that underwent structural reform and collaborated with other institutions.
    • Basing teaching funding on performance in specific disciplines.
      
      
    • Finalising an overhaul of research grant funding so it was dedicated to research excellence.
      
      
    • Increasing competition from specialised private institutions and overseas providers.
      
      

  "The main vice-chancellors' body disputed Ms Bishop's claim that all Australia's public universities were comprehensive, generalist institutions. But Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee chief executive John Mullarvey said helping universities diversify would be good for Australia and students."
  
  Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
  

  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Private schools, Beemers and status

      "Here we go again: more parents sacrificed on the altar of the private school machine ("Average income, private school", Focus, 24/7). Why does The Age keep presenting these parents as virtuous role models whenin reality all they are doing is buying status in exactly the same way as when a person buys a BMW instead of a perfectly acceptable Holden?"
      
      Allan Thompson, Port Melbourne

    • Poor darlings

      "So the family who "struggle" to pay private school fees have been forced to "give up their theatre subscription, book family holidays on frequent-flyer points and rein in the amount spent on clothes and restaurants". Can I trade my economic struggle for theirs?"
      
      Kim Meredith, Ainslie, ACT
      
      

  Full Letters to the Editor of The Melbourne Age at http://www.theage.com.au/letters/

   

• The Hobart Mercury
  
  
  • Tassie skills hope
    by Philippa Duncan

    "A Tasmanian idea to stem the skills shortage could become the nation's solution to a looming crisis that threatens to cripple business.
    
    "Federal Small Business Minister Fran Bailey has promised to push for tax deductions to encourage businesses to train their staff.

    "She heard the idea from Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) chief executive Damon Thomas at a roundtable discussion in Hobart yesterday.

    "Ms Bailey said that Tasmanian small businesses were more concerned about the skills shortage than their national counterparts.

    "I have hosted 15 roundtables discussions and I would have to say that this was the strongest concern I have heard," she said.

    "Ms Bailey added that young educated people moving to the mainland and the ageing workforce were the main contributors to Tasmania's worries.

    "Mr Thomas said that businesses would need to train their existing staff because they would not be able to recruit in the competitive jobs market.

    "You will have to re-skill your own business," Mr Thomas said. "Skill from the inside, not the outside..."

    Full story in The Hobart Mercury at http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,19903308-3462,00.html
    
    
    

Wednesday 26 July

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Ravlich set for backflip over school, welfare plan (page 5)
    by Jessica Strutt
    
    "The State Government will this week unveil its version of a controversial scheme used last year in Halls Creek which linked welfare payments to school attendance to help combat truancy.
    
    "Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich is expected to announce the rollout of the scheme tomorrow at two Geraldton schools where students have already been warned they risk losing their welfare, including Abstudy payments, if they skip school.
    
    "The West Australian understands that Centrelink and the WA Education Department have reached an agreement to allow a formal trial of the scheme at Geraldton Senior College and John Willcock College.
    
    "The new scheme also will try to prevent students running up huge debts with Centrelink which could occur if they are found to have been missing school and are made to repay the Federal agency.
    
    "Last year, the Federal Government was forced to dump its so-called no-school, no-welfare scheme in Halls Creek after concerns over its legality.
    
    "Under the Halls Creek scheme, which boosted school attendance from 54 per cent to 80 per cent in the two months it operated at the town's school, parenting payments were withheld if a parent failed to attend a Centrelink meeting to discuss a child' truancy.
    
    "In January, Ms Ravlich attacked the Halls Creek scheme, saying it was a "blunt instrument" which tended to punish people who were already disadvantaged.
    
    "But In February, she went on to raise the possibility that Abstudy payments could be targeted in a bid to boost school attendance. Aboriginals in Years 8 to 12 are eligible for Abstudy.
    
    "Geraldton Senior College principal Garry Simmons said he did not know details of Ms Ravlich's announcement.
    
    "He said poor attendance was a problem at his school, where about 175 of the 970 students are Aboriginal, and he would be keen to be part of any scheme which helped combat truancy. Centrelink had visited the school to discuss with staff how such a scheme might work
    
    "He said Centrelink staff had also spoken to students to make sure that those receiving payments were aware of their obligations to attend school.
    
    "Ms Ravlich and the Education Department refused to comment."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
• ABC News Online
  
  
  • Plan to cut truants' Centrelink payments criticised

    "The head of Western Australia's Aboriginal Legal Service says a State Government scheme to fight truancy by cutting Centrelink payments to students is not the best way to tackle the problem.

    "Western Australia's Education Minister, Ljiljanna Ravlich, will tomorrow roll out a trial of a scheme to stop Abstudy and Youth Allowance payments to high school students who skip school.

    "The legal service's chief executive, Dennis Eggington, says the Education Department already has enough ways to deal with truancy and a better approach would be to encourage students to go to school by creating a more welcoming environment.

    "He says the long term prospects for keeping students in education are dismal if only a punitive approach is used.

    "If our young kids are finding it difficult or aren't wanting to engage in the school process then we need to find the reasons why and encourage them back into school instead of threatening them and punishing them," he said.

    "But Ms Ravlich says the new program is aimed at reducing the debts students incur at Centrelink.

    "The scheme will be trialed at two high schools in Geraldton and will involve students who are eligible for Abstudy or Youth Allowance payments.

    "The students will be asked to sign an agreement saying they understand they will have their payments cut if they miss school.

    "Ms Ravlich says unlike a scheme tried in Halls Creek, in the Kimberley, the new program cuts payments that are made directly to students, rather than to parents.

    "The Federal Government proposal looked at the cutting of welfare payments to parents - quite clearly that was not the appropriate instrument," she said.

    "The most appropriate instrument is the instrument which deals with providing funding for students to attend schools."

    "She says the Education Department and Centrelink will work together to correlate attendance records more quickly so that students do not run up Centrelink debts.

    "Students are paid to attend school so this is the appropriate instrument to deal with issues of attendance, no one has to lose their payments.

    "Where students are absent all they have need to do is make sure that a note in provided."
    

    Full story in ABC News Online at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1697468.htm
    
    
    
    

• The Australian
  
  
  • There are 12 articles of potential interest in today's Higher Education Supplement.
    
    
    • Students demand value for money
    • Fees bring customer mind-set
    • Low ranking leads to future debt
    • ALP offers alternative on quality
    • UK academics win 13pc pay rise
    • Outsider's reforms tread on Oxonian toes
    • Manipulated by belief
    • Engage the entire experience
    • Study centre to target anti-Americanism in Australia
    • Key to cutting medical errors
    • Theatre nurses scrub up best
    • Unis may keep cash despite shortfalls

     

  • Op Ed
    PM calls on old strategy to win west's marginals
    
    As he celebrates his 67th birthday in Perth today, John Howard understands the importance of Western Australia to any re-election campaign, suggest Peter van Onselen and Wayne Errington
    
    "Today John Howard flies to Perth to begin a four-day visit. Travelling for work on your 67th birthday is the price a busy Prime Minister must pay if he is to remain on top of his game. In Perth principally to speak at the Liberal Party state conference, the trip includes extravagant cocktail parties, large party dinners and private corporate fundraisers..."
    
    "Now, with an unfavourable electoral redistribution in NSW and Queensland, Howard needs to gain ground in the west if he is to maintain his majority. WA has six seats that will be central to next year's election. Labor needs to win 16 seats without losing any if it is to form a government in 2007. A quarter of winnable seats are in WA. But Labor had better not take its own marginal electorates of Cowan and Swan for granted. The Liberals will be targeting them..." [I think there is opportunity here...    Web]
    
    "The WA Liberal Party is a mess, torn apart by internal divisions. However, it benefits from good local candidates in the federal sphere, such as Michael Keenan in Stirling.

    Howard will be hoping the dysfunctional WA division manages to preselect similar candidates in Cowan and Swan. Maybe he will put that case this week."
    
    Peter van Onselen is a lecturer in politics at Edith Cowan University in Perth. Wayne Errington is a lecturer in politics at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, NSW. They are writing a biography of John Howard (Melbourne University Press).
    
