Monday 30 July

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Monday 30 July

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Most kids to be in private schools in 30 years (page 5)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Parents are pulling their children out of the State school system at such a rate that there could be more students in private education than in public within 30 years.

    "In what has been classed as an indictment on declining standards in the public system, calculations by the West Australian show the tipping point could occur in about 2037 if the current trend continues.

    "Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that 77 % of students were enrolled in WA State schools 21 years ago compared to 67% in 2006. And 23 % of students were at private schools in 1986 compared with 33 % last year, which was also the first year in which the number of private school students sitting the TEE outnumbered those from State schools.

    "Education consultant and former Melbourne University education dean Brian Caldwell said the trend was even more noticeable at secondary school level because many parents sent their children to State primary schools but switched to private schools for their secondary education.

    "As enrolments in State schools declined, leaving only children whose parents were unable or unwilling to pay fees to private schools, he said that could force numbers to plummet even more quickly.

    "It's a phenomenon known in England as the creation of 'sink schools'," he said.

    "Professor Caldwell said reasons for plunging enrolments at State schools included poorly maintained buildings and parents' perceptions that private schools maximised their children's chances of gaining good tertiary entrance scores and that discipline and strong values were more likely to be found in a private school.

    "Shadow education minister Peter Collier said he was not surprised at the forecast, given the constant negative publicity that State schools had received.

    "The public mindset, rightly or wrongly, is that private schools deliver a superior quality of rounded education for students," he said. "The inevitable consequence of this perception is that increasing numbers of parents of the more academically capable students will choose a private school for their children. This is, in effect, a self-fulfilling prophecy."

    "But Association of Independent Schools of WA executive director Audrey Jackson said the drift to private schools depended on the number of places available, which would become limited as fewer schools were built as land and construction costs rose.

    "I don't think we'll get to a stage where the growth in the independent sector is such that it means in the Catholic and independent sector together we're education more than 50% of the students," she said.

    "Education minister Mark McGowan said State schools had high standards.

    "The key difference between the public and private sectors is that the public sector is significantly more transparent and accountable," he said.

    "Due to the fact that a lot of the information currently available on public schools is not available on private schools, parents are not able to make an informed choice about where to send their children to school. The establishment of the Education Standards Authority will address this problem and provide a level playing field across the sectors."
    

    From The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Primary maths 'dumbed down' (page 5)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "New primary school maths courses will WA children up to 3 years behind students in other countries, Notre Dame University maths lecturer Keith McNaught has claimed.

    "Draft maths syllabus documents, revealed last week, showed that WA's outcomes based education had dumbed down the curriculum significantly, Dr McNaught said.

    "The syllabuses are being finalised before they begin next year.

    "Dr McNaught said the new syllabuses were well constructed but their content was less challenging than what was taught in other countries or in WA 30 years ago.

    "The real issue for me is the lack of academic rigour and challenge within any topics, when compared to highly regarded curriculum documents, particularly in those countries noted for high achievement standards," he said. "It seems to be pitched at the lowest common denominator, which while noble in intent, denies the vast majority the chance to achieve excellence."

    "Children should have learnt up to the 10m times tables by the end of Year 3 but the syllabus documents spread tables across Years 3, 4 and 5. And the level of difficulty on fractions was at least two to three years behind Singapore, which tops international maths performance.

    "They have a rigorous, challenging and demanding maths curriculum," he said. "A constant criticism of OBE in WA has been that it 'dumbs down' the curriculum - the new syllabus documents are the one opportunity we have to address this issue."

    "A survey Dr McNaught did in city primary schools this year found that children in 26% of the classes were being taught maths fur less than 30 minutes a day. Just 21% did an average of an hour.

    "There's no way children will develop high level mathematical skills on 30 minutes a day," he said.

    "Education minister Mark McGowan has told schools to devote at least half of teaching time to literacy and numeracy. Dr McNaught said no one told primary teachers how much time to spend on maths but it should be at least half."
    
    From The West Australian
    
    
    

  • Specialist teacher shortage hurts rural students (page 5)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Children in country schools get a sub-standard education because of the shortage of specialist teachers, the State Opposition said yesterday.

    "Shadow education minister Peter Collier said the Education Department's desperate attempts to plug the gaps was only masking the reality because of the effect the lack of specialist teachers had on students.

    "It is quite evident that the quality of education in terms of the services provided at the senior secondary level is seriously questionable in several areas, particularly the sciences and maths, and English, because of the lack of specialist teachers," Mr Collier said.

    "Parents are fed up with the fact they feel their kids are getting a sub-standard education."
    
    "State schools are still struggling to find teachers to fill vacancies after starting third term with a shortfall of 92 teachers.

    "Neil Annison, of Albany, whose 15 year old daughter is in Year 11 at Denmark Agricultural College, said parents were unhappy their children were now studying English by correspondence, because the school failed to find a replacement after the previous teacher left at the end of last semester.

    "You'd really expect to at least have a teacher for English, which is one of the most important subjects you can do," he said.

    "The Education Department said yesterday a new teacher had been appointed and would start soon.

    "State School Teachers Union vice-president Anne Gisborne said many members, particularly in country areas, were forced to teach outside there area of expertise."
    

    From The West Australian
    
    
    

  • Bags are no fun for overloaded students (page 5)
    by Helen Pickering
    
    "WA's main parent group will push for more lockers in high schools because of concerns that children forced to carry heavy books are damaging their spines.

    "The WA Council of State School Organisations will raise concerns about the risk of spinal damage to their children at its annual conference next month.

    "The Chiropractors Association believes up to 705 of children could potentially develop spinal problems because of schoolyard factors, including heavy back packs.

    "The Department of Education and Training said schools managed the back pack issue at a local level and parents were advised that no student should carry a bag which was more than 10% of their body weight.

    "Schools also encourage parents to choose well designed school bags and provided lockers to store books.

    "As much as possible online material was provided to reduce the need to carry books.

    "But Chiropractor Association national spokesman Anthony Coxon said chiropractors were seeing an increased number of adolescents with back complaints.

    "WA Chiropractors Association executive director Yvette Buxton said there was a range of products designed to improve spinal health. But students shunned healthy back packs because they were unfashionable.

    "Mt Lawley Senior High School P&C president Suzie Dean said parents were increasingly concerned about their children because the school had no lockers.

    "Her Year 11 daughter Lucy carries a bag weighing up to 15 kg. "She has back problems which she has regular physiotherapy for," she said."
    

    From The West Australian
    
    
    
    

  • Higher education places rise, but enrolments stall (page 11)
    Melbourne
    
    "The proportion of young Australians going to university has stalled despite Government's claims it is addressing the nation's professional skills shortage by offering more places than ever.

    "The latest Census data show that the number of 18 to 21 year olds not in higher education is growing at a faster rate then those studying at a university or private tertiary college.

    "In the five years to 2006, the number of young adults not at university jumped by 37826 - 3.7% - while those studying rose by 8489 or 3.1%.

    "The figures come as employers in areas such as accounting, engineering and health professions claim they cannot fill skilled graduate vacancies. Professional bodies argue the shortfall continues despite Australia importing record levels of professional migrants. More than 45000 were granted visas in 2005-06.

    "The issue is part of a broader debate about whether the nation should be trying to entice more year 12 graduates to university to produce more professionals, even if it lowers academic standards.

    "According to Monash University's Centre for Population and Urban Research, about one in four young adults, or 26.7%, across the country is in higher education, down slightly from 26.9 in 2001.

    "Monash centre research fellow Daniel Edwards said rising Year 12 completion rates were not translating into university enrolments despite more jobs requiring a degree. A recent study found the number of people employed in managerial and professional jobs jumped 57% and 37% over a decade.

    "But higher education commentator Andrew Norton, research fellow with the Centre for Independent Studies, said Australia had hundreds of thousands of graduates working in jobs that did not need a degree.

    "He said workforce shortages could be solved by directing students into areas of need. For example, applications for health professional courses had for years outstripped the number of training places.

    "The biggest problem is not the total number of students, it's which courses they are doing," he said. "Simply taking in people from the bottom end of the year 12 class isn't going to fix your problem."

    "Federal education minister Julie Bishop said recent rises in funded university places had dealt with the problem of unmet demand - eligible students missing out on a place.

    "Gerard Sutton, chairman of lobby group Universities Australia, agreed there was now no shortage of university places but said more could be done to lift numbers at TAFE and make university more accessible to people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Funding should be lifted from pre-school up, he said."
    

    From The West Australian

    Similar story in today's Melbourne Age
    
    
    

  • Letters to the Editor (page 14)
    

    • Solve the 'shortage': treat teachers better

      "I read with increasing irritation reports that the Education Department is short of teachers. One report said English, science and mathematics would be affected. Presumably, they're OK for home economics and physical education teachers.

      "This is hard to believe given that all the teachers of my acquaintance have been scratching around for permanency for years - despite being highly qualified and of broad experience.

      "Most of these teachers have, after years of short-term contracts (including in the bush, in the vain and ultimately unrealised hope of being granted a city posting) given up on the Education Department and left the public school system in favour of private schools or even gone overseas.

      "If the Education Department will not offer teachers permanency, it can expect to have a teacher shortage.

      "No one can be expected to subsist on short-term contracts. Not only is such a basis of employment extremely stressful, but teachers are thus subject to the vagaries of the Education Department's payroll system which has seen one friend of mine work for an entire term unpaid.

      "There is no need at all to recruit teachers from overseas and no need to bemoan the lack of teachers. It's just not true.

      "The Education Department needs to drag itself out of the dark ages and start treating its teachers properly. God know they are paid an absolute pittance and teaching is as surely a vocation as is nursing, medicine, or the clergy."

