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Breaking
News: Week of 12 November 2007
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Saturday – Sunday, 17 – 18 November
- The West Australian
- Union attacks plan to cut teacher training (page 7)
by Bethany Hiatt"Poorly qualified people could be instructing children at the most important phase of their schooling under a plan for education assistants to qualify as primary school teachers in two years instead of the usual four, the teachers' union has warned.
"State School Teachers Union vice president Anne Gisborne said yesterday members were concerned that a new scheme devised to tackle the teacher shortage would downgrade the value of university qualifications and undermine the standards required to become a teacher.
"Our initial response is some concern at the proposal that there would be simply a two year conversion course and its potential capacity to undermine what are the established standards through WA College of Teaching, which is a four-year degree," Ms Gisborne said.
"The concern is that this may well lead to the undermining of the quality of provision of education for students."
"Ms Gisborne said members also had attacked the scheme as unfair because those who completed only two years at university would have half the HECS debt of their colleagues.
"The union will raise its concerns with Department of Education and Training this week.
"Under the scheme, education assistants who have at least five years classroom experience are eligible for scholarships to qualify as an early childhood or primary school teacher within two years.
"Those selected would attend Curtin University for eight weeks and complete the rest of the course while they were working in schools.
"Education assistants support teachers by supervising classroom activities or help children with disabilities by taking them to the toilet, restraining them and giving medication. No pre requisites are required to become an education assistant, though TAFE offers training courses.
"The WA Primary Principals' Association is due to meet Curtin University lecturers this week to examine the programme the students would study to make sure it meets the same requirements as that of teachers taking a four-year degree.
"In balancing the need of teacher supply it is important to have quality courses to ensure that the standard of teaching qualification is not diminished," president Colin Pettit said.
"Curtin University head of education Len Sparrow said he was confident the programme would turn out quality teachers.
"If they don't come up to the mark they won't graduate," he said.
"About 800 people had applied for 60 spots in the programme and he had been inundated with emails from school principals recommending their staff, Associate Professor Sparrow said.
"Education Minister Mark McGowan said he was surprised that the union would criticise an initiative aimed at supplying more teachers to ease the shortage in WA.
"These scholarships are for education assistants who already have extensive classroom experience, unlike the vast majority of people who start an ordinary teaching course at university," he said."
From The West Australian
Letter to the Editor (page 22)
- "Under their current agreement, teachers will get a 2.5 per cent increase in February 2008. Under the Government's new offer the next pay rise for the vast majority of teachers will be in 12 months from then, in February 2009. At the current rate of inflation, that means by 2009 teachers will be valued somewhere between 3 and 4 per cent less than now. It's hard to see this as encouragement."
D. H. Phillips, White Gum Valley
- The Age
- Howard's education fight-back [lead story]
by Tony Wright
"Prime Minister John Howard will offer tax rebates worth billions of dollars to help parents pay for their children's education in an attempt to recapture crucial political momentum today."The plan, to be announced by Mr Howard when he officially launches the Coalition's election campaign in Brisbane, is a direct assault on Labor leader Kevin Rudd's "education revolution".
"The scheme includes taxation breaks for parents of preschool children right through to those attending secondary school and will cover a wide range of education expenses, including school fees. "Basically, this will cover all those things that are important to parents," a source told The Age. "It will blow Rudd out of the water."
"Mr Rudd announced early in the election campaign that Labor would offer families a rebate of up to $375 a year for primary school students and $750 a year for those at secondary school. Labor focused its promised rebate — part of its taxation policy — on the benefit to parents wanting to buy a computer and other high-tech equipment for their children. A family with one primary and one secondary-school child could receive up to $1125 a year under the initiative.
"However, the Howard Government's scheme — apart from embracing preschool-aged children — is believed to offer more comprehensive tax rebates covering a much broader range of education costs.
"Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile will also weigh in to the education push, announcing bursaries worth $4000 each to help tertiary students from remote areas. The bursaries, for 1000 students a year, will be for university and TAFE students who have to move long distances.
"In Victoria, this would include students from the Mallee and far-east Gippsland.
"Mr Howard's new focus on education will also offer $5000 to teachers willing to attend 10-day summer-school courses to learn new techniques in teaching children with special needs and disabilities. These will be an extension to summer schools in more traditional disciplines, which were announced in the budget and which have proved popular among teachers..."
Full story in The Age at link
- State eyes private funding of schools
by Paul Austin
"Private funding of new state schools, "one-stop shop" education and community centres in the outer suburbs, staggered school starting times and a push for underperforming schools to lift their game are key elements of John Brumby's education revolution for Victoria..."
"Outlining his policy agenda in an interview with The Age to mark his first 100 days as Premier, Mr Brumby identified education as his No. 1 priority and said he hoped to attract private sector investment in state schools for the first time."He indicated public-private partnerships could be used to build schools in the next four to six years in growth areas such as Wyndham, Melton, Sydenham and Hume.
"New state schools would share facilities such as ovals, pools, libraries and computers with the local community and private schools.
"I think the old days where you have a single, old-fashioned, stand-alone school are gone," Mr Brumby said.
"You're going to see more preschool centres and kindergartens integrated into school sites, more sharing of facilities, including between government and non-government schools. The old days where they'd each have two or three ovals and each look after those … are over."