    Full story in The Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19910628-7583,00.html
    
    
    

• The New York Times [25 July their time]
  
  
  • Most States Fail Demands in Education Law
    by Sam Dillon
    
    "Most states failed to meet federal requirements that all teachers be “highly qualified” in core teaching fields and that state programs for testing students be up to standards by the end of the past school year, according to the federal government.
    
    "The deadline was set by the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush’s effort to make all American students proficient in reading and math by 2014. But the Education Department found that no state had met the deadline for qualified teachers, and it gave only 10 states full approval of their testing systems.

    "Faced with such findings, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, who took office promising flexible enforcement of the law, has toughened her stance, leaving several states in danger of losing parts of their federal aid.
    
    "In the past few weeks, Ms. Spellings has flatly rejected as inadequate the testing systems in Maine and Nebraska. She has also said that nine states are so far behind in providing highly qualified teachers that they may face sanctions, and she has accused California of failing to provide federally required alternatives to troubled schools. California could be fined as much as $4.25 million.

    "The potential fines are far higher than any the Education Department has levied over the law, and officials in several states, already upset with many of the law’s provisions, have privately expressed further anger over the threat of fines. But Ms. Spellings faces pressure for firm enforcement of the law from a broad array of groups, including corporations and civil rights organizations.

    “In the early part of her tenure, Secretary Spellings seemed more interested in finding reasons to waive the law’s requirements than to enforce them,” said Clint Bolick, president of the Alliance for School Choice, a group based in Phoenix that supports vigorous enforcement of provisions that give students the right to transfer from failing schools. “More recently, she seems intent on holding states’ feet to the fire.”

    "In an interview, Ms. Spellings acknowledged her shift in emphasis.

    “I want states to know that Congress and the president mean business on the law,” she said. She has stressed that message in part, she said, because the deadlines, which expired this month, were not met, and because lawmakers have been asking her whether states are meeting the law’s requirements.

    “I’m enforcing the law — does that make me tough?” she said. “Last year it was, ‘We’re marching together toward the deadline,’ but now it’s time for, ‘Your homework is due.’... ”
    
    Full story in The New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/education/25child.html [Free registration may be required.]
    
    

  • Judge Blocks Miami Ban on Children’s Book
    by Terry Aguayo
    
    "A federal district judge ordered the Miami-Dade School Board to put a children’s book about Cuba back on the shelves immediately until the case goes to trial. The judge, Alan S. Gold, issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, which filed a lawsuit challenging a school board decision to remove the book, “Vamos a Cuba,” and its English version, “A Visit to Cuba.” The board voted to ban the book last month after a parent said it painted a deceptive picture of life in Cuba."
    
    Full story in The New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/25/education/25brfs-003.html [Free registration may be required.]
    
    
    
    
• The Guardian (UK) [25 July their time]
  
  
  • Business leaders 'could run schools'
    by Debbie Andalo
    
    "Secondary schools could, in the future, be run by chief executives from the business world rather than qualified experienced teachers, an association has suggested.

    "The title of headteacher should be abolished and instead the leader of a school called a "principal", the Association of School and College Leaders said.

    "The association's general secretary, John Dunford, said:" Radical changes are occurring in school leadership, with teams of people from varied backgrounds now carrying out the immense range of responsibilities which is beyond the capacity of any single individual.

    "The days of the autocratic hero-head are gone."

    "Mr Dunford suggested that it ought to be possible for a school head or principal to be someone without qualified teacher status "provided that the responsibility for teaching and learning continues to be vested in a senior qualified teacher".

    "He added: "We are definitely not saying that business leaders can be parachuted in to lead schools, but that people with the right leadership qualities and experience should be eligible for the top job.

    "What is important is whether a person is a good school leader, not whether he or she is a qualified teacher..."
    
    Full story in The Guardian at http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1828559,00.html
    
    

    
    
  • [MP] Johnson outlines social benefits of private schools
    Press Association
    
    "Private schools give children the vital social skills they need to find good jobs, the education secretary, Alan Johnson, said today.

    "Work is under way to reform state primary education so children who do not go to independent schools will develop good communication and teamwork skills, he said.

    "Employers increasingly rate these qualities more highly than other characteristics, he added.

    "Mr Johnson was speaking 24 hours after he was caught up in a row over his decision to help a boy in his Hull constituency find a place at a private school.

    "Teachers' leaders suggested the minister had shown a lack of faith in the state education system.

    "Speaking to an audience of parents today at the National Family and Parenting Institute in London, Mr Johnson said: "One of the reasons why independent schools get such good results, apart from the level of selection and the extra resources, is the time they spend with children doing sport, music and drama, building social skills, confidence and teamworking.

    "This helps children develop not just academic and vocational skills, but social skills as well," he said.

    "These skills are vital in today's workforce where the ability to communicate, interact and engage are essential - they are the skills which employers increasingly look for first..."

    Full story in The Guardian at http://education.guardian.co.uk/publicschools/story/0,,1828540,00.html
    
    
    
    
  • Half of school heads report knife problems
    by Matthew Taylor, education correspondent
    
    "The scale of the discipline problem facing secondary schools is underlined today in a Guardian-backed survey that shows 50% of headteachers have caught a pupil with a knife in the past year. A quarter said it had happened on several occasions.

    "The survey also found evidence of a growing knife problem in primary schools in the same period, with almost one in five primary heads confronting pupils with weapons. The findings follow a series of high-profile cases of knife attacks in and around schools, including the death of 16-year-old Kiyan Prince in north London..."
    
    Full story in The Guardian at http://education.guardian.co.uk/pupilbehaviour/story/0,,1828267,00.html
    
    

  • Schools to tackle web and phone bullies
    by Alexandra Smith
    
    "Mandatory anti-bullying polices in schools will be expanded to include "cyber bullying", as new research reveals one in five pupils has been bullied via mobile phone or the internet.

    "The schools minister Jim Knight said new guidelines, released today, would help every school tackle bullying in cyberspace with the "same vigilance as in the playground".

    "Mr Knight said cyber bullying existed outside the school gate, meaning parents and young people needed to understand how to use technology safely.

    "He said: "Every school should account for cyber bullying in their compulsory anti-bullying policies, and should take firm action where it occurs.

    "The education bill will give teachers a legal right to discipline pupils, strengthening their authority to take firm action on bullying. It will also send a strong message to parents and pupils that bullying will not be tolerated with court-imposed parenting orders to compel parents of bullies to attend parenting classes or face £1,000 fines."

    "He added: "Unlike other forms of bullying, cyber bullying can follow children and young people into their private spaces and outside school hours. This is why it is essential that parents and young people themselves should understand how to use technologies safely to protect themselves at home and outside school hours, as well as supporting their schools in dealing with incidents..."
    
    Full story in The Guardian at http://education.guardian.co.uk/pupilbehaviour/story/0,,1828465,00.html
    
    

    
    
• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • Uni chiefs expect to see mergers
    by Adam Morton
    
    "Vice-Chancellors expect universities to merge in the next decade under a push for greater diversity and choice in higher education.

    "Responding to a call from federal Education Minister Julie Bishop for universities to merge or specialise in areas of strength, several Victorian universities said yesterday they would consider amalgamation approaches from rival campuses.

    "Ms Bishop on Monday said there was room in Australia for only about 12 traditional universities offering a broad range of disciplines. There are now 37.

    "Ms Bishop said she did not plan to force mergers but would direct funding to universities prepared to specialise in areas of strength, such as minerals and resources or marine science..."
    
    "Victoria University vice-chancellor Elizabeth Harman said amalgamations were not inevitable but her institution was "pretty practised at mergers", having been formed from six different campuses.

    "Mergers have been part of the history (of universities) in Australia and in that sense the minister's push for more mergers is probably just a part of a continuing history," she said.

    All vice-chancellors contacted by The Age said they supported the joint push by the Coalition and Labor for greater diversity. All said they were already diversifying.

    "If any universities are going to be nervous, it is those that haven't already begun to think about how they are going to differentiate in the future," Professor Harman said.

    "Some universities questioned Ms Bishop's call for just a dozen generalist universities."
    
    Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
    
    

  • Editorial
    Policy lines are drawn in the university debate
    
    Labor has made it clear where it stands on full-fee-paying students, writes David Rood.

    "It was in April, fronting the cameras of Sunday morning political television, that Opposition Leader Kim Beazley committed Labor to scrapping local full-fee university places once and for all.

    "Labor was trying to reshape its higher education thinking after years of policy drift. Universities were shouting for the ability to specialise after a decade of funding cuts and micro-management.

    "But Beazley's commitment also reopened a Labor policy wound that created damaging opposition from universities at the 2004 election. Then, Victorian institutions panned the policy, saying it would leave them up to $100 million worse off.

    "By seeking to cut an important and still untapped source of funding for universities — local undergraduate fee-paying students — Beazley tied the party's hands behind its back.

    "Boxed in, Labor last week released a university policy paper that is politically astute and that sets out a cleverly conceived vision for universities.

    "The policy statement finally removes the homogeneous Dawkins higher education policy that Labor has worn like a lead X-ray apron for almost two decades — cumbersome, heavy and impenetrable. Based on the ideas of affordability, quality and diversity, the new policy caught the Howard Government on the hop. It repeats Beazley's April pledge to scrap full-fee places and canvasses reducing the cost of degrees in areas of skill shortage and giving universities more autonomy in how they use government places.

    "It would also create a national watchdog to safeguard the quality of degrees, and universities would be funded to help disadvantaged and regional students — under so-called "mission, or third stream, funding".

    "Enough has been offered to all players to earn the cautious support of vice-chancellors and education experts.

    "Labor is right to dump local full-fee places that give privileged university access to those who can afford to pay, with one key rider — it must offer adequate recompense.

    "The new policy delivers a yet to be determined compensation package to universities and the promise to increase university funding through indexation. Given the enthusiasm with which universities have embraced full fees, this is essential.

    "The level of support for the package will be commensurate with the level of compensation..."
    
    Full editorial in The Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • School fetes hit a snag: lamingtons a no-no
    by Anna Patty, Education Editor
    
    "The days of the lamington drive and the school fete sausage sizzle could be numbered.

    "The Federation of Parents and Citizens' Associations of NSW wants to extend a strict nutrition policy beyond the tuckshop to all school events, including fund-raisers, excursions and sport days.

    "It will put the motion to members at its annual conference in Sydney this weekend, but has already met the opposition of P&C groups at some schools.

    "However, the federation's acting president, Dianne Giblin, is confident most groups will "see sense" and pass the motion.

    "We want to continue to model what is taught in the classroom and what is complied with in the healthy school canteen strategy. The lamington would probably go unless you use low-fat chocolate."

    "Also out would be chocolate drives, chips and lollies at school discos and sausage sizzles at fetes..."

    Full story in THe Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    
  • Op Ed
    Care in early teen years is essential, too
    by Tanya Plibersek
    

    "At every stage of a child's growth and development, parents have new wonders to experience, as well as new challenges and concerns. The transition from primary school to high school is a time full of new worries. Is the new school suitable? Is my child making new friends? What are these new friends like? What about after school?

    "Outside school hours care programs - before- and after-school care and vacation care - cater for children until they finish primary school. Once children start high school they're on their own. Many working parents are not happy with the idea that a 13-year-old should be expected to wait in an empty house for hours until mum or dad gets home from work. Sometimes parents worry about safety - the journey home, a child alone in the house for hours - or the inevitable hours of TV. Others are more concerned that their children will not go straight home.

    "Then there are school holidays. Most parents have four weeks' leave each year. Most kids have 14 weeks. Even if two parents decide not to take leave simultaneously, their leave adds up to just eight weeks. And the industrial relations changes mean pressure not to take even those four weeks.

    "Figures from the Office of the Employment Advocate show that 34 per cent of Australian workplace agreements trade away annual leave. Parents in vulnerable jobs might be pressured to give up leave despite their concerns about who will look after the kids during the holidays. Informal arrangements can take care of some of these times, but we cannot rely on the kindness of friends and family to step in whenever needed..."

    Tanya Plibersek is a federal Labor parliamentarian.
    
    Full article in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    
    
• The Canberra Times
  
  
  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • "Stop pretending closures will end drift from government schools

      "Jack Waterford talks of "parents voting with their feet" in the drift to the private system ("Lessons in learning", July 22, Panorama, p2).

      "This is not a reflection on the public education system in the ACT, but of the availability of private education and Canberra's relative affluence.

      "The ACT has the highest proportion of non-government schools in the country. The non-government primary sector in the ACT is dominated by Catholic schools which comprise 22 per cent of all primary schools.

      "This is also the highest percentage in the country and has been for more than 20 years.

      "A national survey by the Australian Council for Educational Research in 2004 found that one third of government school parents would send their children to a private school if they could afford it.

      "The 2004 Sensis Consumer Report found that, for private school parents, the overwhelming reason for their choice of school was religion.

      "So, in the ACT almost a third of primary schools are religious, the population is wealthier and the most common reason for sending your child to a non-government school is religion.

      "Closing government schools will not change these underlying realities, so can we all stop pretending that school closures will boost the percentage of kids in government schools?"

      Aidan Heerdegen, Giralang
      
      

    • "There has been much in the paper recently about closure of schools, and strikes by teachers seeking higher pay. It seems to me that the basic cause of closing schools has not received any attention: loss of pupils to private schools.

      "Why are parents taking their children out of public schools and enrolling them in private schools? Has any inquiry been done by the education department to find out why? If not, why not, and if so what has it put in place to stop the decline because it is still happening?

      "While all this is happening we are told by the minister that we have one of the best education systems in Australia.

      "Well, what have the private schools got if they can attract droves from the best?"

      Arthur Schuster, Chapman
      
      

    Complete Letters to the Editor of The Canberra Times at link

 

Thursday 27 July

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Top OBE bureaucrat looks set to lose job (page 10)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "The bureaucrat who led the recent outcomes-based education debacle is in danger of losing his job after being bypassed by a selection panel set up to choose a new head for the Curriculum Council.
    
    "David Axworthy, who has been acting chief executive since December, is on a short list of three to fill the post permanently. But The West Australian understands he has not been endorsed as the preferred candidate.
    
    "It is understood the candidate considered most suitable was David Wood, a State school principal who has also worked as a curriculum policy officer.
    
    "While Mr Axworthy has been at the centre of the OBE controversy and took most of the blame for the mess, critics claimed yesterday that failure to give him the job would amount to making him a scapegoat when it was really Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich who should be held responsible.
    
    "Shadow education minister Peter Collier said it was unfair to sack a bureaucrat for Ms Ravlich's mismanagement because the buck stopped with her. The panel conducted interviews for the position in April and its nomination was provided to Alan Carpenter. The Premier can reject the nomination and appoint someone else, but must give notice and publish the reasons for doing so in the Government Gazette.
    
    "Mr Axworthy has been the third chief executive in 12 months as the Curriculum Council has struggled to maintain stability while battling opposition to OBE.
    
    "He and Mr Wood said it would be inappropriate to comment until an announcement was made. "I'm not sure what's happening," Mr Wood said. "I would have thought that David (Axworthy) is doing a terrific job at the moment and it's a hell of a messy time and I think we'll just let it go at that."
    
    "Mr Wood admitted he had a meeting with Ms Ravlich last Friday but said it was purely an electorate issue to do with his school, Sevenoaks Senior College.
    
    "Dr Mike Partis, the director of the Secondary Education Authority before it was rebadged the Curriculum Council in 1997, said Ms Ravlich should have made a substantive appointment much sooner to reinstate public confidence in the troubled organisation.
    
    "It just contributes to instability if there's a long period with an acting CEO at a time of major crisis and stress," he said. "I think the implementation of the new courses of study has been very badly handled but I don't think that's David Axworthy's fault."
    
    "Mr Carpenter was unavailable for comment and Ms Ravlich refused to respond to written questions." [emphasis added]
    
    
    
    
  • Editorial
    How a bad idea can become a good one (page 18)
    
    "Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich will be guilty of breathtaking effrontery when she makes her grandstanding announcement in Geraldton today of a State Government scheme to fight truancy.
    