      Kate Moore, Cottesloe
      
      
      

    • In Short
      
      "It is disgraceful that, at a time of a raging resources boom and record budget surpluses, Premier Alan Carpenter (a former education minister) and his Treasurer Eric Ripper (an erstwhile school teacher) cannot muster the resources to ensure that every child and teenager in this State can be guaranteed a basic education ("Teacher stuff-up becomes cover-up, 24/7) - especially if their parents pay taxes. No wonder there's a skills shortage."

      Mark Fraser, Bedford
      

      
      
      
• The Australian
  
  
  • $500m shortfall queried
    by Matthew Franklin, Chief political correspondent
    
    "Labor is under pressure to explain how it would fill a $500million funding hole that would be created by its plan to compensate universities for the scrapping of full-fee-paying courses.

    "Education Minister Julie Bishop yesterday said Labor must reveal where it would find the money to compensate universities for lost income caused by its plan.

    "Labor has long opposed the concept of paid university degrees, arguing that the system favours those with money rather than providing opportunities on the basis of merit.

    "While the policy meets Labor's philosophical position, universities have boosted their incomes by selling places to Australian and overseas students. Labor has promised full compensation.

    "Ms Bishop told The Australian last night that Labor was creating uncertainty and a potential funding black hole.

    "The loss of full-fee-paying domestic undergraduates would cost the universities up to $500 million over four years," she said."
    
    From The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • In defence of Steiner
      
      "It's unfortunately predictable that many parents, including Ray Pereira, do not want to hear that their child would benefit from a repeat year at school (”Hard questions asked on Steiner’s spiritual classroom”, 28-29/7). If only we weren’t in such a hurry to get our kids educated, we might actually allow them to discover who they are in their own time.

      "My own experience as a singing teacher working across a smorgasbord of Melbourne religious and secular schools led to this steadfast conclusion: Steiner students are far more creative, responsive, mature, autonomous and well-rounded individuals. Steiner’s success lies in a holistic approach to education where creativity, diversity and the individual path of each student is honoured in a very real way.

      "As a product of mainstream public schooling, I’ll be busting my chops to get my kids into Steiner. And as for TV - any school that discourages its students from watching the box should win an award for excellence."
      
      Jacq Gawler, Brunswick, Vic
      
      

      "The Rudolf Steiner educationists’ belief in souls, spirits and angels is no different from the usual medieval claptrap with which traditional religions infect our children. A Steiner variant is the delay in teaching the children to read and write until their adult teeth come through. Now, if the kids got their teeth into an evidence-based scientific subject such as Darwinian evolution, it would set them up for life in the real world and chase away the angels and fairies."
      
      Tim Saclier, Leopold, Vic
      
      
      
      

• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • More school leavers failing to go on to uni
    by Adam Morton
    
    "The proportion of young Australians going to university has stalled despite Federal Government claims that it is tackling the nation's professional skills shortage by offering more places than ever.

    "An exclusive analysis of the latest census data for The Age shows that the number of 18-to-21-year-olds not in higher education is growing at a faster rate than those who study at a university or private tertiary college.

    "In the five years to 2006, the number of young adults not at university jumped by 29,345 — 3.9 per cent — while those studying rose by 8489, or 3.1 per cent.

    "The finding comes as employers in areas such as accounting, engineering and health professions say they cannot fill skilled graduate vacancies.

    "Professional bodies argue the shortfall continues despite Australia importing record levels of professional migrants — more than 45,000 were granted visas in 2005-06 alone.

    "There is a debate about whether more year 12 graduates should be enticed to go to university to produce more professionals, even if it lowers academic standards..."
    
    Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    

  • Junior clubs to get ugly with sports' bad parents
    
    Abuse and violence by spectators at junior sports events - the "ugly parent syndrome" - is a social ill as unacceptable as drink-driving, Sports Minister James Merlino has warned. Launching a program to discourage bad parental behaviour in the lead-up to junior sport finals, Mr Merlino said verbal abuse and threats lead to youngsters and umpires leaving sports.
    
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Language teachers need to visit Indonesia

      "I'm pleased that John Howard feels safe travelling to Indonesia — now if he'd only extend that right to participants in other programs his Government runs.

      "The Federal Government has a laudable program called the Endeavour Language Teaching Fellowship, where teachers of languages other than English are given the opportunity to improve and update their language and cultural skills. Teachers of Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Arabic, under this program, can participate in an invaluable in-country study program in China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and either Jordan or the United Arab Emirates.

      "Teachers of Indonesian, however, are discriminated against in being offered a study program that takes place only in Australia — in Melbourne in 2006 and Darwin in 2007. How are teachers of Indonesian supposed to convey to their students the value of studying Indonesian when those same teachers are officially not permitted to go to the country where the language is spoken?

      "I call on Mr Howard to provide the same opportunity that he so obviously enjoys for all Australians on programs under government auspices to travel to Indonesia, the better to improve the mutual understanding of our two nations."
      
      Keith Fletcher, Alexandra
      
      
      
      

• The Brisbane Courier Mail
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Carrot for the teacher
    by Philip Senior
    
    "Six months after declaring Australia needed an "Education Revolution", Labor's Kevin Rudd has not outlined a plan to address the critical issue of improving teaching standards in secondary schools.

    "Teaching quality must be at the heart of any plan to improve education. The single most important determinant of a student's achievement isn't where they come from or how wealthy their parents are. It's their teachers.

    "We need to design policies that attract more high-calibre students to teaching, improve teacher retention and development, and allow underperforming teachers to be identified and addressed. A rethink is needed in the way teachers are paid and schools are staffed.

    "Attracting more top students and retaining them requires higher salaries. Increases in graduate salaries for public school teachers have made them competitive with other professions, with some success.

    "In New South Wales, where graduates earn roughly $50,000, there has been an increase in applications for public school teaching jobs.

    "However, public school teachers typically reach their maximum salary after eight years, with increases based on tenure. They face decades at the same salary level. As maximum salaries haven't kept pace with increases in starting salaries, the scales have become flatter in recent years.

    "The lack of financial rewards causes many teachers to leave the profession, or take up higher paid positions at independent schools. Others stay within the public system, but move into non-classroom roles offering higher remuneration.

    "Raising maximum salaries would also demonstrate society's respect for the vital function teachers perform and raise the prestige of teaching.

    "The emphasis in salary progression should also shift from tenure to capabilities. Governments should work with education experts to define teaching standards at various levels, from graduate to the highest level of excellence – each with a distinct salary band.

    "At the highest level, teachers should be paid $100,000 or more. Tenure increases could apply within bands, but movement to a higher band would require teachers to achieve the appropriate standard. [emphasis added]

    "This model has similarities to that employed in Australia's universities, and those in many professional service firms. Strengthening the link between salary progression and professional development increases incentives for teachers to improve skills. The opportunity for outstanding teachers to be fast-tracked regardless of age also provides incentive and makes the profession more attractive.

    "By focusing on teacher capabilities rather than student outcomes, the model would be more acceptable to teachers – vital for any model's success – while maintaining the benefits of merit-based pay. Providing new teachers with "mentor" teachers will also increase the likelihood they will stay in the profession and become better teachers faster. Some mentoring does occur in public schools, but the extent and nature of programs, and the incentives for the best teachers to participate, differ wildly across schools. Government policies should place greater emphasis on strengthening mentoring programs.

    "There should be substantial salary raises – perhaps $15,000-$20,000 – for teachers at the highest standard who mentor less-experienced teachers. These teachers would be expected to devote significant extra time to mentoring beyond their ordinary duties. Beyond benefiting new teachers, this proposal would help keep the best teachers in teaching roles.

    "As a trade-off for higher salaries, teachers should accept greater competition and accountability. The process of teacher allocation to schools by the state education bureaucracy needs reform. While it fulfils the important function of ensuring all schools have enough teachers, change is needed.

    "Principals should have greater control of staffing. Independent schools in Australia and the success of charter schools in the US have shown the benefits of having principals acting as CEOs, rather than middle managers.

    "Principals in our public schools are working with one hand tied behind their back. They should have greater say in hiring, including the right to advertise to fill vacancies directly, and refuse teachers allocated by the state bureaucracy.

    "It also needs to be easier to remove teachers who consistently underperform. The current system makes it very difficult for teachers to be fired, short of gross misconduct.

    "Poor performers are shipped around the system. Principals should be empowered to decide when teachers should be let go, and to refuse teachers who have been let go by other schools.

    "Implementing reforms is not easy. However, it's time for the political rhetoric in the education debate to be matched by political will."

    Philip Senior is a political scientist at the University of Sydney
    
    From The Brisbane Courier Mail at link
    
    
    
    

• Media Statement: Federal Shadow Education Minister Stephen Smith
  
  
  • Decline of maths and science under the Howard Government continues

    One of Australia’s leading education experts has highlighted the erosion of critical numeracy skills among primary school teachers due to a decline in the status of teaching under the Howard Government.

    Professor Bill Louden, Dean of Education at the University of Western Australia and Chair of the West Australian Curriculum Council, has warned that:

    “People choosing to be primary teachers are choosing to do it partly because they are not good at maths…the underlying problem is that the social status of teaching has dropped dramatically”

    Professor Louden’s comments are further proof that the Howard Government has not adequately invested in the teaching of maths and basic numeracy skills.

    The reality is that Australia has slipped behind many of our competitors in both the number of maths and science graduates and the quality of our maths and science education:

    · Around a quarter of maths teachers don’t have a major in maths, and nearly 10 per cent have not studied any university maths at all;

    · Australia’s maths and science education ranks only 29th in the world according to the World Economic Forum Annual Report on Global Competitiveness;

    · Maths Departments in Australia's top 8 universities have lost almost a third of their permanent academics according to a report by the Australian Academy of Science;

    · Australia graduates less than half the OECD average number of students with a maths or statistics qualification; and

    · According to the National Report on Schooling, between 2000 and 2005, there were 40,000 fewer year 12 students studying science subjects and 17,000 fewer studying maths subjects.