"Mr Brumby said there were too many underperforming state schools in Victoria, and the Government was determined to change the culture to give disadvantaged children a better chance in life.
"He made it clear that offering financial incentives to good teachers to work in struggling schools could be part of the solution, saying payment arrangements would be looked at.
"I think we can be proud of the fact that our state schools are very good — that if you are a parent in Victoria, you know that if you are sending your kids to a government school they're going to get a good education," he said.
"But there's a long tail. There are still too many kids who are missing out and who aren't doing as well as they could or should." ...
Full story in The Age at link
- Young lack post-school training despite demand
Nearly half of Australia's 18 to 20-year-olds are not in any form of education or training despite the nation's professional and technical skills shortage.
- Op Ed
School chaplains help young people cope with life [late update from 11 November]
The National School Chaplaincy Program categorically does not provide religious programs in schools... [research indicates] that students in schools which had a chaplaincy program in place were better able to deal with problems of bullying, peer pressure and feelings of low self-esteem.
- The Australian
- Vaile to lure bush uni students
by Cath Hart
"Students The scheme will be announced today by Nationals leader Mark Vaile at the Coalition's campaign launch in Brisbane."Under the $12 million package, students from remote and very remote areas embarking on university study would be eligible for the grants. The proposal would deliver grants to 1000 remote-area students a year between 2008-09 and 2010-11.
"The payments, which the Isolated Children's Parents Association has been lobbying for, would not be means-tested..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- PhD deficit to hit boom
by Luke Slattery
"Economic growth and productivity are threatened by a 30 per cent fall in the number of postgraduate researchers between 1995 and 2006, the group of eight research universities warned yesterday.
"The brain drain from academia to industry - a result of high employment and graduate starting salaries of more than $100,000 in key sectors - means that universities are producing only 2.3 doctorates for every 100 graduates, compared with 3.9 per cent in Canada, 10.1 per cent in Switzerland and 11.2 in Germany."Australian National University vice-chancellor Ian Chubb, speaking on behalf of the G-8, said universities were not producing enough new researchers to sustain, let alone improve, economic growth and productivity, nor to replenish the ageing academic workforce..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Schools cut ties with rights group
Two private schools have cut links with human rights group Amnesty International, holding their first meetings of a breakaway group following a change in the charity's stance on abortion.
- The Australian
- Howard's rebate to cover all parents
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"All parents will receive tax rebates worth up to $400 a year for preschool and primary students and $800 a year for high school students to cover school fees, uniforms and excursions under a re-elected Coalition government."In the latest policy bidding war, John Howard outlined an education tax rebate worth more than $2 billion a year, costed at $6.3 billion over the next three years.
"The Coalition's education rebate goes further than the proposal announced two weeks ago by Labor, which provides rebates worth $2.3 billion over two years to families eligible for the Family Tax Benefit (Part A), making it means tested.
"The ALP's rebate excludes expenses such as school fees and uniforms but offers a maximum refund of 50 per cent of expenses up to $750 for primary students and $1500 for high school students for laptop and home computers, printers, internet connection, software and textbooks.
"The Coalition's rebate is much broader, available for every student regardless of parental income and pays 40 per cent of $1000 worth of expenses for primary students and 40 per cent of $2000 worth of expenses for high school students for every year the student attends school.
"Under the Coalition's rebate, parents can claim technology expenses but also school and preschool fees, whether government or private, schoolbags and uniforms, camps and excursions, stationery and calculators as well as extra-curricular activities including sport, music, dance and drama.
"Labor's education rebate would come into force from July 2009 while the Coalition's plan would apply to expenses incurred from the beginning of next year, with parents able to claim their first rebate in their July 2008 tax return.
"The Prime Minister said the policy would increase children's educational opportunities by helping parents make investments in their future.
"I know that for many parents this is the most important investment of all, but of course they face many competing pressures on the family budget," Mr Howard said.
"Unlike (Kevin) Rudd I do recognise that the cost of education extends well beyond laptops and broadband connections."
"Labor's education spokesman Stephen Smith said the Coalition's plan was basically the same as Labor's.
"They've had 11 long years and now two weeks to go before an election they put a fig leaf on top of Labor's program and somehow try to pretend it's a plan for the future," Mr Smith told Sky News yesterday.
"The plan was welcomed by the Independent Schools Council of Australia, with executive director Bill Daniels saying the flexibility allowed a broad range of family expenses to be targeted.
"If Australia is to meet community expectations of schooling in the 21st century then governments need to find ways to harness community resources," Mr Daniels said. "Tax rebates are one way governments can support private contribution to school education."
"But Australian Council of State School Organisations executive officer Terry Aulich warned refunding private school fees had the capacity to do "grave damage to public schools".
"It can create a whole new debate about private versus public education funding and we thought we had moved away from that," Mr Aulich said."
From The Australian at link
Similar stories in today's Age and Sydney Morning Herald
- Go digital or lose out, teachers told
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"Teachers are immigrants in their students' digital world and risk being sidelined as irrelevant if they fail to embrace the learning potential offered by digital technologies."Former film producer turned British Labour politician David Puttnam yesterday said today's students were "digital natives" who had never known a world without a computer. But they were forced to "power down" when they entered a classroom to cope with their teachers, whom he described as "digital immigrants", suspicious of technology and begrudging of its place in schools.