    "Under the plan, students who don't attend school will be putting their welfare payments, including Abstudy and Youth Allowance, at risk.
    
    "This is a version of the scheme which was tried in Halls Creek last year and which, according to teachers and parents in the town, was so successful that it raised attendance levels from 54 to 85 percent in just two months.
    
    "It was abandoned when Ms Ravlich and others claimed that it would punish already disadvantaged people and could be a breach of human rights legislation.
    
    "Now she is planning a similar scheme to link school attendance with welfare payments and claiming it her own.
    
    "This is the Minister who claimed OBE was a dead issue, who dismissed criticism of conditions at Wiluna school before admitting that the Government knew how bad things were and who repeated has put politics ahead of providing the best education for all WA children.
    
    "The community's patience with a Minister so obviously out of her depth is at an end." [emphasis added]
    
    
    
  • Ravlich defends truancy plan (page 10)
    by Jessica Strutt
    
    "Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich has tried to distance a new State Government-backed scheme to combat truancy by cutting Centrelink payments from a Halls Creek scheme dumped last year for legal reasons.
    
    "The State Opposition said Ms Ravlich copied the Federal Government's Halls Creek scheme, an initiative she had previously attacked.
    
    "Ms Ravlich was forced to release details on the new controversial scheme a day early after The West Australian revealed yesterday that the State Government was planning to trial it in two Geraldton schools.
    
    "She said that unlike the Halls Creek scheme, which targeted parenting payments, the Geraldton trial would see students lose Abstudy and Youth Allowance payments if they missed school without a valid reason. She argued the Geraldton trial would not have a negative impact on families in the same way as the Halls Creek scheme because it would withdraw individual student payments, not family payments.
    
    "As predicted in The West Australian yesterday, the new scheme will try to prevent students running up huge debts with Centrelink which can occur if they are found to have been missing school and are made to repay the Federal agency.
    
    "Under the Halls Creek initiative, which boosted attendance from 54 per cent to 80 per cent in the time it operated in the town's school, parenting payments were stopped if a parent failed to attend a Centrelink meeting to discuss their child's truancy.
    
    "Ms Ravlich had previously raised the possibility that Abstudy payments could be targeted in a bid to boost school attendance but had attacked the Halls Creek scheme, labelling it a "blunt instrument" which punished those already disadvantaged.
    
    "Shadow community development minister Robyn McSweeney said it was hypocritical for the State Government to endorse such a scheme when it had criticised the Federal Government for its efforts in Halls Creek.
    
    "Ms McSweeney called for the Geraldton trial to be broadened to include other communities, including Halls Creek, where truancy was a major problem."
    
    Full stories in The West Australian
    
    
    
  • Schools may bar chocolate, lamington fundraisers
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Schools are under mounting pressure to ban lamington drives and chocolate fundraisers.
    
    "Nutrition experts want WA to follow the lead of the NSW Federation of Parents and Citizens’ Associations, which will this week consider extending a strict tuckshop nutrition policy to ban junk food from all school events, including fundraisers, school excursions and sport days. The federation’s acting president, Dianne Giblin, said using junk food to raise money was not sending the right message to children.
    
    "Murdoch University nutritional toxicologist Peter Dingle and Health Department senior nutritionist Christina Pollard urged the WA Council of State School Organisations to also consider banning all activities promoting junk food. [Have you noticed that every time Prof Dingle is quoted in the newspaper, he has a different title? THis is # 17 I think...    Web]
    
    “If we continue to use junk or toxic food as an example of treats and money-making ventures then we are doing exactly the opposite of what we are telling children in classrooms,” Professor Dingle said. “Everybody’s worried about the dollar at the end of it but nobody’s worrying about the billions of dollars of costs of child health care.”
    
    "Ms Pollard said schools should find other fundraising strategies. “I would urge associations and schools to start considering this because we do have an emerging obesity pandemic,” she said.
    
    "But WACSSO said it had no plans to put forward a similar proposal at its annual conference next month. Vice-president Kylie Catto said it left each school to decide its own policies."
    
    Full story in The West Australian at http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=1756
    
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • "At long last some wisdom is being shown in Australian public life, as evidenced by your report (New calls to restore history in schools, 19/7).
      
      "As Cicero said so long ago: "To know of nothing before you were born is to remain forever a child." A child cannot be expected to sort out the wheat from the chaff when confronted by strangers offering gaudy prizes.
      
      "Without the perspective of history, the modern world is a mystifying kaleidoscope of vivid, ever-shifting colours competing for attention.
      
      "Trying to make sense of the modern world without studying history would be like coming into a theatre halfway through the third act and trying to work out what's going on.
      
      "Although facts are important, history is not just a collection of unrelated facts but an attempt to understand the forces that have shaped the modern world.
      
      "There is immense pressure on time in the curriculum. But students all have one thing in common. They will not all become engineers or quantity surveyors. But all are citizens. Democracy depends on an enlightened citizenry that understands the issues and appreciates the democratic legacy.
      
      "Above all, a study of history will lead to the serious discussion of current events that is so sadly lacking around the barbecue.
      
      "The fate of the species and of the planet don't depend on the future of talented but foolish footballers."
      
      Arthur Tonkin, Warwick

    
    
    Complete editorials in The West Australian
    
    
    

• Letter to the Curriculum Corporation – Curriculum Leadership electronic journal editor

  "To whom it may concern,

  "I hope you will ensure the attached response from me to the article written by Dominic Burgio (Volume 4 Issue 23) is published in the next issue of the ‘Curriculum Leadership - electronic journal for leaders in education’:

  "Mr Burgio seems to have confused the titles given to K-10 and post-K10 curricula in Western Australia with the underpinning curriculum philosophy. The K-10 curriculum is titled: “Curriculum Framework” while the post-compulsory curriculum is based on 50 “Courses of Study”.

  "Both are based on an “Outcomes Based Education” model. Proof for this assertion is found with the statements: “The Curriculum Framework sets out learning outcomes. These describe what all students should be able to know, understand, value and be able to do as a result of their learning in schools.”; and “…[post-compulsory education is] a system underpinned by a kindergarten to year 12 focus on outcomes” (http://www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/files/pdf/parents_over.pdf page 3 and http://newwace.curriculum.wa.edu.au/docs/Chapters1_2.pdf page 4). Mr Burgio seems to ‘muddy’ the clarity of the terminology by not recognising the genesis underpinning such terminology.

  "Much of the following statements in Mr Burgio’s article simply state procedural aspects related to the implementation processes, which while informative to those not familiar with recent events in Western Australian education, add little to an understanding as to the quality of the actual curriculum development in this state.

  "The OBE model and the WA OBE curriculum development reality are distinct. Too much of what has been developed by the Curriculum Council of WA has led many practicing classroom teachers to conclude the 50 year old system is better than that which has been implemented with the ‘Curriculum Framework’ and is proposed to be implemented with the ‘Courses of Study’. One reason for this conclusion by many teachers is that the implementation of the Curriculum Framework has not been evaluated to determine the effectiveness of this new curriculum re improved learning for students. So long as this has not been determined, we cannot move forward into upper school with confidence.

  "Mr Burgio is Principal of a government regional high school. So far no Principal from a government primary or high school in Western Australia has publicly spoken out against the new curriculum developments yet a number of private school Principals have done so.

  "When it comes to demonstration of educational ‘Leadership’, I prefer to read articles from Principals who have principles!

  "For a more ‘warts and all’ insight into what is happening in WA education please view the www.platowa.com discussion forum web site." [emphasis added]

  Yours in anticipation,
  Bruce Hancy
  
  
  

• ABC News Online
  
  
  • PM shoots down ministers' junk food ad debate

    "The Prime Minister has cut short the debate over possible restrictions on television junk food advertisements during children's viewing time.

    "The issue was on the agenda at today's Health Ministers' meeting in Brisbane but John Howard says media regulation is a Commonwealth responsibility..."
    