    These facts are an indictment on the Howard Government.

    For too long, we have not paid teachers enough respect or enough regard.

    Federal Labor has consistently argued that the quality of the teacher in the classroom is the single most important factor impacting on educational outcomes in our schools.

    That is why Federal Labor has a positive policy program to encourage young Australians to both study and teach maths and science by:

    · halving the HECS fees of new maths and science students from 2009; and also

    · halving the annual HECS repayments of maths and science graduates if they take up work in a relevant maths or science occupation, particularly the teaching of maths or science.

    Numeracy skills are a basic educational requirement and maths is a foundation discipline for many of Australia’s industries. Not having the expertise and experience in these areas is not only bad for our kids, buts hurts our economy and future prosperity.

    Investing in education, particularly measures to encourage young Australians to study maths and science, is critical to ensure our kids have the skills to compete in the workplaces of tomorrow and to secure Australia’s future competitiveness and prosperity as a nation.
    

Tuesday 31 July

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Teacher shortage will get worse [front page headlines]
    Exclusive by Keryn McKinnon
    
    "WA's chronic teacher shortage will escalate over the next two years unless there is a multi-million dollar cash injection to fund higher salaries and changes are made to the way teachers are employed, secret Education Department documents reveal.

    "One report predicts 2009 and 2010 will be "watershed" years for staffing and warns that unless drastic action is taken "public schools will find it increasingly difficult to attract teachers, leading to bigger classes, potentially poorer educational outcomes and lower staff morale".

    "An attached funding request says: "Widespread community concern and diminishing confidence in the education system can be expected."

    "The documents, written by the department's human resources division and obtained by the The West Australian under Freedom of Information laws, also reveal the department knew as early as July 2006 of the impending shortages for this year, but was publicly denying there was a problem as late as December.

    "Difficulties are anticipated in staffing schools at the start of 2007, with the likely result that schools may be obliged to collapse classes or use staff with a limited authority to teach," it said. Papers also show the State government rejected at least one funding proposal for a $1 million overseas and interstate recruitment scheme that proposed paying $15000 relocation allowances to up to 50 teachers employed via the strategy.

    "What is really scary is this was discussed in the department last year and they knew (the shortages) were coming and yet there was no preparation and the Minister was telling the community there was no problem," SSTUWA president Mike Keely said.

    "Education director-general Sharyn O'Neill said the shortage of teachers was a national issue and the State's booming economy had increased the need for skilled workers. She said a number of initiatives to improve recruitment were under way, including an investigation into teacher supply and demand, new salary packages to attract retired teachers back to the classroom early job offers for final year teaching students and an overseas recruitment campaign.

    "The reports predict the 2009 and 2010 crisis would eventuate because 38% of teachers, or 4800 staff, would be eligible to retire. And 2010 is also the year that half the cohort, created when the school starting age changed to a June 30 cut off in 2000, would enter Year 8. This means a full cohort of students will be enrolled in every year of primary school for the first time in 10 years, creating the need for an extra 350 teachers.

    "The documents reveal that beyond 2010, major changes to the department's recruitment process were needed, including the abolition of the historic transfer system where staff move between schools on a system wide basis. Instead, staff should be hired by individual schools and the only way they could move would be to apply for another job on merit.

    "It also said salaries for teachers in areas of high demand should be at least 15% higher and that a pool of 100 contract teachers be formed to take up short term jobs across WA." [emphasis added]
    

    From The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Editorial
    McGowan must kill OBE and stop driving teachers (page 16)
    
    "Once again, evidence has emerged that casts doubt not only on the competence but also the integrity of the Education Department.

    "Documents gained by this newspaper under Freedom of Information laws point to a massive teacher shortage crisis that is looming for State schools unless urgent and decisive action is taken to find and retain many more teachers.

    "They also show that it was known in the department at least a year ago that there would be a serious teacher shortage at the beginning of this school year. However, it is now evident that the department did not take adequate measures to avoid the disruptive last minute scramble to staff schools that marked the start of this school year. Worse, it was publicly denying as late as December that there was a problem. Furthermore, evidence suggests that it withheld the true state of affairs from Education Minister Mark McGowan until just before the start of the school year, through either institutionalised incompetence or indifference to accountability, or a combination of both.

    "Mr McGowan said he first heard of the shortfall in teacher numbers just days before the school year was to start. There is no reason to disbelieve him, especially given that the department persisted in its public denials of the problem during the second half of last year.

    "Tellingly, one of the documents noted that difficulties were expected in staffing schools at the beginning of this year and that the political fallout would "be immense".

    "So there was knowledge in the department of the extent of the problem and its potentially damaging effects well before the crisis struck, but precious little was done to avert it or to come clean publicly.

    "It is hardly surprising that by last month Mr McGowan felt the need to tell the education bureaucracy that it was a mess and gave senior officers a dressing down. That was a warranted response to the department's record on failures and Mr McGowan was entitled to demand, on behalf of the public, both competence and accountability.

    "But that in itself won't solve what looms as a potentially crippling teacher shortage. A range of inducements has been suggested to keep or get more teachers in State schools, but one solution is readily available to the government: purge the system of the OBE blight.

    "Clearly, OBE and the mindless authoritarianism with which it has been imposed on teachers have driven many of them from schools. Mr McGowan know this, or should, but he continues to tolerate OBE with some publicly enforced adjustments to its more glaringly ludicrous elements.

    "This has the signs of the Government's subservience to politically correct ideology, with an attendant disregard for the public opinion and the practical needs of students, parents and teachers. A similar tendency is discernible in the Government's inadequate land release policies and practices, which point not only to a lack of foresight but also to an evident distrust or dislike of private developers.

    "In both cases there have been massive failures to meet obligations. Failures on such a scale by a private company would drive it out of business. Mr McGowan must now accept his responsibility to provide the education system the community wants and understands - and one that doesn't drive out teachers." [emphasis added]
    

    From The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Alston (page 16)
    
    


© The West Australian





• Three key teachers join breakaway union ticket (page 15)
  by Bethany Hiatt
  
  "Influential members of the group in charge of the powerful teachers' union have switched sides in a bid to west control from the current administration.

  "Three members of the SSTUWA executive have thrown their allegiance behind the new "members first" ticket and presidential challenger Marko Vojkovic, the science teacher who has led opposition to OBE in WA, to run for the union election in October.

  "Current vice-president Patricia Burke and executive members Clive Kelly and Gary Hedger are surprise additions to the 16 people on the ticket. News of three member jumping ship is a blow to the "unity" ticket which has wielded power in the union since the mid 1990s.

  "Union president Mike Keely said he was aware that Mr Hedger and Mr Kelly were bailing out but the news of Ms Burke's defection came as a shock. "I am surprised," he said. "But it's a democratic union, people make their own choices."

  "Mr Keely, who was elected unopposed as president in 2003, conceded he had been considering retirement but he might run again if that was what the team wanted. "I'm not here for my own benefit, I'm here for the members," he said. He refused to reveal who would run for president if he opted not to stand.

  "Mr Keely said the current executive had achieved significant gains: "Members will vote, I hope, on all of the issues that are in front of us."

  "The union holds considerable clout with the Education Department and union membership is high, comprising more than half of teachers who work for the department. A splinter group that opposed the current union leaders at the last election in 2005 won just a third of the vote.

  "Mr Kelly, a primary school deputy principal who has been part of the unity team for about 3 years, told Mr Keely a month ago of his plan to jump ship.

  "Asked if he thought the current executive was not open and accountable, he said: "They seem to think they are, but I don't know that our members know enough about what happens in the union."

  "Mr Hedger, who teaches at Rockingham TAFE, said the new team offered different directions for the union. Ms Burke, also from TAFE, was overseas and unavailable for comment.

  "Mr Vojkovic said education was in dire straits and many members believed the current union leaders had no solutions.

  "The WA electoral commission will call for election nominations on Friday and send out postal ballots in September. Members can choose to vote for a ticket comprising three officers and 13 executive positions or they can number their preferences individually."
  

  From The West Australian
  
  
  
  
• Letter to the Editor (page 18)
  
  
  • I disagree
    
    "Busselton Senior High School staff are annoyed and disappointed with the report (Disgruntled teacher driven to new career) about claims made by a former teacher at the school.

    "We encounter hurdles just like any other profession but we are dedicated professionals who ensure the best education for our students.

    "Busselton SHS teachers have worked hard to introduce the new courses and to improve learning outcomes for our students over the past four years and have achieved excellent Year 12 results.

    "Like most workplaces, people had bad experiences in their jobs but to allow that to undermine our hard work is a disservice to our school and our profession.

    "It is a pity the opinions of our teachers, who are motivated and dedicated to their jobs, were not sought before the report was published."

    Raelene Harris, Principal, Busselton Senior High School
    
    [I wonder which Silver City educrat wrote that bit of prose.  Web]
    

    
    

• WACOT
  
  
  • Submissions to The Taskforce for Education Workforce Initiatives
    
    Well worth a read !
    
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
• Poor teaching adds to maths crisis [lead national story]
  by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
  
  "Mathematics teaching in schools is of a worse standard than the teaching of reading, and teachers are "disturbingly ignorant of what strategies work in the classroom".

  "The claims come from the chair of the federal Government's literacy inquiry, leading educational researcher Ken Rowe, who says mathematics teaching is in a parlous state in both primary and high schools. In a submission to the national numeracy review, Dr Rowe, the research director of learning processes at the Australian Council for Educational Research, says major shifts in teaching maths have occurred over the past 20 years and sophisticated literacy skills are now required.