"Are we going to allow the disconnect between learners' everyday lives and experience of formal education to grow from a gap to a chasm?" he asked the Curriculum Corporation's annual conference in Sydney.
"Are we going to allow it to get to the point where the entire process of learning has atrophied beyond the point of salvation?
"Should we fail to accept this potential, we run the risk of relegating education to second-class status in the information world."
"Lord Puttnam, producer of such films as Chariots of Fire, The Killing Fields and Midnight Express, retired from filmmaking in 1998 to focus on his work in education.
"He is the chancellor of the Open University in Britain, was founder of the National Teaching Awards, and is the chairman of FutureLab, a not-for-profit organisation developing digital classroom resources.
"Lord Puttnam said teachers, for the first time in history, were being asked to prepare a generation for a world they could not envisage. "Yet the education system remains relatively unchanged and is more attuned to the immediate past rather than the immediate future," he said.
"He compared the standoff between education and technology to the plight of the British clergy in the 17th century, who greeted with furore the first publication of the Bible.
"It meant they were no longer the sole fount of knowledge because people started to read the Bible for themselves and challenged the orthodoxies," he said.
"Similarly, the learning opportunities offered by such technolgies as multiplayer online games were being overlooked.
"Lord Puttnam said multiplayer games such as The Sims offered immense opportunities, introducing children to the apprenticeship model of learning and giving instant feedback on their progress through the death of a character or destruction of a world.
"He said such games could be adapted to model historic events, such as the factors facing Neville Chamberlain in deciding to go to war in 1939, and that all teachers should customise software by inserting a language or specific skill in existing games. "You have to be open to legitimate components of what sometimes appear to be illegitimate invasions of cultural territory," Lord Puttnam said.
"Education systems need to protect the ethos or they will be swamped and overtaken by the commercial market.
"Steal the technology, steal the ideas, use the energy and inventiveness but protect the values you are teaching."
From The Australian at link
- The Age
- Libs' education rebates draws crossfire
by Farrah Tomazin
"Public school parents and teachers have accused the Coalition of advancing the rich and attempting to "privatise education" by offering contentious tax rebates for school fees and uniforms."Prime Minister John Howard yesterday vowed that a re-elected Coalition Government would provide parents with refunds of up to $800 for every secondary school child, and up to $400 for every primary and preschool child to help pay for a broad range of educational expenses.
"The policy was reminiscent of federal Labor's plan to give tax rebates to families for laptops and software. But it goes a step further than the Opposition by offering parents — regardless of income — a slightly larger rebate on everything from computers and books, to school uniforms, voluntary levies, and private school fees.
"Ideological divisions deepened over the policy last night, with public school parents, teachers and academics condemning the move.
"The private schools lobby welcomed the move for not discriminating against families with higher incomes.
"The policy is the first time since before state aid was introduced in Australia that tax rebates have been offered to subsidise private school fees, which can reach up to $19,000 in some schools. Terry Aulich, executive director of the Australian Council for State School Organisations, said the plan was "radical change" towards the privatisation of the education system.
"To introduce a tax rebate for school fees is a major change in the way education is funded in this country. It throws the onus back on to the private individual, and it is, in essence, privatising education," said Mr Aulich, whose group represents the parents of children in government schools.
"The Australian Education Union was also outraged by the move, describing it as a "further extending of privilege to the already privileged".
"What Australia needs is leadership and a bold vision aimed at dramatically increasing investment in public schools," said the union's deputy president, Angelo Gavrielatos.
"Subsidising private choice is not in the public interest."
"But Education Minister Julie Bishop said the fact that the plan was not means tested supported parental choice.
"We believe that education is an important investment for the entire nation and we don't pick and choose," Ms Bishop said.
"This is talking about giving parents the choice of where they send their children to school, how they educate children, where they direct their money in terms of educating their children."
"The Coalition's policy comes only weeks after Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd announced a $2.3 billion plan for an education tax rebate, in which families eligible for the Family Tax Benefit (Part A) would receive a 50 per cent refund on education expenses limited to laptops and home computers, printers, internet connection, educational software and school textbooks.
"Under Labor's plan, the maximum claim each year would be $375 for each primary school child (compared with the Coalition's $400 rebate), while the maximum annual claim per high school student would be $750 (compared with $800).
"Independent Schools Council of Australia executive director Bill Daniels said parents would welcome the flexibility of the Coalition's policy, which would ease a broad range of financial pressures.
"But Opposition education spokesman Stephen Smith described the policy as a "last minute desperate bribe".
"They've had 11 long years and now, two weeks to go before an election, they put a fig leaf on top of Labor's program and somehow try to pretend it's a plan for the future," Mr Smith said.
"If the Coalition is re-elected, parents may claim the rebate for their tax returns from July 2008.
"The Government expects the rebate will benefit up to 2.1 million families."
From The Age at link
Other article on Howard's education policy in The Australian, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald
- The Monday Education Section has been updated online and contains 11 articles, including:
- Survey reveals uni discontent
Government funding for universities is inadequate and universities are more interested in making money than in student results. These are the resounding messages from an online survey of academics and other staff at Victoria's nine universities.
- Put the love back into learning
The back-to-basics movement, assisted considerably by political momentum, assumes failure to acquire essential numeracy and literacy skills is because too few formal lessons are devoted to these core studies. But might the opposite be true?
- Schools urged 'do better' on data
Parents are being short-changed by schools that don't hand in their report cards on time, writes Caroline Milburn.