    Full story in ABC News Online at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1698808.htm
    
    
    

• The Melbourne Herald Sun
  

• Teachers marked by report ire
  by Jane Metlikovec
  
  "Teachers have become verbal punching bags for parents angry at the new school reports.
  
  "Many teachers are now receiving reports back complete with parent comments -- a feature of the new A-to-E report cards issued for the first time at many Victorian schools last month.

  "The Australian Education Union has spoken to dozens of teachers who have been abused by parents who do not understand how their children, who are performing to recommended standard, have received a C grading.

  "There had been concerns parents would be confused at the standardised grading scale, which can see former A students scoring Bs and Cs.

  "AEU president Mary Bluett said teachers were being attacked at parent-teacher interviews and through the reports' parent feedback section.

  "One parent was extremely angry his child was given a C when the student had performed very well on his AIM test last year," Ms Bluett said.

  "It took the teacher 15 minutes to calm the parent down in the interview."

  "One Catholic primary school teacher in the state's east received a comment which read: "My son is brilliant. How dare you give him a C."

  "Ms Bluett said the reports had put an enormous strain on teachers.

  "It is putting a large amount of stress on teachers and many of them feel insulted by some of the things said to them," she said.

  "Parents should understand the magnitude of converting to the new reporting system, sometimes only weeks before reports were due, Ms Bluett said.

  "Parents who are upset and angry should let their feelings be known to the State Government rather than principals and teachers," she said..."
  
  Full report in The Melbourne Sun Herald at http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,19919981-2862,00.html
  
  
  

• The Australian
  
  
  • Singapore kids spell better than Aussies
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "The "wallpaper method" of teaching spelling by sticking words on the classroom wall for children to absorb is failing in Australia.

    "Writing tests conducted by the University of NSW reveal that about nine times more students in Singapore - where about half of children speak English as a second language - can spell less-common English words or those with unusual spelling patterns.

    "The stark difference is attributed to the more traditional drill approach adopted by Singapore schools to teach spelling, with the syllabus even listing words that students are expected to be able to spell.

    "About 9 per cent of Year 3 students in Singapore could spell words such as chaotic, dilemma, laborious, perceive and voyage, while only 1 per cent of Year 3 students in NSW reached an equivalent score.

    "The improvement in students' spelling over two years was also markedly different, with 36.5 per cent of Year 5 students in Singapore able to spell at the same level, compared with 12 per cent of Year 5 students in NSW.

    "The tests, conducted by Educational Assessment Australia at UNSW and involving more than 110,000 Australians and more than 10,000 Singaporeans, required students to construct a news story based on an event..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19925378-13881,00.html
    
    
    

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Sizzling response to plan for lamington-free fetes

    "A proposal to limit the sale of unhealthy food including lamingtons and sausage sizzles at school fetes generated emotional debate yesterday.

    "The Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of NSW will put a motion to members at its annual conference this weekend recommending that a strict nutrition policy for canteens be extended to all areas of school activity, including fetes, fund-raisers, excursions and sport days.

    "The Education Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, said the proposal was impractical. She said parents had the prime responsibility for teaching their children about the importance of a healthy lifestyle..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    

  • Letter to the Editor
    

    • Lessons in healthy eating start at the checkout
      
      "Well, here we go again. The "fun police" are about to bash the school fete sausage sizzle ("School fetes hit a snag: lamingtons a no-no", July 26). Once again minority groups are making decisions for the rest of the population.

      "When I was growing up my parents instructed me on the dangers of overeating. I think the message got through. Are parents in our community shirking that responsibility and expecting schools and other community groups to make these decisions for them? ..."
      
      Peter Brandon, Avoca Beach
      

    Complete Letters to the Editor at The Sydney Morning Herald at http://www.smh.com.au/letters/
    
    
    

• The New York Times [26 July their time]
  
  
• In Kindergarten Playtime, a New Meaning for ‘Play’
  by Clara Hemphill
  
  "The word “kindergarten” means “children’s garden,” and for years has conjured up an image of children playing with blocks, splashing at water tables, dressing up in costumes or playing house. Now, with an increased emphasis on academic achievement even in the earliest grades, playtime in kindergarten is giving way to worksheets, math drills and fill-in-the-bubble standardized tests.
  
  "Nowhere are the demands greater than at Achievement First East New York Charter School in Brooklyn, which holds classes through this month. On a recent Friday morning, 20 kindergartners in uniforms of yellow shirts and blue jumpers or shorts, many yawning and rubbing their eyes, filed into the classroom of Keisha Rattray and Luis Gonzalez. Some sat in plastic chairs lined up before the teachers for phonics and grammar drills, while others sat at computer screens, listening through headphones to similar exercises..."
  
  Clara Hemphill is the director of Insideschools.org, a project of Advocates for Children of New York.
  
  Full story in The New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/education/26education.html?ref=education [Free registration may be required.]
  
  
  
• An Unfailing Belief in the Power of Teaching
  by David M. Herszenhorn
  
  "From the time his family arrived in New Jersey after fleeing Cuba when he was 12, Andres Alonso, the new head of instruction in the New York City schools, says he felt swept up “in a stream” of high expectations set by his parents and his teachers..."
  
  "Not quite 20 years later, Dr. Alonso, 49, is at the center of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s ambitious effort to overhaul the nation’s largest school system. While others carry out structural changes to the bureaucracy, Dr. Alonso’s realm is the mystical art of teaching young minds.

  Full story in The New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/education/26face.html?ref=education [Free registration may be required.]

 

Friday 28 July

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Into uni with a score of 42pc (page 3)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Students with a TEE average subject score as low as 42 per cent will be able to get into university next year after Edith Cowan yesterday dropped its minimum entry requirement to a new WA low.
    
    "ECU said the lower entry score was introduced because of a drop in student demand, a multimillion-dollar budget hole and a push to open university to more people.
    

    "Next year, the minimum tertiary entrance rank students can use to gain entry for all ECU courses except law will be cut from 65 to 55. Law falls from 85 this year to 80.
    

    "Based on the 2005 university entrance formula, a TER of 55 could have been achieved by averaging 42 per cent across all subjects. While the link between TEE scores and TER has not been set for entry to university next year there is expected to be little change from last year.
    

    "Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop said she was concerned about the ECU move. She would consider reassigning federally funded ECU places if the university could not fill them with quality students.
    

    “I am very concerned about any diminution of the quality of our teachers, particularly science and maths, and also the quality of our nursing graduates,” she said.
    

    "ECU struggled with a budget shortfall of about $15 million after 2006 enrolments were fewer than expected. But vice-chancellor Kerry Cox said his main motivation for dropping the minimum entry score was a desire to give more people access to university education.
    

    “WA has got into the habit of believing that a TER is the holy grail and I don’t believe it is,” he said.
    

    "Students who entered ECU under alternative entry paths had done well despite not achieving a high TER.
    

    “In WA for many years a shortage of places and high demand pushed up entry rankings. This made people think you needed a high TER to do well,” he said.
    

    "The other three public universities have not yet set their minimum entry requirements for next year. Murdoch’s minimum TER was 62 this year and a spokesman said there were no plans to lower it. The minimum entry score at Curtin was 70 in 2006. UWA has signalled it will not go below this year’s minimum of 80."

    Full story in The West Australian at http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=1884
    
    
    
  • ‘Which school?’ guide for parents
    by Nick Sas
    
    "Choosing the right school for a child can be a difficult and confusing job for parents.
    
    "A new book, Guide to Independent and Catholic Schools of Western Australia, aims to simplify the time-consuming and worrying task.
    
    "Published by The West Australian, it gives parents information on the religion or philosophy of a school, fees, languages, facilities and subjects offered.
    
    "The book — endorsed by the Catholic and Independent school associations — contains a school locality guide, advice on how to save money on fees, tips on how to choose the right school and also explains changes to WA’s curriculum.
    
    "WA Independent Schools Association executive director Audrey Jackson said the book would be a useful tool for parents.
    
    “The book lets the schools say what they want about themselves, and consequently the information is quite good,” she said.
    