  "Dr Rowe says Year 3 students sitting national benchmark tests in numeracy need a Year 5 level of literacy to answer questions.

  "Under problem-based learning, students are given a written problem requiring them to translate it into a mathematical equation and then work out the sum.

  "As a result, many students have difficulty understanding the question before they even attempt the mathematics.

  "He adds that practising drills of basic number operations and learning times tables off by heart are missing from the classroom.

  "An analysis of the results of numeracy tests conducted by the OECD found that reading achievement was the strongest predictor of maths achievement, accounting for more than 60 per cent of the variance. [Or perhaps bright kids are good at both?  Web]

  "Dr Rowe echoes the concerns of University of Western Australia dean of education Bill Louden, reported yesterday in The Australian, that people who are good at maths do not become primary school teachers.

  "As a result, the level of mathematical knowledge and skills in primary schools is generally low, and early maths teaching is often poor.

  "Compounding the lack of mathematical skills is the fact that universities are failing to train teachers in how to teach.

  "Dr Rowe says evidence of the most effective strategies are largely ignored by schools and universities. "There is a disturbing level of ignorance among school leaders and teachers at all levels of educational provision related to what works and why, especially as they relate to the teaching of literacy and numeracy," he says in his submission.

  "Prevailing ideologies in schools and universities surrounding effective teaching practice are typically not grounded in findings from evidence-based research. (Teacher education) is characterised by very narrow conceptions about how teachers should teach, aided and abetted by the content of ... curriculum documents."

  "Dr Rowe says the evidence of more than 500,000 studies from around the world shows that direct instruction explicitly teaching students foundational skills is the most effective teaching strategy but Australian teachers persist with constructivist or problem-based learning.

  "Constructivist learning holds that knowledge is not transmitted from the teacher to the student, but the teacher is a facilitator in the student's learning through exploration and discovery.

  "As a result, Dr Rowe says students are expected to learn to read without knowing letter-sound relationships." [emphasis added]
  
  From The Australian at link
  
  

  
  
• Letter to the Editor
  
  
  • Montessori v Steiner
    
    "Your article ("Hard questions asked on Steiner’s spiritual classroom’’, 28-29/7) outlining parental concerns about Steiner schooling implies that Montessori is also a questionable educational approach.

    "Montessori is totally different to Steiner and this distinction should have been made clear. Like many parents who are lucky enough to have access to a Montessori environment, I have had the pleasure of watching my children thrive emotionally, intellectually and socially in the most nurturing environment I have ever witnessed.

    "Parents who complain about being kept in the dark about dodgy educational approaches should stop blaming schools and teachers and accept responsibility for becoming fully informed about their children’s schooling and its underpinning philosophy."
    
    Jacqueline Hancox, Wangaratta, Vic
    
    
    
    

• The Sydney Daily Telegraph
  
  
  • School fight to stop walkout [front page]
    by Bruce McDougall
    
    "Public school chiefs have unveiled details of their battle plan to arrest the loss or even win back students in response to plummeting enrolments over the past decade.

    "The Department of Education and Training's fightback strategy includes 10 regional bureaucrats with the task of assisting public schools "experiencing enrolment and perception challenges" in their communities.

    "Other elements of the fightback strategy, known officially as the Strategic Schools Promotions Plan, include a new schools promotions unit within the department to help schools promote their achievements.

    "Got a school-related question? Join our expert guest blogger Chris Bonner from 9am by clicking here.

    "Already principals, teachers, administrative staff and parents in more than 300 schools have been sent on training programs aimed at improving communication skills with parents.

    "The Daily Telegraph yesterday revealed students have fled public schools at a rate of 125 a week over the past decade - mostly to low-fee, faith-based private schools - based on the 2006 Census.

    "The figures, analysed by local government area, show evidence of a mass walkout by parents disillusioned with the offerings of their local public school.

    "In the Penrith local government area, government high school enrolments plunged from 67.87 per cent of students in 1996 to 55.79 per cent last year.

    "In the Manly area, public high school enrolments fell from 51.17 per cent to 34.31 per cent over the same period. [emphasis added]

    "Parents have cited discipline issues, political correctness and bullying as major reasons for the drift away from public schools.

    "Teachers' Federation deputy president Angelo Gavrielatos said yesterday Commonwealth funding policies were driving the growth in independent schools.

    "Private schools also had been helped by the abolition of a policy that required a demographic study before any new independent school could be built in an area, he said.

    "I don't dispute there is a perception about values (in public schools) but that largely has been created by the Federal Government."

    "Mr Gavrielatos said that many private schools, as well as public schools, held "Welcome to Country" ceremonies promoting indigenous rights.

    "Opposition education spokesman Andrew Stoner claimed the plummeting public school enrolments showed the government system was not delivering what parents wanted."
    
    From The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
    
    

 

Wednesday 1 August

• The West Australian
  
  
  • The plan to put 75 kids in a class (page 7)
    by Bethany Hiatt

    "Unqualified teachers would help "master teachers" deliver lessons to groups of up to 75 students under a plan devised by the Education Department to tackle the teacher shortage.

    "It calls for "master teacher classification, with responsibility for planning, preparing and delivering programs to groups of up to 50 students, supported by a full-time para-professional".

    "It also suggests "the establishment of a group of TAFE trained para-professionals to work in collaboration with master teachers, with joint responsibility for groups of up to 50 students, or two teachers with one para-professional with responsibility for up to 75 students".

    "The proposals are revealed in Education Department documents obtained by The West Australian under Freedom of Information. In the papers, the department admits WA's teacher shortage will get worse until 2010 unless drastic steps are taken, including a multi-million-dollar injection by the State Government.

    "State schools have failed to find enough staff to run classrooms this year. They began third term last week with a shortfall of 92 teachers, with was down to 71 by yesterday.

    "The department refused to reveal more details of the proposals yesterday, saying a new task force would look at all staffing options.

    "The documents show the department believes it faces a crucial challenge to change the attitudes of teachers, unions and principals. "If the message from the Government is we're planning to not have a teaching workforce in 2010 and we're going to have unqualified people teaching our children in lots of 70, then I think that's an absolute disgrace," State School Teachers Union vice-president Anne Gisborne said.

    "WA Primary Principals Association president Colin Pettit said he would not back the plan. "Para-professionals play a vital role, but their role is not to teach children," he said. "We've moved from many years ago of having classes of 50. All the evidence suggests there should be smaller classes."

    "Edith Cowan University education head Greg Robson said the department was thinking creatively to improve teaching. [That's out Greg! Web]

    "University of WA education dean Bill Louden said more teaching classifications needed to be invented, preferably with a performance hurdle to overcome, so that good teachers could look forward to more salary increments over a career.

    "Education Minister Mark McGowan said all department staffing policies were under review. "But it must be remembered that any changes have consequences for individual teachers and implications must be carefully considered. However, there is plenty of room for improvement and some changes are imminent," he said."

    From The West Australian
    
    
    

• ABC News
  
  
  • Former Balga principal facing corruption charges
    
    "A former principal has appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court accused of misappropriating about $400,000 of school funds.

    "Mervyn Frederick Hammond, 64, is facing 15 charges of corruption.

    "Mr Hammond was the Principal of the Balga Senior High School when the alleged offences happened between 2004 and 2005.

    "It is alleged he used his position as principal to unlawfully provide funds to private companies associated with the Balga Works Project.

    "He was not required to plead to the charges and has been released on bail to appear in court again next month.

    "The Perth Magistrates Court was also told further inquiries are being conducted into Mr Hammond.

    "Mr Hammond was not required to plead to 15 charges of corruption and was released on bail until he appears in court again next month."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • No-exam Year 12 'inferior'
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "The continuous assessment of Year 12 students used in Queensland and ACT schools is unfair, inconsistent and fails to foster intellectual development.

    "Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has attacked Queensland and the ACT for failing to hold public exams in Year 12 subjects, branding the system of schools assessing their own students over a year as inferior.

    "In a letter to the Queensland and ACT education ministers, Ms Bishop said the Howard Government would require them to introduce public exams at the end of Year 12 as a condition of the next schools funding agreement, to start from 2009.

    "Queensland Education Minister Rod Welford and his ACT counterpart, Andrew Barr, yesterday angrily rejected the threat, Mr Welford saying reverting to an end-of-year external exam would be "a return to the dark ages".

    "Sudden-death exams are an unreliable assessment tool to measure irrelevant consequences," he said.

    "In many ways it's surprising that other states, for example NSW with its final Year 12 cram testing, have been frozen in a 1960s model."

    "The two Labor ministers separately wrote to Ms Bishop after the May budget seeking clarification of a line in the budget papers that external assessment would be a condition of federal funding.

    "In her reply sent last week, Ms Bishop said the federal Government believed there needed to be a balance between continuous school-based assessment and end-of-course public examinations of content for Year 12 certificates and the calculation of university entrance marks. "External assessment of students' knowledge, skills and understandings in a subject provides an objective measure of student performance, " she says.

    "(It) helps to maintain the integrity of the assessment process and, very importantly, helps to raise academic standards by ensuring that a subject's syllabus is comprehensively covered.

    "This helps to ensure that all students are treated consistently and fairly across schools."

    "The Queensland and ACT Governments will risk federal funding for schools by refusing to introduce public exams.

    "Mr Welford said the Queensland system, introduced more than 20 years ago, provided an adequate balance between school-based assessment and external assessment, implemented as a core skills test.

    "Mr Welford said enforcing public exams in all states was "absurdly over-bureaucratic" and suggested there was an interstate competition in student performance, "which is just statistically nonsensical and educationally irrelevant".

    "Mr Barr said the ACT Government would oppose the Howard Government "every step of the way on this". He said there was no educational merit in the federal Government's proposal and it was "another unnecessary intervention" in the ACT education system that was opposed by both government and non-government schools.