- Behold the power of creation
School projects build character and memories, writes Maya Beaucasin.
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Skills crisis, yet rate of training stagnates [late update from 12 November]
Despite the demand for skilled workers, almost half of young people are not undertaking training - a situation that has not improved in the past five years.
- The West Australian
- Fears State schools left for poor (page 9)
by Bethany Hiatt"Tax rebates aimed at helping parents offset education costs would increase the drift to private schools, leaving State schools only for the poor and disadvantaged, principal and parent groups said yesterday.
"Responding to John Howard's $6 billion plan to offer rebates of up to $800 on school fees, uniforms, laptops and textbooks, the WA Council of State School Organisations and the WA Secondary School Executives Association said the scheme could create a two tiered system in which only the children of poor families attended public schools. Enrolments in WA private schools increased 36% in the past 10 years compared with 2.5% at public school, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
"WACSSO president Rob Fry said the rebate scheme had the potential to exacerbate the flight to private schools.
"I'm sure this coalition Government is hell bent on driving public schools down to the ground and making it a more privatised system," Mr Fry said. "They've done it with everything else, why not with schools?"
"Mr Fry and State school parents would prefer the Government to spend more on support for teachers and schools. "Potentially, this money is not going to schools, it's going to the parents to pay what they're probably paying anyway, it's not adding any value to schools," he said.
"WASSEA president Alison Woodman said the Federal Government intended to increase enrolments at private schools.
"Because we've become an economy, not a society," she said. "I think their intention is to create a residualised system." The meant only poor and disadvantaged students would attend State schools. "Instead of looking at the social consequences they have focused only on the economics of businesses running schools," Ms Woodman said.
"But John Howard has furiously rejected suggestions that coalition's education rebates are simply welfare for the middle and upper classes.
"The Prime Minister said the coalition's promise to give families education rebates of up to $800 per child - regardless of their wealth - was proper recognition of the extra costs of having children.
"I do not regard it as welfare to give people a tax break for having children," he said.
"Labor's $2.4 billion education rebate is capped at $375 a year for primary school students and $750 for secondary students but is limited to recouping the cost of laptops and broadband access at home.
"It is also limited to parents who are eligible for Family Tax Benefit A payments.
"The coalition's $6.3 billion education rebates are worth up to $400 per primary student and preschoolers and up to $800 per secondary student.
"The rebates are not means tested and apply to any education related expense, including private school fees."
From The West Australian
See below for a wide range of articles on the education rebate from today's Australian and Age
- Letters to the Editor (page 22)
- Simple cure
"Mr McGowan, after reading about your ideas to help the teacher shortage (Union attacks plan to cut teacher training, 12/10), I offer a little help of my own. I am told there is also a shortage of medical practitioners. Although I have been a teacher for 36 years, I have had a long relationship with the medical world.
"Since the advent of Dr Ben Casey I have followed my medical calling with rigour. I am familiar with the Kildare method, the Lancellot Spratt recovery process and the technological mastery of Dr House and Dr Grey.
"I have also spent time in hospital and have enrolled in first-aid courses to bolster my suitability for what I am about to suggest. I could easily do a two-year medical conversion course and become a doctor.
"I would not try to move too quickly and would allow at least a year before brain surgery and the like. I feel that my long relationship with current medical practice through dedicated observance would give me much more "hospital" experience than a rank first-year intern. I think this solves both problems nicely: I make way for a new teacher sna the State gains a new doctor."
T. Wilson, Sorrento
- Our solution
"Your report on the plan for educational assistants to qualify as primary school teachers within two years requires comment.
"This proposal is an extension of a current programme, not a new one, but it does require detailed examination of the type and quality of prior learning being recognised and the method in which it is being advertised.
"WACOT has a role in approving teaching training courses and it will not be a party to the undermining of standards for the profession and the delivery of quality education.
"The long term solution to teacher shortages is to raise the status of teaching by increased recognition of the role of the profession, support from parents, employers and government and appropriate salary, working conditions and career paths."
Brian Lindberg, Chairman WA College of Teaching
- The Australian
- Quality teachers vital to outcomes
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"The head of the nation's biggest school system yesterday criticised Australia's teacher training programs for failing to select student teachers based on their academic ability."Director-general of the NSW education department Michael Coutts-Trotter yesterday pointed to a report by international management consultants McKinsey & Company that highlights the shortcomings in Australia's teacher training programs.
"Mr Coutts-Trotter said the report highlighted the fact most high-performing school systems selected students before they started teacher training and limited places to those selected.
"The relative scarcity of teacher training places makes it attractive to high performers," he told the Curriculum Corporation conference in Sydney yesterday.
"Mr Coutts-Trotter said the core problem was the commonwealth's system for funding universities that encouraged institutions to train as many teachers as they could.
"Education policy in the election campaign has focused on tax rebates for school expenses but the Coalition and the ALP are yet to address the fundamental factor in student performance underlined by the McKinsey report - the quality of teachers.
"The McKinsey report examined 25 school systems around the world - including the top 10 performing systems based on results in OECD tests, which includes Australia - to determine the common factors to improve student performance.
"The report concluded that three things mattered most across all systems, primarily teacher quality. "The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers," it says. [emphasis added]
"The other factors were developing teachers into effective instructors and building a system that responds to student needs so that every child succeeds.