    "WA Catholic Education Office director Ron Dullard said the book was a first and provided the reader with a clear, precise choice on their children’s education..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian at http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=1802
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Daily Telegraph
  
  
  • I couldn't resist this: sounds just like the WACOT database. Web
    
    Too stupid for the smartcard
    by Sue Dunlevy
    
    "Don't be surprised when your new health and welfare smartcard sports a digital photo of your dog and gives your teenager, rather than your toddler, a childcare rebate.

    "It's more than likely to list you as suffering from syphilis and direct emergency phone calls to your former husband.

    "When you use it to claim a Medicare rebate, you'll probably find the money is sent to someone else's bank account.

    "That's what you'd expect from a system in which 45 per cent of the current records contain at least one error. ..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link

    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Smart phrases, but the outcome for education is none too bright
    
    Shallow slogans dismiss the needs of poor schools along with useful debate, write Lyndsay Connors and Jane Caro.
    
    "The state of political and social debate is such that inventing slogans has become a convenient substitute for informed discussion that could lead to sensible solutions.

    "The sometimes-shrill debate around public and private school funding is an excellent example of the damaging fog that is created by flinging around glib phrases. By using terms such as hit list and the politics of envy, for example, Brendan Nelson, when education minister, effectively stifled any sensible discussion of education policies.

    "But what do such terms really mean? The politics of envy seems to refer to anyone who dares suggest education policies should make equality of opportunity for all children their priority, even if this means transferring money from the most resourced children to the least resourced ones. Yet, who disagrees that education should be about equality of opportunity? Who believes it is the role of government to spend public money to intensify advantage and disadvantage and increase the gap between them? Such is the power of the slogan, however, this has become the argument that dare not speak its name..."

    "The real disaster behind the triumph of rhetoric is not only that our neediest children and schools remain in a downward spiral, but that the ability to have the discussion that might lead to policies that could help has, in itself, been destroyed.

    "So, while we are looking at the power of slogans, what might we call the list of schools that deal with the most demanding mix of pupils in the poorest operating conditions? The schools where the choices of studying physics or chemistry are almost non-existent? Where compensatory funding provided by governments is so low as to be almost derisory? Where teachers can take nothing for granted about a child's readiness for school? Where they must spend much of their day dealing with problems that have nothing to do with education, but come into the school from outside? Perhaps we might call it the beaten into submission list, or the hit them over and over list.

    "If we are going to have a real debate about returns on public investments in our schools, surely it should start with the schools and the children with the least resources devoted to their future, not with those with the most?

    "Professor Richard Teese, from Melbourne University's education faculty, argues that such schools should be funded as vehicles of system renovation, aimed at delivering benefits to the school system as a whole. The justification of their funding should lie in their role as innovators for the system, not as residual sites of underachievement that we have created.

    "In the end, the quality of a school system can be judged by the experience of the most vulnerable children in it. A real commitment to them is a real commitment to all children in the system. It therefore must be supported by an intensity of effort, high expectations and solidarity in sharing resources - not knocked off the agenda by slogans like hit list and the politics of envy."
    
    Jane Caro is the convener of Priority Public. Lyndsay Connors headed the former NSW Public Education Council.
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    

  • Health ministers defy PM over junk food ads
    by Julian Lee, Marketing Reporter
    
    "State and territory health ministers have defied an order by the Prime Minister to drop the issue of a junk food ad ban by vowing to press ahead with their own investigation of advertising regulations.

    "John Howard has told the states and territories to drop the issue of further regulation of food advertising to children, as it was a Commonwealth issue.

    "But yesterday ministers agreed to press on and form a working party to look at all advertising codes for children and report back later this year, a marked climb-down from their call earlier in the day for a ban or partial ban on junk food advertising on TV..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    Similar stories in most other state daily newspapers, including The West Australian (page 14).
    
    
    

  • Gifted children compete for school places
    by Anna Patty, Education Editor
    
    "If four goats eat 10 kilograms of feed in five hours, how long will it take for 12 goats to eat two kilograms? ..."
    
    "The multiple-choice question was among those she recollected yesterday during 2½-hour maths and English tests for next year's round of year 5 opportunity classes. She was among 10,428 students who sat the test.

    "This year's cohort of children, 143 more than last year, are competing for 1710 places in the classes, which accelerate the learning of gifted children.

    "The special classes will be offered at 71 primary schools across NSW and are considered as good preparation for entry into selective high schools..."
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    

• The Canberra Times
  
  
  • Editorial
    Lessons in learning
    
    "It's very disappointing that the ACT education debate has revolved primarily around the merits of various school closures, and not about the opportunities provided for reworking primary and secondary education in the ACT - the place which, historically, has valued education more than any other place in Australia..."
    
    Full story in The Canberra TImes at link
    
    
    
    
• The Guardian [27 July their time]
  
  
• Oxford gives helping hand to students from poorer backgrounds
  by Matthew Taylor, education correspondent
  
  Independent schools say move is travesty of justice
  NUT says scheme will help to redress balance
  
  "Oxford University yesterday drew fierce criticism from independent schools after announcing changes to its admission system designed to attract more pupils from poorer backgrounds.

  "Oxford colleges will consider the academic record of a candidate's school when deciding whom to shortlist for interview. Pupils from schools near the bottom of the government's league tables could be offered an interview while some with better grades from top schools may miss out.

  "The initiative has been welcomed by those campaigning for a fairer deal for state school pupils at leading universities. But heads from the independent sector said the reforms risked discriminating against hardworking pupils from their schools..."

  Full story in The Guardian at http://education.guardian.co.uk/universityaccess/story/0,,1831061,00.html
  
  
  
  
• The Independent [27 July their time]
  
  
  • City academies win approval, but doubts remain over management
    by Richard Garner and Sarah Cassidy
    
    "The Prime Minister's cherished £5bn academies programme will be given cautious approval later today by the first in-depth study of how the scheme is working. But ministers will be warned the independently sponsored inner-city schools need stricter management controls.

    "Figures show the first 27 of the proposed 200 flagship schools have cost taxpayers £48.5m more than the anticipated budget..."
    
    Full story in The Independent at http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article1199344.ece
    
    
    

• The New York Times [27 July their time]
  
  
  • Guggenheim Study Suggests Arts Education Benefits Literacy Skills
    by Randy Kennedy
    
    "In an era of widespread cuts in public-school art programs, the question has become increasingly relevant: does learning about paintings and sculpture help children become better students in other areas?
    
    "A study to be released today by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum suggests that it does, citing improvements in a range of literacy skills among students who took part in a program in which the Guggenheim sends artists into schools. The study, now in its second year, interviewed hundreds of New York City third graders, some of whom had participated in the Guggenheim program, called Learning Through Art, and others who did not.

    "The study found that students in the program performed better in six categories of literacy and critical thinking skills — including thorough description, hypothesizing and reasoning — than did students who were not in the program. The children were assessed as they discussed a passage in a children’s book, Cynthia Kadohata’s “Kira-Kira,” and a painting by Arshile Gorky, “The Artist and His Mother...”
    
    Full story in The New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/27/books/27gugg.html?ref=education [May require free registration]
    
    
    

Saturday – Sunday, 29 – 30 July

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Editorial
    ECU reinforces mickey mouse reputation (page 18)
    
    "If Edith Cowan University is at all worried about its reputation of being a mickey mouse institution, it is showing no sign of this.
    
    "Its decision to set its minimum entry requirement at a TEE average subject score of just 42 per cent reveals a glaring indifference to academic standards and reputation.
    
    "Chasing enrolments by sacrificing academic standards to attract funding is the way to self-destruction by a tertiary institution that craves to be taken seriously."
    
    
    
  • Firms may snub our graduates: ECU boss (page 11)
    by Keryn McKinnon
    
    "The new head of Edith Cowan University has conceded employers may snub ECU graduates after the institution revealed it would accept students who scored average TEE marks as low as 42 per cent.
    
    "Vice-chancellor Kerry Cox agreed business might look at other university graduates first because of the perception that the quality of ECU graduates was lower. And Professor Cox also admitted that he was concerned that one in three of ECU's 2004 graduates was unemployed.
    