    "A spokesman for Ms Bishop said the federal Government was not advocating a single national exam and would work with Queensland and the ACT to develop a model best suited for their system."

    From The Australian at link
    
    
    
    
  • Op Ed
    Resourced for a world of difference
    More equitable funding of schools would lead to higher standards, writes Barry McGaw
    
    "Debate about education in Australia is often conducted in the context of a manufactured quality crisis. Yet the international evidence does not support the claim of a crisis.
    

    "The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development surveys the performance of 15-year-olds in school in reading, mathematics, science and problem solving on a three-yearly cycle through its Program for International Student Assessment. Results from the 2006 assessments will be published later this year, but those from 2000 and 2003 show that Australian school education is of high quality.

    "More than the 30 OECD member countries participate in PISA. Australia's results in 2003 place it among 40 countries:

    * In reading, tied in second place with five others behind Finland.

    * In mathematics, tied in fifth place with eight others behind Hong Kong, Finland, South Korea and The Netherlands.

    * In science, tied in fifth place with seven others behind Finland, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea.

    * In problem solving, tied in fifth place with seven others behind South Korea, Hong Kong, Finland and Japan.

    "While we can be pleased to be significantly ahead of the OECD average and many OECD countries on all measures, we ought also to accept the challenge to match those ahead of us. We should not need the fiction of a quality crisis to inspire us to do even better.

    "The bigger challenge we face is in the inequity in our results. We can see this best in the reading results in PISA 2000 and the mathematics results in PISA 2003, where these were the domains to which most assessment time was allocated. (Science was the major domain of assessment in 2006.)

    "Our main equity problem is that differences in students' social backgrounds have a greater influence on educational results in Australia than in some other high-performing countries such as Canada and Finland.

    "This result is summarised in the graph , which shows the relationship between OECD countries' average performance in reading and the equity of their results. The equity of the results is measured as the magnitude of the relationship between the students' PISA results and their social background.
    
    

  

  
  "In reading, Australia is significantly above the OECD average in achievement but significantly below it in equity. In mathematics, Australia's results look a bit better; we are again above the OECD average in achievement but at the OECD average in equity.

  "In reading and mathematics, Finland and Canada are above the OECD average. We should be challenged to emulate the high-performing countries that are also high-quality. They clearly ameliorate the influence of social background on educational achievement to an extent that we do not match.

  "Differences in social background are also reflected in differences between schools..."
  
  "Australian schools are not so directly organised to reduce differences within schools and so to increase them between schools, except in the obvious case of selective government secondary schools. Our schools differ more markedly than those in the Scandinavian countries and, more significantly, 70 per cent of the differences between our schools can be explained by differences in the social backgrounds of their students.

  "That is, differences among Australian schools are much more influenced by whom they enrol than by what they do.

  "An obvious question is how much of the differences among Australian schools is due to whether they are government or non-government. We cannot answer that from the OECD PISA results since Australia suppresses the information on type of school in the data it submits to the OECD. In all the other countries in the OECD PISA, there are no significant differences between public and private schools once the effects of differences in the social backgrounds of students are removed. Would that be the same here?

  "Australia may be different from the others because of the unique arrangement of our schools. Overall, just more than 30 per cent of Australian students attend private schools, though the proportion in senior secondary schools is about 40 per cent.

  "In Australia, we have evolved a system of government and non-government schools in which there are marked differences in resource levels. Among the poorly resourced schools there are both government and non-government schools but the well-resourced schools are exclusively non-government schools. These differences have been exacerbated by Australian government policy since the basis of funding for non-government schools was altered in 2001..."
  
  "To raise our quality to the levels achieved by Finland, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong -- and Singapore, which will be in the OECD PISA from 2009 and so, no doubt, among the highest performers on the OECD measures -- we need to review our curriculums and the quality of our teaching force.

  "In mathematics and science we would do well to review just what is taught and when in the high-performing countries and to see if we are setting high enough expectations of our students and their teachers. Finland has a good balance of central specification and school responsibility in its curriculum. It sets down objectives and describes what good performance looks like and it indicates the content to be covered through several school years, such as grades three to five, not necessarily in particular years..."
  
  Barry McGaw is director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute.
  
  Full story in The Australian at link
  
  
  

  • The Higher Education Supplement
    
    
    • Year 12 on fast track to UniTas
      
      Students could shave a year off their undergraduate degrees by starting university in their final year of high school under a radical plan proposed by the University of Tasmania.

    
    

  • Loans fuel niche threat to strugglers
    
    Strong growth among private higher education providers in niche areas is posing an unprecedented threat to universities, especially those struggling to meet their government-allocated student quotas.

  
  

  • Blog
    Rudd’s cultural revolution [31 July]
    by Paul Kelly
    
    The recasting of Labor’s values, priorities and strategies under Kevin Rudd is revealed in the party’s school policy enshrined under the banner of the Rudd Education Revolution.
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Don’t ignore maths
      
      "It's disappointing to read yet another story on the substandard quality of mathematics education in many Australian schools ("Poor teaching adds to maths crisis’’, 31/7).

      "Maths is hard to teach and many primary school teachers don’t have a firm grasp of it themselves, but steps must be taken to improve the quality of this education.

      "Basic mathematical skills are fundamental for responsible adulthood, and more advanced mathematics is crucial for later learning in other disciplines such as science, engineering and economics. Maths is also a rigorous and technical subject. Students can self-teach themselves to some extent, but basic instruction and guidance from teachers are required. Proper maths education is ignored at society’s peril."
      
      Brad Ruting, Woolloomooloo, NSW

Thursday 2 August

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Bad pay, officials put teachers out: Survey (page 6)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "The teachers' shortage is caused primarily by poor pay and dissatisfaction with the Education Department, a new survey of teachers has revealed.

    "The WA College of Teaching, to which all teachers must belong, surveyed members on how to get and keep teachers for its submission to the State government task force examining long term solutions to the growing teacher shortage. More than half the comments were about seemingly uncaring and unresponsive bureaucracy at the Education Department.

    "College director Suzanne Parry said teachers had sent a clear message about dissatisfaction with pay, lack of respect and workplace structure.

    "The survey of our members has shown that the current teacher shortage is the result of many factors, but primarily there must be a significant pay increase for teachers in order to retain their services," she said.

    "It is clear from teachers that they see a more manageable workload, increased support for dealing with students with behavioural problems and accountability and assessment structures that are manageable and meaningful as some of the top priorities for change."

    "About 10% of respondents said workloads had increased to unmanageable levels and the same percentage said the troubled implementation of OBE was a factor. "A number of teachers reported working 55 to 60 hour weeks, exhaustion by the time of school holidays, and increased stress," the submission says.

    "Teachers were concerned about being sworn at, spat on or threatened by students and by the expectation that they should accept that behaviour. "If I had wanted to work with people like that I would have chosen to become a prison guard," one said.

    "Other problems were lack of teaching resources and the run-down condition of school buildings."
    

    From The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Principals fed up with dog safety, pet lesson (page 6)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "Principals fed up with having to fit in classes on dig safety, programmes on pet care and teaching sexual reproduction want core subjects to take priority in children's education.

    "English, maths, science and history should be the key elements ahead of all other subjects, according to a primary school charter drafted by the Australian Primary Principals' Association after a national forum last month.

    "Leonie Trimper, who heads the national principals' group representing more than 7000 schools, said demands on schools to give equal importance to all eight curriculum learning areas - the arts, English, Health and Physical Education, LOTE, Maths, Science, Society and Environment and Technology - had undermined their capacity to teach effectively.

    "She said about half of every week's lessons should be devoted to Maths and English but she could not say how much time would be recommended for Science and History. Subjects such as music, art and sport, while still important, would have lesser status.

    "Australian Society for Music Education chairwoman Judith Haldane said downgrading music could be limiting because it did not take into account children's various learning styles. Some of the 35 leading educators were uneasy at the inclusion of history as a key area because they had not had a subject called history in primary school before.

    "She said history studies should include civics and important stories, people and events in Australia's past. It did not mean that 6 year olds would be able to reel off dates and name all the prime ministers.

    "Ms Trimper said examples of curriculum clutter included programmes teaching children the warning signals that a dog attack was imminent, how to care for pets and sex and drug education.

    "Programmes such as bike safety and financial literacy should only be taught if they don't detract from a school's core business," she said.

    "The charter says that primary schooling plays a critical role in children's lives. It notes that in some schools there is a sense that onerous assessment and accountability requirements "put at risk the joy, enthusiasm and variety of primary schooling".

    "Schools will have a chance to comment on the draft charter before a final version is submitted to State and Federal governments for consideration.

    "Federal education minister Julie Bishop said she funded the charter's development in response to concerns about cluttered curricula that had led to core skills being neglected particularly in literacy and numeracy.

    "WA education minister Mark McGowan appeared to back away from endorsing the charter, even though he agreed literacy and numeracy comprised the most important areas in a child's education.

    "Schools make decisions about how to deliver the curriculum based on individual student learning needs and in line with Government policy," he said."
    

    From The West Australian
    
    See similar stories below from today's Australian and Age
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • Primary schools to focus on the basics [lead national story]
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "Bike safety and animal-care courses will be dropped from primary schools to allow teachers to concentrate on the four key areas of English, maths, science and history under a charter intended to narrow the focus of the curriculum.

    "The draft Primary School Charter, released yesterday by the Australian Primary Principals Association, defines the four core subjects as essential, with art, sport, music and languages having a supplementary role.

    "The charter says responsibility for areas traditionally the province of families and the wider community -- such as drugs, road safety and financial literacy -- should be taught only when it did not interfere with the teaching of the essential subjects.