"In the Coalition policy launch on Monday, Prime Minister John Howard unveiled a $6.3 billion rebate making school fees, uniforms, equipment and other expenses tax deductible for parents of students from preschool to Year 12 regardless of income.
"The Coalition also extended its summer school program for teachers to include disabilities as well as English, numeracy, literacy, Australian history, science and maths unveiled in the budget and is funding a pilot study into schemes to pay teachers more based on improvements in student achievement.
"Kevin Rudd will launch his party's election campaign today.
"ALP spokesman on education Stephen Smith yesterday said improving the respect and regard for teachers was key to improving the quality of education.
"We have to have a very serious look at teacher training and start sending policy and financial signals that being a teacher is one of the most important things people can do," he said. He added that meant paying teachers more according to their qualifications, particularly in areas of shortage.
"Mr Coutts-Trotter was chief of staff to former NSW Treasurer Michael Egan and is married to Labor spokeswoman on human services, housing, youth and women, Tanya Plibersek."
From The Australian at link
- Rudd's classroom warfare
by Matthew Franklin and Patricia Karvelas
"Kevin Rudd will today attempt to seal his prime ministerial bid with hundreds of millions of dollars in new education spending, but will stop short of matching John Howard's $6.3 billion tax rebate for private school fees."But the Opposition Leader's pledge that the parents of private school students would not be worse off under Labor was undermined yesterday by the party's star candidate for the NSW marginal seat of Eden-Monaro, Mike Kelly, who flagged a return to Mark Latham's needs-based funding model.
"Mr Kelly told an ABC radio interviewer that the existing system of funding private schools was "a ridiculous approach to looking at the needs of schools, and we'll move away from that and get down eventually to a proper needs-based approach".
"He later apologised and retracted the statement, but the Prime Minister, campaigning on his own education policies at a Catholic school in the Brisbane seat of Dickson, seized on the gaffe to accuse Labor of planning to revive former leader Mr Latham's controversial 2004 hit list of rich schools to suffer funding cuts under a Labor government.
"But Mr Howard's education tax rebate plan came under fire from economists and education experts, who criticised the Coalition's non-means-tested promise to rebate parents up to $800 for every high school student, arguing it would increase voter reliance on government welfare.
"Tim Hawkes, headmaster of Sydney's elite The King's School, said the private schools fees rebate should be means-tested.
"The bottom line is I think the money should be spent where it's needed," Mr Hawkes said.
"Mr Rudd, who will formally launch his campaign to win the election in his home town of Brisbane this morning, will also press his environmental credentials with a$500 million renewable energy fund designed to help researchers commercialise new energy technology.
"Mr Howard yesterday passionately defended his promise to give parents $6.3 billion in education rebates.
"The rebates could be used to cover any education-related expense, including, for the first time, private school fees, as well as public school voluntary contributions, uniforms and books, school excursions and extracurricular activities, such as music and sport.
"They will be available to all parents, regardless of their income. Labor's rival $2.3 billion school rebate plan is means-tested and designed to cover a more limited range of education expenses.
"Challenged yesterday about whether the spending was middle-class welfare, Mr Howard said many people mangled the definition of welfare and that he wanted a society where governments supported parents.
"I do not regard it as welfare to give people a tax break for having children," Mr Howard said.
"It is an insult to the parents of Australia to call something that compensates parents for the cost of having children welfare.
"What sort of society do some people want?"
"Mr Howard said many private schools - such as the Catholic school he visited in Petrie yesterday, Our Lady of the Way School - were not wealthy and that the Coalition was passionately committed to the "absolute sovereignty of parental choice".
"Asked whether wealthy people spending up to $20,000 a year to send their children to exclusive private schools needed an $800 rebate, Mr Howard said all parents made sacrifices to educate their children and all deserved assistance.
"Speaking on Queensland's Sunshine Coast yesterday, Mr Rudd offered no criticism of the Government's education plans, but said he had better ideas on education. "I don't care whether schools are government-owned or non-government," Mr Rudd said.
"What I'm concerned about is the quality of education provided through those schools and their physical assets, infrastructure and the training of their teachers.
"I have no ideological problem whatsoever.
"What I do have a problem with is making sure that every one of the country's schools, government and non-government, has the best quality education infrastructure on the ground."
"Mr Howard went on the offensive late yesterday, describing Mr Kelly's gaffe as evidence Mr Latham's 2004 rich private school hit list had "never been put away". "It's only been put in a drawer," he said.
"It was the second gaffe in a fortnight from a Labor figure, after environment spokesman Peter Garrett's remark that Labor in government would "change everything" after it won the election and his confusion about the party's climate change policy.
"Within hours, Mr Kelly, whose polls indicate he has a strong chance of ousting Special Minister of State Gary Nairn, had retracted his earlier comment. "The statement I made today on school funding was wrong and inconsistent with Kevin Rudd's and federal Labor's election commitments," he said. "Federal Labor has made a rock-solid commitment to maintain the existing socio-economic status schools funding formula."
"Last month, Australia's most senior Catholic cleric, George Pell, publicly endorsed Labor's new schools policy as a repudiation of the party's education platform under Mr Latham. In the 2004 election campaign, Cardinal Pell condemned Labor's policy of stripping funding from wealthy private schools.