    "But he said the move to drop entry requirements was about tapping into the big number of students who might not perform well in Year 12 but who showed promise of succeeding at university.
    
    "There is no correlation that people with low TERs do poorly at university," Professor Cox said.
    
    "He denied the move was a money grab to get more funding from the Federal Government by increasing enrolments.
    
    "ECU announced this week it would drop its entry requirements to a new low – with students needing a TER of just 55, down from 65, to get into the institution next year.
    
    "This means students with an average of 42 per cent in their TEE subjects could be accepted.
    
    "Employer group the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry said producing quality graduates from relevant courses was more of an issue for business than entry requirements.
    
    "Executive director policy Deidre Willmott said employers wanted tertiary institutions to offer courses of study that were relevant to the economic climate, particularly with the current skills shortage.
    
    "Association of Independent Schools head Audry Jackson said she was concerned students going into university with low TERs were being set up to fail.
    
    "Ms Jackson said appropriate academic support programs were necessary to assist students entering university with low academic qualifications.
    
    "The students need to be sure that they have the capacity to meet the requirements of the course," Ms Jackson said.
    
    "And having said that, universities cannot drop their standards for achievement either."
    
    But Professor Cox said there was no way the university would accept students doomed for failure.
    
    "If students could not read, write or add up they would not gain a place.
    
    "They will need to show they have done substantial preparation and have motivation," Professor Cox said. Support structures would be in place to help students with their writing and critical appraisal skills."
    
    Full stories in The West Australian
    
    
    
    
• The Sunday Times / PerthNow Online
  
  
  • Do more for your kids
    by Lincoln Wright
    
    "Australian fathers should do more to help at home with the children, says Treasurer Peter Costello.

    "He said men could still enjoy the pub and football - and also pull their weight more with child-rearing.

    "Dads, you've got to help with the child-rearing and the transportation,'' Mr Costello said.
    
    "I think you can do both. You can do the pub and the footy at night as long as during the day you've taken your turn to drop the kids off at child care or put on a load of nappies to be washed,'' he said.,,"
    
    Full story in The Sunday Times / PerthNow at http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,19953450-948,00.html
    
    There are similar stories in most of the other Sunday papers.
    
    
    

• The Sunday Melbourne Age
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Time to take the community into the classroom
    
    There is scope for schools of the future to be true community centres, writes Don Edgar.
    
    "It's time for a more lateral approach to the future of schooling. The first need is to shift the boundaries between school and family, school and community. A modern knowledge economy means teachers are not the only educators (as if they ever were); they are navigators guiding children through the maze of information available on the world wide web and in the wider community, helping each find his or her strengths in an ever-changing landscape of work and family relationships.

    "Any notion of respect for teachers must (as the kids indicate already) rest on how effective teachers are in guiding them, not on their assumed role of exclusive fount of wisdom.

    "That means, too, that schools have to be part of the community, welcoming parents, visitors, business leaders, grandparents and welfare workers as vital supporters of the learning process. Instead of bemoaning the welfare and emotional demands being placed on schools by dysfunctional families, principals have to face the realities and insist that enough school counsellors, guidance officers and remedial support teachers are employed so teachers can get on with what they are best at - guiding pupils in the specialist areas of learning.

    "Schools need to be rebuilt not as schools, but as family learning centres, true community centres where all the supports children need are available in the one place, easy for all parents to access..."
    
    Dr Don Edgar is a writer and social policy adviser. His latest book, The War Over Work, expands on this article.

    Full story in The Sunday Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    
    
  • Call for state-school kinders
    by Deborah Gough
    
    "More kindergartens should be attached or positioned close to state schools to stop an exodus of the children of working parents to private schools.

    The warning comes as an increasing number of private schools offer kindergarten services during school hours, reducing the attraction of state schools to parents who work..."
    
    Full story in The Sunday Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    

  • No news good news for kids growing up too fast
    by Jill Stark
    
    "Television images of death, destruction and violence are creating a generation of anxious children worried about contracting deadly diseases and being killed by terrorists.

    "Gone are the days when the biggest childhood woes were an outbreak of pimples, extra homework or being made to eat a plateful of greens.

    "These days, terrorism attacks, getting cancer and becoming a victim of crime top the list of worries for children, who say they are being forced to grow up too fast.

    "A national survey has revealed how a carefree childhood has been replaced by fear and insecurity. "Television brings real-life events straight into the lounge-room and parents don't necessarily have the blueprints to know how to talk to kids about these sorts of things," said psychologist and chief executive of the Australian Childhood Foundation, Joe Tucci, who conducted the survey.

    "The report, to be published this week, canvassed 989 children aged 10 to 17 in rural and metropolitan Australia. Seventy-six per cent felt they had to grow up faster than previous generations, with 62 per cent saying they were unsure or did not believe they would be better off than their parents. Forty nine per cent said they were worried about developing cancer, 39 per cent were concerned about terrorism and 31 per cent feared being a crime victim..."
    
    Full story in The Sunday Melbourne Age at link

    
    

• The Sunday Melbourne Herald Sun
  
  
  • Students challenge uniformity
    by Mary Papadakis, education reporter
    
    "Students are fighting "ridiculous" bans on make-up, jewellery and coloured hair at a Victorian secondary school.
    Sisters Ellouisa, 14, and Chanelle Miller, 16, and fellow students Brooke Collier, 14, and Jacinta Stephens, 16, have been told to comply with the rules or stay at home.

    "But the Brauer College students plan to stand their ground.

    "A petition against the rules, which also ban the wearing of non-uniform items such as leggings and scarfs, is being circulated around the Warrnambool school.

    "Ellouisa, who said she had been suspended for having blonde streaks in her hair earlier this year, believes the rules are outdated and unfair.

    "Brooke said she wore make-up to school to cover problem skin.

    "The girls have the full support of their mothers..."
    
    Full story in The Sunday Melbourne Herald Sun at link
    
    
    

• The Weekend Australian
  
  
  • Comparison of Aussie Year 3 kids with others spells trouble
    by Lisa Macnamara
    
    "If your eight-year-old can tell the difference between "their", "there" and "they're", then they are just average spellers.

    "But if they can jot down "extremely", "troublesome" or "stereotype" without any slip-ups, they are an above-average third grader.

    "Western Australia Primary Principals Association president Colin Pettit said words of high frequency - such as "animal", "playing" and "nice" - should be on most Year 3s' spelling list.

    "(But) all Year 3 students shouldn't have the word 'troublesome'. That would be quite an exceptional Year 3 student," he said.

    "The words come from the checklist used to test Year 3 students in Singapore and NSW taken by Educational Assessment Australia at the University of NSW.

    "Under the EAA assessments, frequently used words such as "from" and "going" rated a score of one while those with more difficult patterns such as "extraordinary" and "disgusting" rated a three. Just 1 per cent of the third-graders tested in NSW could spell words in the latter category, compared to 9 per cent of children in Singapore, where English is a second language for almost half.

    "Obviously a score of three in Singapore means you're quite a good student but in NSW it's practically unknown," said EAA director Peter Knapp. "So in NSW we're looking at lower scores."

    "Christine Hatzi, the primary school principal of West Lakes Shore School in South Australia, said the school "might have one kid that would know those really difficult words, (is) generally bright -- not just in spelling - and has a good grasp of the language and is a voracious reader".

    "Mr Pettit was wary about the international comparative assessment between Australia and Singapore, which adopted a more drill-like approach to teach spelling of English words.

    "Spelling is a very important skill that every child should have but to look at it in isolation is not necessarily a positive thing," he said.

    "If we assessed the language of Singaporean kids in total, in terms of their reading ability, their spelling ability and their writing ability, then you could make some comparisons and say their processes are either better or worse, but to just look at spelling in isolation is not necessarily going to provide a great deal of information."

    "Ms Hatzi said she would not like to see schools teaching only from a list.

    "I think it's important that kids can actually learn the words of the things that they're involved in, like sport or visiting the zoo and knowing the names of zoo animals," she said.