    "The charter is a response to concerns that the primary school curriculum had become too cluttered with non-essential lessons and there was a need to redefine its focus.

    "It defines primary education as being organised around children to engender a love of learning, as distinct from secondary schools, which are based around subjects and disciplines.

    "In some schools there is a sense that assessment and accountability requirements, while they are supported, put at risk the joy, enthusiasm and variety of primary schooling," the charter says.

    "APPA president Leonie Trimper said the primary school curriculum had become so crowded with social issues that no school could teach them without neglecting the core skills.

    "Over the years, these social areas have taken on equal status (to traditional subjects)," Ms Trimper said.

    "If you're trying to do all the social areas of the curriculum, you have to be not doing some core business.

    "Primary schooling marks a cultural milestone in the lives of all young Australians -- so we must get it right. Children only get one chance to establish a solid foundation on which to build their future."

    "Sydney primary school principal Geoff Scott welcomed the charter and the challenge it posed to the community and government to rethink what they wanted schools to teach.

    "Mr Scott, principal of Blacktown South Public School in Sydney's western suburbs, said the time primary school teachers had in front of students -- 1425 minutes a week -- was the same today as when he started teaching about 40 years ago.

    "But the demands placed on primary schools had grown exponentially over the past 15 years, with governments turning to teachers to fill the void left by family and social breakdown.

    "There's a limit to how much can be fitted into the teaching hours," he said.

    "The draft charter will be circulated among 7000 government, independent and Catholic primary schools across the nation for comment before being submitted to federal, state and territory governments. It arose out of a forum last month, funded by the federal Government.

    "Education Minister Julie Bishop said the federal Government had funded the charter development in recognition of the unique role that primary education played in providing children with foundational skills for life.

    "This charter is a world first and is being developed in response to concerns about a cluttered curriculum that has led to core skills being neglected, particularly in literacy and numeracy," she said.

    "Opposition spokesman on education Stephen Smith said the charter validated the ALP's policy of the importance of early intervention."
    
    From The Australian at link
    
    Similar story in The Melbourne Age
    
    

    • Stephen Smith media release: Federal Labor welcomes primary school charter
      
      Federal Labor welcomes the release of the Draft Charter on Primary Schooling released by the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA).

      The Charter emphasises the critical importance of primary school in setting our kids up for the future by teaching them key enabling skills like literacy and numeracy, giving them a foundation for lifelong learning:

      “Primary schooling has a critical role in the lives of children. It is the only means by which every child can gain access to essential learning, so the quality of primary schooling is a key criterion for a good society.”

      The Charter validates Federal Labor’s focus on the importance of early intervention, greater investment in primary schools and the need to establish a national curriculum.

      At present, primary school students are funded at a lower rate than secondary school students.

      Labor believes a greater investment is required in our primary schools. This follows on from our $450 million commitment to provide universal access to high quality early childhood education.

      The Draft Charter also seeks to address the issue of an increasingly ‘crowded curriculum’ by outlining the core learning areas that primary schools should focus on, including:

      · English including reading, writing, speaking and listening;

      Mathematics, including numeracy skills and concepts;
      Science; and
      History

      These areas are at the heart of a primary school education and, particularly in the case of basic literacy and numeracy skills, are fundamental to all other learning.

      Federal Labor has a positive policy proposal to establish a National Curriculum Board to develop a rigorous, quality curriculum for all Australian students from Kindergarten to Year 12 in these same key, core areas of English, Maths, Science and History, as identified in the APPA Charter.

      The Howard Government, on the other hand, is focussed on consistency in Years 11 and 12.

      The Howard Government’s approach has ignored the significance of primary school and the importance of focussing on the early years of a child’s education to improve outcomes before it becomes too late.

      A classic illustration of this is the Howard Government’s failure to intervene to improve educational outcomes shown by the release of the 2005 National Report on Schooling in Australia, which found that as kids progressed through Years 3 and 5 to Year 7, there was actually an increase in the proportion who did not reach literacy and numeracy benchmarks.

      In primary schools, we need to ensure that we get it right and the APPA Charter is a positive step in this direction.
      
      
      

  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Innumeracy is worse
      
      "Brad Ruting (Letters, 1/8) raises some interesting concerns, particularly about mathematical skills being "fundamental for responsible adulthood’’.

      "I could never understand anyone actually liking maths and was amazed when one of my classmates said it was his favourite subject – he did go on to be a maths professor! I liked English and history but oddly enough found Year 12 maths exciting. The laws of probability and calculus were far more interesting than anything previously experienced in the subject but by that stage I was too far behind to catch up.

      "Many years later I began to read popular books on mathematics and found John Paulos’s Innumeracy one of the most stimulating. His main argument is that innumeracy is a worse shortcoming than illiteracy because a proper understanding of numbers and their relationships is vital for making informed decisions about the world and our place in it. Surely this is sufficient reason for emphasising the importance of teaching maths well. The first task is to let the kids know why they are doing what they are doing."
      
      Bernard Whimpress, South Plympton, SA
      

      
      
      
  • The Melbourne Age
    
    
    • Australian literature push
      
      Hot on the heels of last year's history summit, an expert panel will meet next week to discuss concerns that not enough Australian literature is being taught.
      
      
      
    • Plans to halve core subjects a concern
      
      Linked with similar story in today's Australian
  
  
  

 

Friday 3 August

• Teacher Magazine
  
  
  • Curriculum Reform Anxiety
    by Wendy Cody

    How WA English went from the fat to the fire.

    Massive curriculum change in senior schooling in WA has hit English teachers and students particularly hard, but the real shame, says Wendy Cody, is that the recipe for curriculum change was actually a good one; it just failed in the cooking

    "With any kind of change in education comes a degree of anxiety. In WA over the last 18 months there has been massive curriculum change in senior schooling, and there can be no denying that the level of anxiety accompanying this change has well and truly burst its banks. Arguably, the subject which has borne the brunt of this avalanche is English, one of the four courses to be implemented along with Media Production and Analysis, and Engineering Studies in 2006, following the introduction of Aviation in 2005.

    "English as a subject is regarded by many as public property. We all like to feel that we have a valid opinion on what novels we should read at school, how important spelling is, what place grammar should and various other elements of this subject. Over the course of this change period this public ownership has, I believe, been responsible at least in part for the problems facing English teachers and their students.

    "It may perhaps surprise those readers who are not familiar with English in WA to learn that the new course is actually not radically different from its predecessors, English, Vocational English and Senior English. Many of the new course's detractors may be surprised to realise that the new English course, in its concepts and content, is derived from those three former subjects. Key concepts such as contextual understanding and conventions are nothing new. The much berated outcomes, aspects and their elements - all part of the now defunct Course Standards - are also derived from assessment criteria used in the former subjects.

    "What has changed is that the focus in the new English course has been shifted from what was for many a text-based one to what ins now a concept-based one - or dare I say, an outcomes-based one. In English, the content is the outcomes and the outcomes are the content. This shift goes right to the heart of the anxiety issue.

    "Unfortunately, some English teachers have relied for a time on teaching particular texts, basing whole programmes around what they regard as comfortable, relevant, engaging and suitable texts. In doing so, however, they have overlooked the fact that texts, like contexts, are simply the vehicles via which the content and concepts of the English course are taught and learned. Also, for some, the word 'text' has a relatively narrow scope and the emergence of multi-modal and other less familiar texts is proving to be an extra challenge.

    "The security of the known was somehow threatened and some teachers believed that suddenly they wouldn't be able to teach their favourites any more. They wouldn't be able to do what they had always been doing. They would have to change everything familiar and known. Change with these effects, of course, fed plenty of anxiety.

    "Far more damaging than this disastrous recipe, however, was the terrible way the course was cooked. The actual implementation process was a shambles. In its bid to appease teachers needing support with the new English course, and with so many cooks in the kitchen, put simply, the Curriculum Council overcooked it. The result? A mishmash of adaptations, modifications, clarifications, contradictions, counter-contradictions and clarifications of clarifications.

    "Confusion continues to reign and the situation has reached a virtual impasse, such is the level of English teachers' cynicism, doubt, anxiety, exhaustion and even apathy - and I'm referring here to seasoned English teachers for whom the challenge of change once would have been exciting and rewarding. I am one of those. [emphasis added]

    "Is the dish we've been offered simply unappetising or downright indigestible? I believe that the course which had so much going for it has been so badly burned it's beyond rescue. More importantly, I sense that the damage to the English teaching community will take some healing. I do remain optimistic, however, and still maintain that the passion for teaching that is so common amongst our fraternity will prevail."

    Wendy Cody is the head of the English learning area at Padbury Senior High School, Perth.
    
    
    

• The Australian
  
  
  • State grab: now Bishop eyes schools [lead story]
    by Matthew Franklin, Chief political correspondent
    
    "The Howard Government has advised communities facing school downgrades or closures to consider forming community schools eligible for direct federal funding.

    "A day after John Howard intervened in the Tasmanian health system to underwrite a community-based takeover of a regional public hospital slated for a downgrade, federal Education Minister Julie Bishop told The Australian state Labor governments should not be allowed to walk away from funding schools.

    "Describing schools funding as primarily a state responsibility, Ms Bishop said that in cases where states proposed closing schools or downgrading services, parents could create community-based alternatives eligible for federal funding.

    "The Prime Minister's new funding model for Devonport's Mersey Hospital, coming amid continuing government attacks on state service delivery, was rejected by Labor as brazen pork-barrelling to save the marginal Liberal seat of Braddon in the federal election, due to be called within weeks.

    "Government sources said last night Mr Howard believed the commonwealth already provided billions of dollars in direct grants to state schools and was reluctant to sideline states on education as he had done in recent months in areas such as disability services, the Murray-Darling Basin and public housing.