"Senior Labor sources last night went into damage control, promising that Mr Rudd's campaign future-focused launch today would involve a series of new policy proposals designed to counter Mr Howard's family-friendly launch on Monday.
"But the Coalition's school tax rebates drew criticism, with economists and public school lobbyists warning they could drive up the cost of a private education, with schools likely to build the rebate into their fee base.
"Australian National University economist Andrew Leigh described the measure as "standard middle-class welfare a la the baby bonus and first-home buyers grant". He said it was likely independent schools would build the money into their fees in the same way the LPG conversion rebate had translated into higher LPG conversion costs.
"Australian Council for State School Organisations executive director Terry Aulich also predicted the rebate would result in a corresponding increase in fees. "If you subsidise the market place with tax benefits or a direct subsidy then, generally speaking, fees will rise to absorb it," he said."
From The Australian at link
Federal rivals maintain the charm offensive
Staff reporters
"Education Minister Julie Bishop and Labor education spokesman Stephen Smith have continued their duelling charm offensives in universities and schools across the nation.
"Ms Bishop spruiked diversity as she worked towards her goal of visiting every Australian university while in office, though yesterday a hasty plan to visit Swinburne University in Melbourne was abandoned in favour of a Christian college in suburban Werribee."Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd's campaign speech today should reveal whether Labor can sustain Mr Smith's repeated promise to reverse what he calls "11 long years of funding neglect of universities".
"Visiting Charles Sturt University in central NSW yesterday with the Labor candidate for Macquarie, Bob Debus, Mr Smith said Labor would make "a long-term, enduring commitment, a greater public investment in universities".
"On Monday, CSU researchers released a paper that said country students faced a bill of up to $26,000 in their first year of study if they moved away from home to go to university.
"The National Union of Students seized on the report, saying it showed the Government had "failed to provide a real level of support" for country students. CSU's Sophie Warner and Kirsten Whyte said they had to work to earn up to $18,000 to be eligible for youth allowance.
"Ms Whyte, 20, a nursing student, told the HES: "I would have to work at something I didn't want to do and put off even starting to study to enter the career I had chosen."
"They voiced their concerns to Mr Smith, who said he would deal with educational disadvantage in the bush and look to provide more scholarships.
"Mr Smith visited University of Queensland vice-chancellor John Hay in the past week in Brisbane, as well as his counterpart at Griffith, Ian O'Connor, in the seat of Moreton, which is being targeted by Labor. Mr Smith also attended the higher education forum held at Macquarie University in the Prime Minister's seat of Bennelong.
"Ms Bishop continued her theme of urging universities to diversify and focus on their strengths by building centres of excellence.
"Labor's spokesman for innovation, science and research, Kim Carr, visited UQ's Ipswich campus in the electorate of Bowman.
"He told the HES that, if elected, Labor "would rebuild the national innovation system and encourage research so as to allow our universities and innovation system to meet the fundamental challenges facing our society".
From The Australian at link
- Op Ed
PM stages his own education revolution
by Paul Kelly
"... Education is set to dominate this week after Howard's launch. The signs are that Rudd, backed by education spokesman Stephen Smith, will refuse to match Howard's rebate but also refuse to succumb to an ideological battle..."
"Howard has given a new meaning to Rudd's $2.3 billion education tax refund for information technology costs for children. He expands this concept to a tax break for all students and all costs from fees to laptops to excursions. This is a vast new tax concession. Howard mocked Rudd by saying school costs went far beyond laptops and broadband. By including public as well as private school students Howard offers parents in public education a direct benefit while offending the ideology of many of them..."
"But Rudd and Smith saw Howard coming. Labor's schools policy has been totally revamped during the past year. Rudd and Smith have abolished the hit list; accepted Howard's private school funding model; declared the government v non-government school funding debate dead; embraced a national curriculum with core subjects maths, science, English and history; championed the freedom of choice principle for parents; and determined that Howard will not wedge them on educational values."What of the Labor Party? The answer is much of the ALP, the education unions and the public school lobby is unreformed on these issues, hostile to Rudd-Smith revisionism and awaiting the chance to revert to ideological habit..."
"Rudd says he will not wage an ideological struggle with Howard over education. Obviously, that does not mean Rudd supports Howard's rebate. Indeed, by dismissing Howard's speech as devoid of "new ideas for the future", Rudd signals, presumably, that he has drawn the line on me-tooism."In his policy launch today Rudd must explain to the Australian people the philosophical and policy dimensions of his education revolution and its price tag. It is a defining moment for Rudd. Howard's charge is that the smooth and elusive Rudd stands for nothing, unlike the "love me or loathe me" PM.
"It opens a golden opportunity for Rudd to inject passion and faith into his agenda. His January pledge to make Australia into the best skilled and educated nation remains the single most important promise of Rudd's leadership. Now he must reveal himself as the persuasive advocate for this vision..."
Full story in The Australian at link
Private school backs ALP
The headmaster of one of the nation's richest private schools believes John Howard's tax rebate for school fees should be means-tested.
Parents' rebate 'will drive up fees'
Parents risk losing any financial gain from the campaign childcare bidding war within two years if childcare providers follow past form and hike fees.
No joy for unis in PM's vision
Higher education's hopes for good news during the election campaign rest on Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd's launch in Brisbane today after universities, innovation or science were notably absent from Prime Minister John Howard's centrepiece speech on Monday.