    "There's more to spelling than drilling, it's bigger than that. They need understanding and how to build on words..."
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19947228-13881,00.html
    
    
    

  • Op Ed
    Why teachers should be spellbound
    Failure to teach spelling is a failure of duty of care, argues Judith Wheeldon
    
    "Are you proud of your good penmanship or embarrassed by your messy chicken scratches? Handwriting matters to us as a reflection of ourselves. Yet we sometimes purposely cultivate bad handwriting to fudge uncertain spelling. Deep down we know that spelling matters.

    "Poor old spelling is the butt of almost as many jokes as mathematics. Spelling is boring. Most think spelling is no more than rote learning of long lists. Teachers treat spelling with disrespect by consigning it to "the wallpaper method", expecting learning by osmosis from words stuck up on the wall.

    "But spelling is important. Our written language, including our spelling, represents us as individuals in public, whether that public for a child is grandmother receiving a birthday card, the class at school or a job application. Fair or not, a piece of writing that contains spelling errors will never be taken as seriously as one that does not.

    "A child who does not spell well is likely never to be able to express themselves with confidence in writing. Don't take refuge in spell check. It's a Trojan horse from Microsoft that requires first-class spelling and grammar skills to avoid making horrendous errors.

    "Without good spelling your child will go through life with poverty of expression and understanding that is largely avoidable through good syllabuses and teaching from kindergarten to Year 12.

    "Judging from the results of testing released this week by Educational Assessment Australia at the University of NSW, our schools are not doing the job. On the whole, our children don't spell English as well as Mandarin-speaking children in Singapore. Australian teachers and employers have plenty of anecdotal evidence that corroborates this view. These results cannot be a surprise since we stopped serious teaching of spelling, grammar and sentence construction decades ago, with the consequence that most teachers cannot analyse errors in speech and writing. If you want good spelling and grammar, find someone over 55..."
    
    Judith Wheeldon is former head of two leading Sydney girls schools, Abbotsleigh and Queenwood.
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19941621-13881,00.html
    
    
    

  • Op Ed
    Stolen innocence
    Despite public perceptions to the contrary, boys are harmed when abused by older women, reports Caroline Overington
    
    "When a male teacher sexually penetrates a 15-year-old female student, most people agree that the girl has been abused. But when a female teacher performs oral sex on a 15-year-old boy in the back seat of her car, well, that can quickly become the basis of very bad jokes.

    "On 3AW's breakfast program last Wednesday, a couple of comedians told the audience there were "three of four callers" on the line, desperate to return to high school.

    "I don't know whether it's related to the four-month jail sentence for a high school teacher who performed sex acts with a male student," one of the comedians chortled.

    "But, yeah, any number of people have rung up and expressed a desire to return to school and extend their education..."
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19941626-13881,00.htm
    
    
    

  • Letters to the Editor
    
    Obese children grow into adults with costly illnesses
    

    • "Obesity, and childhood obesity in particular, is currently one of the biggest health problems facing Australia, and yet our Prime Minister stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the role of junk food advertising, much of which is directly aimed at kids ("Howard junks curbs on TV ads for kids", 28/7).

      "Obese children grow into obese adults at grave risk of heart disease and diabetes which costs taxpayers millions of dollars to treat.

      "I see Senator Bob Brown has introduced an amendment to ban all TV food ads except for those foods the Health Minister believes to be beneficial to children's health. If Mr Howard is really concerned with fiscal responsibility, he will vote for this amendment."
      
      Jean Jordan, Eltham, Vic
      
      

    • "From the point of view of public health generally, can someone please explain to me why the federal Government acts to control media advertising by cigarette companies but refuses to act in controlling junk food advertising directed at children at a time when we are experiencing an epidemic in childhood obesity."
      
      Michael Scott, Kenmore, Qld
      
      
      
    • "Of junk food advertising, federal Health Minister Tony Abbott says that we shouldn't pretend something will go away by banning it, while down the road Philip Ruddock is busy banning books because this will stop terrorism. A better thing might be the banning of political sophistry."
      
      Greg Poropat, New Farm, Qld

     

    Complete Letters to the Editor of The Weekend Australian available at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/index/0,,21223,00.html
    
    
    

• The Canberra Times [Saturday]
  
  
  • Labor faces revolt on school cuts
    by Rosslyn Beeby
    

    "ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and his Government will face a rebellion from within party ranks at today's ALP conference over cuts to public education and the Gungahlin Drive Extension blow-out, according to documents leaked to The Canberra Times.

    "A group of conference delegates say they plan to ask leave to table resolutions that oppose the closure of 39 public schools across Canberra, and express a lack of confidence in the Government's consultation process over the closures.

    "They say they will defy any moves by conference officials to gag debate, and are prepared to stage a protest walkout if necessary..."
    
    Full story in The Canberra Times at link SEE follow-up article below
    
    
    

• The Sunday Canberra Times
  
  
  • REVOLT FAILS: School closure plan survives narrow ALP conference vote
    by Markus Mannheim
    
    "Chief Minister Jon Stanhope narrowly avoided a humiliating defeat at yesterday's annual Labor conference when party members attempted to block his controversial plan to close 39 public schools.

    "The party's dominant left faction led the revolt, which would have prevented any school from being closed before 2008.

    "Deputy Chief Minister Katy Gallagher and fellow left frontbencher Simon Corbell broke cabinet solidarity to vote with their faction against Government policy.

    "The motion was defeated by just four votes - 96 to 100 - after a bitter debate during which MLAs hurled abuse at each other. .."
    
    Full story in The Sunday Canberra Times at link

    
    
    
    
• The Hobart Mercury
  
  
  • Specialists to cut doctor training time
    
    "Specialist doctors could be turned out up to five years faster under a university plan to stream medical students into their areas of interest while studying for their basic degree.
    Health ministers are backing the universities' push to take more control of specialist training, a move that would end the monopoly now enjoyed by the doctors' colleges.

    "All medical students are given the same four to six years of basic training, regardless of which sector they want to work in..."
    
    Full story in The Hobart Mercury at http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,19947697-922,00.html
    
    
    

• USA Today
  
  
  • Schools juggle holidays for different faiths
    by Cara Anna, Associated Press
    
    "ALBANY, N.Y. — Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, and Christian — each faith has its holy days. Schools across the country are asking how to respect them all.

    "Consider the University at Albany, which canceled classes on major Muslim holidays. Faculty wanted the move out of concern for Muslim students after the Sept. 11 attacks. But then came the questions: What about Hindus? Buddhists?

    "President Kermit Hall last fall decided to return to the original calendar.

    "Can you operate a university and give each religious group an accommodation? I think the answer is, 'No,'" he said.

    "Make that "maybe." School administrators across the country are rethinking their calendars as their student bodies become more diverse..."
    
    Full story in USA Today at link
    
    Similar story in the Saturday New York TImes [May require free registration.]
    
    
    

• The Guardian [28 July their time]
  
  
  • Academies could do better, says government report
    by Matthew Taylor, education correspondent
    
    "Schools in the government's £5bn academy programme are achieving mixed results, with many suffering from poor pupil discipline, bullying and badly designed buildings, according to a government-backed report.

    The study looked at 11 academies and found that seven had improved their results at 14 and GCSE. However, standards at the other four had deteriorated.

    "There is a clear diversity in pupil performance both between and within academies, and this is one of the most important findings to emerge from the research to date," the report stated.

    "There are 27 academies currently open and ministers hope that figure will rise to 200 by 2010..."
    
    Full story in The Guardian at http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1832116,00.html
    
    
    

• The Sunday Independent
  
  
  • Truancy increasing twice as fast at academies
    by Sarah Cassidy, Education Correspondent
    
    "Truancy in Tony Blair's controversial academies increased twice as fast as the national average, and bad behaviour and bullying are continuing problems, a government-commissioned evaluation of the £5bn programme found.

    "Overall, academies are improving pupils' academic results more quickly than other schools, the study by PricewaterhouseCoopers found. In seven out of 11 academies, GCSE results improved last year - although in the rest performances were "actually deteriorating". Overall, academies boosted their results by an average of five points, against a national rise of three points..."
    
    Full story in The Sunday Independent at http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article1201310.ece

 

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This page last updated 17 April, 2009 10:46 PM