    "But as speculation turned to other areas in which the commonwealth could usurp or augment the states, Ms Bishop stressed states should be held to their responsibilities on schools.

    "Many communities around Australia have established community schools and receive direct support from the commonwealth," she said. "And that would be an avenue for any community facing the loss or downgrading of a state government school."

    "Ms Bishop said the commonwealth provided direct funding to state government schools through programs such as the $1.2 billion Investing in Our Schools and the $115 million National Chaplaincy programs.

    "Earlier, Mr Howard rejected criticism of the Mersey buyout, under which the commonwealth will spend up to $45 million a year underwriting the new community trust.

    "Mr Howard said he was intervening to save a valuable facility serving a community of about 70,000 people. "What is more important here -- a theory of governance or providing services to the community?" he said.

    "I take the view ... at a time when the public sees this country as being relatively prosperous and affluent, that these sorts of basic public services ought to be available as freely in regional communities as they are in built-up areas of the country."

    "He also rejected criticism that direct federal funding of public hospitals would compromise efforts by states to integrate hospital services and planning.

    "There's no reason why it can't operate along with the rest of the Tasmanian health system," Mr Howard said.

    "However, one of the nation's most experienced public servants, John Menadue, rejected the hospital takeover as politically motivated, dangerous and a waste of money. Mr Menadue, a former head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet who now chairs the Centre for Policy Development, said Australia had too many hospitals.

    "People expected too much from their health system and governments were unwilling to rationalise resources and risk antagonising voters. "We cannot sustain the number of hospitals we have," Mr Menadue said. "We don't have the specialists and staff to man them."

    "He said the understaffing of hospitals was one of a range of reasons why up to 10,000 Australians died each year because of avoidable mistakes within the health system. "This will only intensify the problem," he said of the initiative. "It leads to enormous waste and duplication."

    "The answer was to replace small hospitals with community health centres that would refer people to larger hospitals as needed. And the commonwealth should seek direct deals with individual states prepared to pool health resources and work together under agreed frameworks.

    "Earlier yesterday, Health Minister Tony Abbott said his office had been flooded with calls from people seeking a Mersey-style deal for their public hospitals. But his office said last night the calls were from members of the public, not from organisations making specific proposals.

    "Kevin Rudd, campaigning in Perth, said the decision showed Mr Howard was prepared to do anything to retain office."
    
    From The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Problem-based maths
      

      "I'm surprised that Ken Rowe ("Poor teaching adds to maths crisis’’, 31/7) appears to have such a limited understanding of problem-based learning in his criticism of the way mathematics is taught in schools.

    "Problem-based learning does not exclude the use of drills or rote-learning of time tables. These are still done to help build skills that students need to find solutions.

    "The value of problem-based learning is in giving meaningful context to mathematical learning that has for too long in schools led students to demand, ``Why do we need to learn this. I will never use it.’’ Contextual, meaningful problems aid in student motivation. Problem solving is, at various levels, requiring students to apply their knowledge in known situations and then transfer it to new ones. This process more deeply measures their understanding of mathematical functions and numeracy, and is research-based. In the same way, good teachers and schools use various methods to help children read.
    
    "It’s time those speaking about education nationally stopped talking about students and schools in this homogeneous way which gives parents and the community the idea that all more recent learning methods are suspect."
    
    Dawn Lang, Principal, A.B. Paterson College, Arundel, Qld

    
    "Bernard Whimpress (Letters, 2/7) touches on the central difficulty of secondary school mathematics: how much is too much or too little? What’s the best balance between general maths and the highly selective specialist courses.

    "Authorities need to decide whether too many Year 11 and 12 students do too much specialist, tertiary-prerequisite maths when such courses are not needed for their post-secondary study or learning, or, to put it another way, whether the universities have duck-shoved their responsibilities.

    "Perhaps the root of the problem is thatwith the nation’s HSCs now including everything from physics and chemistry to basket-weaving and syncopated goose-stepping, general maths courses serving the admirable purpose of cultural literacy are reckoned infra dig."
    
    Leonard Colquhoun, Invermay, Tas

 

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Letter to the Editor (page 18)
    
    
    • It's a joke

      "Seventy-five kids in one class? Crikey! When I saw your report about so many kids supposedly able to learn in one class, I re-checked the date on the paper because I thought it was an April fool's stunt.

      "The bureaucrat joker who came up with this one is obviously pretty distant from the realities of teaching in classrooms. Maybe it is the same scallywag who dreamt up the idea of primary schoolteachers having to assess their students using OBE.

      "Before these educational experts expect our overworked and underpaid teachers to do this, I would like to see them get into a real classroom and give it a shot. Then I want to hear them field the flak from parents who are rightly concerned about their children being neglected in such battery-hen teaching,

      "No wonder so many teachers have lost faith in the system and are voting with their feet."

      Andrew Bell, Woodvale

  
  
  
• The Melbourne Age
  
  
  • School sex assault reports up
    by Bridie Smith
    
    "Reports of sexual assaults in schools are set to jump dramatically following the introduction of new school guidelines outlining to principals and teachers how to deal with sexual assault allegations.

    "The manual — the first of its kind in Australia — outlines principal and teacher responsibilities and includes sexual assault definitions and support agency contacts. It will go to 1600 [Victorian] government schools and be backed up by a brochure for parents.

    "State Opposition education spokesman Philip Davis said the manual merely acknowledged the Government's failure to deal with violent incidents in schools.

    "Mr Davis said that between 2000 and 2004, sexual assaults in schools rose by 123 per cent.

    "Yesterday, the State Government and Victoria Police conceded increased awareness would probably result in a rise in reports.

    "Education Services Minister Jacinta Allan said a couple of dozen cases were reported through schools each year."
    
    From The Melbourne Age at link
    
    
    

  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • More than three Rs
      
      "This week I went to a musical at my daughter's school, Spensley Street Primary. Kids wrote the script and music, studied and understudied parts, learnt songs and choreography. They made backdrops and props, played in the orchestra and worked backstage. They learnt comic timing, creating characters, writing a great scene, hitting the right note, thinking critically about television culture (the theme) and working collaboratively.

      "I suspect that when they become adults and think back on their schooling, this is what they will remember most. Not English, maths, science and Australian history lessons.

      "The danger of promoting "core" subjects at the expense of the broader curriculum is that learning will be skewed towards academic subjects. Surely primary school is where children should not only master the fundamentals of literacy and numeracy, but also explore their creative and physical selves?"
      
      Penny Johnson, Northcote
      
      

    • What about geography?
      
      "I applaud the proposed revision of the primary school curriculum with four "core" subjects — English, maths, science and Australian history (The Age, 2/8) — but could we include geography? A cursory survey of high school students indicates that many are unable to indicate on a map the names of Australian states and their capitals, let alone overseas details.

      "Let's not go the way of the US where I was once asked: "Is Melbourne a country or a town?" and "Is Australia an island off the coast of California?"
      
      Rosalind Poole, Abbotsford
      
      

    • Oh no, not Pike
      
      "Teachers have little faith in the Victorian Institute of Teaching. Now, with Bronwyn ("My department failed to inform me") Pike as the new Education Minister, we will be even more frustrated. After seeing what has happened in the health system I do not hold up much hope of a reformed system.

      "The current system is prejudiced against part-time and casual relief teachers, as well as those on maternity leave. With Ms Pike's mismanagement of a department, I expect schools will be in more disarray."
      
      Donna Lancaster, Kensington
      
      

    • Preschools where they belong
      
      "I am so excited that, after four years of campaigning by the Australian Education Union, Parents for Preschool Education and the Victorian Principals Association, John Brumby has announced that preschools will be transferred from the Department of Human Services to the Department of Education.

      "I am a mother of five boys (now at school) and a former preschool president. Many presidents welcome this wise move. Most importantly, Victorian children will have the best start in life."
      
      Carolyn O'Rourke, Mooroolbark

 

Saturday – Sunday, 4 – 5 August

• The Weekend Australian
  
  
  • Cyber lessons fail to lift grades
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "The reading and maths of primary school students who used computer programs as part of their lessons failed to improve after a year-long trial.

    "A study of about 9500 students in years 1, 4 and 6 in 132 schools, who used programs for reading, basic maths and algebra tuition, found the students' test results in maths and reading were no different from those of students in classrooms without the computer programs.

    "Associate professor in IT education at the University of Wollongong, Jan Herrington, said the study, by the US Institute of Education Sciences, highlighted that technology did not automatically translate into improved student performance.

    "Professor Herrington said the success of using computer software to teach students was entirely dependent on how it was employed by the teacher.

    "Technology is no replacement for face-to-face teaching," she said. "It should be seen as a tool rather than just delivering content."

    "Professor Herrington said many creators of software intended the program to be used as a stand-alone item, even describing it as teacher-proof.

    "They're trying to say students will learn from this regardless, so long as they do what the software says," she said.

    "Heathmont College in Melbourne's eastern suburbs has just finished participating in a trial using iPods to supplement classroom teaching of Year 8 students.

    "Assistant principal for the middle school, Michael Fitzgerald, said it was too early to tell if using iPods had improved students' academic performance but the school had expanded the program across other years and subjects."

    From The Weekend Australian at link
    
    
    
  • Feature
    Education's terminal affliction
    
    Do not entrust children's learning to computers, which are mere tools, warns Kevin Donnelly
    
    "Judging by the hype and claims made about the benefits of using information technology in schools and at home, one would expect there to be ample evidence that using computers and related software raises academic achievement.

    "Such is not the case. Two German-based researchers, Thomas Fuchs and Ludger Woessmann, after analysing the results of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Program for International Student Achievement - a test of 15-year-olds in more than 40 countries, including Australia, in literacy and numeracy - conclude that using computers does little, if anything, to improve student performance.