- Op Ed
No point in learning to teach
The idea that university academics should be trained as teachers ("Train academics to be teachers,"
HES, November7) assumes that the teaching skills so important for schoolteachers are equally important for university scholars. However, I think that requiring university academics to become trained teachers would be bad for university students.
- Letters to the Editor
- School funding should be based on needs of the children
"Surely a true “education revolution’’ would be for both political parties to commit to providing our children with the very best education the nation can afford, irrespective of which school they attend."Our future prosperity rests upon all children, no matter what their socio-economic background, being given the opportunity to reach their potential through education. It’s mind-boggling that we continue to accept that it’s OK for the majority of children to attend under-resourced public schools so long as private schools are there to cater to those who can afford them.
"The Australian Constitution is silent on parental choice of school, but it does mandate an education for every Australian child. Taxpayer funding of all schools should be based on the needs of the children they educate, not the preferences of some parents. That would be an education revolution."
Cathrynne Henshall, Bungonia, NSW
"Offering a tax rebate to parents of children attending private schools is a mistake. My daughter attends a private college, so I’m a target of John Howard’s policy. But I know I’ll never see the cash from a rebate.
"Schools will think it’s Christmas and put their fees up, so the rebate will go straight from the Government to the school. We only need to remember what happened with private health insurance premiums when the 30 per cent rebate was introduced."
Brian Mitchell, Sandy Bay, Tas
- The Age
- Top private schools lash PM's policy
by Farrah Tomazin, Education Editor, and Jewel Topsfield
"Leading private school principals have branded Prime Minister John Howard's education tax rebate plan short-sighted, and accused both the major parties of squandering education money to buy votes."A day after Mr Howard promised more than $6 billion in rebates to parents for education expenses — including school fees — heads of schools in Melbourne that stand to benefit financially from the policy have attacked it for lacking vision.
"The criticism came as education dominated election campaigning yesterday, with Mr Howard seizing on remarks by an ALP candidate to claim a Rudd government would revive plans to cut funding from a "hit list" of wealthy private schools.
"As the major parties argued, Melbourne Grammar principal Paul Sheahan accused both Labor and the Coalition of wasting large amounts of taxpayers' money in pursuit of votes.
"Mr Sheahan said that rather than offering tax cuts and rebates, the nation's political leaders should promise to spend billions improving classrooms and buildings in poorer non-government schools and across the public education system.
"I know there's a few people in our school who are struggling and they will no doubt appreciate that money, but I think the vast majority of this country don't want tax cuts or rebates," Mr Sheahan said.
"They would actually like a hell of a lot of money spent on bringing the infrastructure up to scratch in our poorer schools. People don't want quick pork barrelling, they want long-term vision." [emphasis added]
"St Michael's Grammar School principal Simon Gipson agreed, saying the offer of education tax rebates by both parties was "tweaking around the edges".
"If you were to aggregate the amount that they've offered as tax rebates across Australia and actually put it towards more far-sighted changes to education, then we'd be more likely to see something of impact," he said.
"Carey Baptist Grammar School principal Phil De Young said the biggest challenge both parties should tackle in education was disadvantage — or "unequal outcomes because of unequal opportunities" — across the government and non-government systems.
"With year 12 fees at Carey set to increase to $18,456 a year, he said the Coalition's rebate would help "lighten the load" for parents. "But is this going to solve long-term equity problems? I wouldn't think so," Mr De Young said.
"Under Mr Howard's policy, announced this week, parents could claim rebates of up to $800 for every secondary school child, and up to $400 for every child in primary or preschool, on education expenses."
From The Age at link
- Education Questions Answered
- Thanks say parents, but means test rebate
The reaction to [John Howard's] education tax rebate had been enthusiastic — and yet some in this Catholic community felt distinctly uncomfortable about the plan for funds to go to very rich households.
- Reality Check: Going for growth of welfare state
If the Coalition is re-elected, Australians for the first time will be paying other people's school fees. If Labor gets in, we will be paying other people's internet bills. And all through the tax system.
- Op Ed
Policies fail the grade
by Richard Teese
Tax breaks will not fix the massive inequities in the education system.
"... A revolution in education would mean an end to the sharp and persistent inequalities that mark our school system, frustrate our children, undermine their aspirations, starve us of skills, inventiveness and creativity, and foster the very welfare dependency that Howard abhors."A revolution would close the achievement gap in our schools, engage children in satisfying and enjoyable learning, reduce early leaving, provide a broad skills base for all young people, and offer them a culturally rich and economically valuable experience in place of the academic battlefield to which upper secondary education has been reduced.
"But while education policy continues to divide families, rewarding some and injuring others, setting state against Commonwealth, private against public, there is little chance of achieving these objectives..."
Full story in The Age at link
- Letters to the Editor
- Private doesn't necessarily mean wealthy
"So Tony Wright ("Howard's new frontier: upper class welfare", The Age, 13/11) thinks only the wealthy pay private school fees — an old-fashioned idea, indeed. I suggest he take a good look at who really sends their children to private schools; he may be surprised to find many struggling parents, who both work and pay taxes — that, incidentally, contribute to those choosing a "free" education. He may like to consider how much money the government saves when parents choose to send their children to independent schools."So a few measly dollars in response isn't as bad as it seems. In the end, it's about education and, in turn, what that education will give a future Australia. Long gone are the days of only the wealthy sending their children to private schools."