    "In addition to testing students, PISA gathers a good deal of information related to home background, computer use, school resources and student motivation.

    "Fuchs and Woessmann, after analysing the PISA data, argue: "Once family background and school characteristics are extensively controlled, the mere availability of computers at home is negatively related to student performance in math and reading, and the availability of computers at school is unrelated to student performance."

    "While acknowledging the potential benefits of home computer use, including using the internet, the researchers note that computer use can be counterproductive: "The mere availability of computers at home seems to distract students from learning."

    "The reality is that countless hours can be wasted as students enter chat rooms, network with friends and update their profiles on MySpace and Facebook. The internet is also a place for cyber-bullying, while increasing numbers of sexual predators are using the internet to stalk their victims.

    "Millions of dollars are being spent on students buying laptops, equipping computer rooms and giving teachers professional development in information technology. Yet contrary to the assumption that computers must be beneficial, Fuchs and Woessmann are sceptics.

    "Based on the PISA data and other studies into computer use in schools, the two researchers conclude: "Despite numerous claims by politicians and software vendors to the contrary, the evidence so far suggests that computer use in schools does not seem to contribute substantially to students' learning of basic skills such as math and reading."

    "Doubts about the benefits of educational technology - in this case computer software products designed to improve students' reading and mathematics skills - are also evident in a US government-funded study entitled Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products: Findings from the First Student Cohort.

    "The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of some commercially available software products designed to improve student learning.

    "A total of 439 teachers and 9424 students were involved, with the stipulation that the research had to incorporate "scientifically based research methods and control groups or control conditions".

    "Concerns about falling literacy and numeracy standards, especially among disadvantaged groups of students, have led to an explosion in software programs designed to strengthen learning outcomes.

    "But the US report concludes: "Test scores were not significantly higher in classrooms using selected reading and mathematics software products."

    "The dangers in uncritically promoting information technology are not restricted to doubts about the effectiveness of computers in raising standards in areas such as literacy and numeracy.

    "There is also the concern that an over-reliance on computers and calculators interferes with how students best learn.

    "University of NSW academic John Sweller, who is researching student learning, stresses that basic skills such as times tables, mental arithmetic and the relationship between letters and sounds have to be rote-learned to such a degree that they become automatic.

    "Being able to automatically carry out such tasks frees memory and energy to attempt harder, higher-order tasks. The importance of students memorising what they learn, for example, in mental arithmetic, explains why a British report entitled Numeracy Matters recommended discouraging the use of calculators in primary schools and why graphic calculators are no longer allowed in the moredifficult Year 12 mathematics examination in Victoria.

    "Over-reliance on computers and the internet, especially during the early years of schooling, has the added disadvantage of reducing students' ability to cope with the printed word. Anecdotal evidence suggests many students are incapable of reading and comprehending extended printed texts because those students lack concentration or are accustomed to computer-generated graphics and images.

    "While it is true, as noted by Sven Birkerts in his book The Gutenberg Elegies, that we have moved away from a print culture, it also is still true that print is privileged and much of what is most valued in education can be taught only in that medium.

    "Translating the opening line of one of Hamlet's better known soliloquies into SMS mobile-phone text so that it becomes 2B?NT2B? not only destroys the poetic nature of Shakespeare's language, it also denies the intimate relationship between the reader and the printed word so essential for what Samuel Taylor Coleridge termed the willing suspension of disbelief.

    "Last year, then West Australian education minister Ljiljanna Ravlich suggested that students need not be taught key historical events or dates, as they could use the internet search engine Google to find out what they needed to know.

    "Ignored is that information is not knowledge and understanding is not wisdom. Downloading information from the internet or using computer software can never replace the role of the teacher in engaging students and stimulating the excitement of learning.

    "Education is very much a human affair."

    Kevin Donnelly is director of Melbourne-based Education Strategies and author of Dumbing Down (Hardie Grant Books).

    From The Weekend Australian at link
    
    
    
    
  • Feature
    Students sink teeth into Festival
    by Paige Taylor
    
    "In the years ahead Shaina Nagoodah and her friends will be young women in a community where many of their mothers' generation are living with violence, alcohol abuse and the lasting effects of insufficient schooling.

    "Shaina, 12, loves to fish, hunt and dance, and she has the confidence to know she is very good at all three. But it is a rapport with her teacher Claire Woolhouse that has helped her decide she wants a career as well. "I am going to be a schoolteacher," the young West Australian says..."
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Feature
    Let the history wars bloom
    
    Home truths are vying with the party line as television is saturated with costume dramas that reflect the official view. China correspondent Rowan Callick opens a door into a world of intellectual courage
    
    "China's chief censors gathered at the conference room of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television several weeks ago to address the Government's leading propaganda concerns. Top of the list: getting history right.
    
    "China's communists are relaxed about letting go much of the economy, about the 137 million people with access to the internet, about letting people travel widely. But the Soviet experience has taught them that losing control of the past would be the step too far..."
    
    Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
    
    
    
    
  • Letters to the Editor
    
    Most Talked About: Howard's Centralism
    
    
    • Feds should work with states to rationalise school supply
      
      "Julie Bishop now wants to rescue closing public schools ("State grab: now Bishop eyes schools’’, 3/8)?

      "After a decade of the federal Government spreading new (and often small) private schools around the country like confetti, the penny has finally dropped that some state schools may have to close. Bishop’s solution: just avoid the issue, throw some money at threatened schools and let the states sort out the mess.

      "Logic, public responsibility and good management would suggest she work with the states to rationalise provision of both public and private schools. We have fewer children: some small public schools and many small private schools should close. Instead, we are facing the spectre of small schools, strategically located in swinging electorates, being propped up by direct federal funding.

      "Don’t hold your breath waiting for details. The Education Minister will make these up on the run, just as she has done in the past."
      
      Chris Bonnor, Cherrybrook, NSW
      
      

    • "The Howard Government is encouraging communities facing school downgrades or closures to consider forming community schools eligible for direct federal funding. Here’s a word of caution from our community school – don’t assume you’ll be funded equitably.

      "Our school opened in Canberra in 1998 as a low-fee, non-denominational school. We now cater for students from 3 years to 13years and have long waiting lists at our pre-school entry point. Clearly there is community demand for our different approach to schooling.

      "Unfortunately, our community school receives far less funding than neighbouring independent schools – they receive a federal government subsidy of $5359 per student; our students receive $2796 per student. Yet we serve the same community. The only difference is timing: we’re a new school funded under the Government’s Socioeconomic Status, or SES, model; neighbouring schools are funded on the former ERI – Education Resources Index – model. We’re approaching a new funding quadrennium for schools. We’re hoping that our funding inequity will finally be addressed this year – but we can’t get anyone to confirm this.

      "Before communities rush off to establish community schools, we suggest they tread cautiously and check whether they’ll get a fair go from the Government funding-wise."
      
      Maureen Hartung, Executive director, Blue Gum Community School, Canberra, ACT
      
      

    • "While John Howard is in acquisitive mode he may like to take over the ACT’s health, schools, housing and water services. In fact, he should take the whole shebang. I, for one, am tired of the quasi Gilbert and Sullivan opera produced, directed and billed as a territory government by ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope."
      
      John Layton, Holt, ACT
      
      

    • "All this hoo-ha about what level of government should provide which service or responsibility would be water off a duck’s back to most voters. Who really cares?

      "Governments have "numbed’’ the voting public for years. The states bash the feds and vice versa, and they both leave local government worse off. Well, let’s get rid of the states and local government as we know it and have a central government (like in the UK and New Zealand) and regional governments with clearly defined roles and constitutional protections and stop all the duplication and blame games. I guarantee we’d save billions of dollars in the process."
      
      Peter Allan, Blackburn, Vic
      
      

    • "In your excellent editorial ("Band-Aid solutions’’, 2/8), you give John Howard’s proposed takeover of the Mersey Hospital an "E for policy’’. This is not the first time he has shown poor economic nous in the area of federal-state relations. He recently decided to invest over half a billion dollars in new Technical Colleges instead of upgrading existing TAFE colleges, causing considerable economic waste and duplication.

      "Ironically, Howard has been a harsh and consistent critic of the states for spending too much and putting pressure on interest rates – an unfair criticism, as much of the increase in public spending is on productive infrastructure and the commonwealth has been out-spending the states in recent years – yet when Tasmania decides to rationalise its hospital system in order to improve its efficiency, the Howard Government steps in to further fragment the industry, just as it has done with TAFE. The Prime Minister is starting to look economically incompetent."
      
      Fred Argy, Nicholls, ACT
      
      

    • "Pronouncements by John Howard and his ministers regarding a federal takeover of hospitals and schools must warm the hearts of all those old Whitlamites in their rocking chairs. Finally, with the help of the PM, they can realise Gough’s dream of a unitary nation where Canberra runs and controls everything.

      "But if Howard is so keen to push his centralist agenda, one which he believes is popular, then let him have the guts to do what Gough didn’t – have a referendum on the continuing existence of the states in conjunction with this year’s election."
      
      Lang White, Adelaide, SA

• The West Australian
  
  
  • McGowan warns of Federal takeover (page 56)
    
    "Education Minister Mark McGowan has seized on comments by his Federal counterpart Julie Bishop as an indication that she backs plans for the Commonwealth to take control of schools..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    See similar story in yesterday's Australian
    
    
    
    
  • New ties for oldest school and university (page 56)
    
    "WA's oldest public senior high school and university have forged a new link to encourage excellence among outstanding students.
    
    "University of WA vice-chancellor Alan Robson, Perth Modern School principal Robyn White and Education Minister Mark McGowan this week marked the school's inclusion in the university's Learning Links program..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian

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This page last updated 13 August, 2008 0:39 AM