Jennifer Le Messurier, Armadale
- More gifts for his mates
"Another gift for the well-off. To obtain the full $800 education rebate, which John Howard proudly states includes fees and uniforms, parents must spend $2000 upfront, because it is a 40 per cent rebate on a maximum of $2000. This will be a boon for those well-off families with children attending private schools, where the fees alone can be in excess of $10,000 per child.
"How will this help those in less affluent situations, whose children attend the local secondary or primary school (the primary rebate is 40 per cent on a maximum of $1000 spent)? How many of these people could afford $2000 per child upfront, especially if they have two or three children attending school? This is another example of Howard looking after his mates."
Michael Higgins, Erica
- How to spend $800 well
"I am a parent who, in the past 15 years, has paid a total of 29 years of fees to what are deemed elite private schools. It was a choice my husband and I made collectively. I was horrified to hear that the Coalition Government has promised to rebate some of the cost of private school education to parents.
"I am adamant that my children are entitled to a subsidy for their education, regardless of whether they are in the public or private sector. However, I find it unacceptable that they could receive more simply because their parents spend more. Why not spend the $800 rebate I would be entitled to for each child on better schools for our indigenous population? That would be more just and make more sense."
Sally Gregory, Surrey Hills
- Poor policy on the run
"It would appear the Liberals didn't properly think through their education tax plan. Most private school parents in my marginal seat buy computers and school books and have broadband access.
"Under Rudd, they would get a tax rebate for these items. Under Howard, on the other hand, there is a clear argument from the schools to simply put up their fees so parents won't actually see any of the rebate.
"Public school parents will feel that their taxes are funding private school fees, and private school parents will see no difference because their rebates will be swallowed up. This is the outcome when Howard and Costello do policy on the run."
Josh Cullinan, Boronia
- ABC News
- Labor plan leaves universities disappointed
"Universities say federal Labor's latest education promises are a good start, but more needs to be done."Labor leader Kevin Rudd made education the key focus of his campaign launch in Brisbane today.
"He promised that if elected, Labor will boost the number of research scholarships, provide computers for senior school students from grades nine to 12 and connect 99 per cent of schools to the national broadband network.
"Glenn Withers from Universities Australia says there are some positive aspects in Labor's plan, but some areas miss out.
"We welcome the particular new initiatives but we actually think we're disappointed for the lack of attention to core funding of teaching and our research infrastructure," he said.
"That, and indeed a lot of student access problems for the less advantaged. This goes a little bit of the way, a down payment, but not far enough."
From ABC News at link
- Rudd talks of 'education revolution'
Federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd outlined his plan for an "education revolution" at the Labor Party's official election launch in Brisbane this afternoon
- Education rebates will be costly to implement: Democrats
The Democrats have warned that the Coalition and Labor's education tax rebate plans might not actually put more money in people's pockets.
- The West Australian
- State to be short of 600 teachers in 2008: union (page 4)
by Kate Campbell"WA is facing a shortfall of 600 teachers at the start of next year and a pay dispute with the Government is one of the reasons for the crisis, the teachers' union warned yesterday.
"The State School Teachers Union president Mike Keely said teachers were becoming more despondent, with many considering early retirement to take advantage of superannuation changes. He said this year's graduate intake of more than 1000 had to be greatly surpassed next year to cope with the expected exodus.
"Union vice-president Anne Gisborne said the crisis had been made worse because teachers would not get a pay rise until 2009 under the current offer, which the union has rejected. "It (the pay offer) will not encourage people who've got choices about continuing teaching or retiring to say 'This looks good, I'll hang in for another year'," she said.
"The 2007 year started with a shortage of 264 teachers.
"It's significantly alarming, if you consider there are about 750 schools," Ms Gisborne said. "That's almost one person for every school and you know from the experience that we've have in 2007 unfortunately it's not a sharing of one person per school, which could probably all manage, it ends up being 10, 11 and 12 in one particular school."
"She said knowing what was ahead would make teachers depressed before the school year even began. The Government's "pie in the sky, fairyland" strategies such as $100,000 a year for the profession's elite teachers had deepened teachers' cynicism. The union believes all teachers need to be up to $8000 a year better off under the next pay deal.
"Education minister Mark McGowan was quizzed on the union's estimate in Parliament yesterday, but avoided being drawn on a shortfall figure. He said it was too soon to project next year's deficit and he was not aware of the union's claim.
"It's often not until closer to the day that we actually know exactly where we stand," he said. Several weeks out from the end of the school year, WA is still 60 teachers short.
"Mr McGowan said a $630 million remuneration package, special allowances for country and remote teachers, and scholarship programmes showed the Government was doing everything in its power to fix the shortage.
"Independent MP Liz Constable attacked Mr McGowan, saying: "It's the middle of November, he should know at least some estimate of what they're up against and what they're planning for."
"Mr McGowan last month revealed a plan to pay the State's top classroom teachers $100000 a year but the union rejected the plan. "
From The West Australian
- ABC News
- Union: Teacher shortage to hit 600
"The State School Teachers Union is predicting there will be a shortage of 600 teachers in Western Australia in 2008."There are still 60 unfilled teaching positions in Western Australia in the final weeks fo the school year.
"The State Government last month announced a $600 million recruitment plan to attract more people to the profession, but it was rejected by the Teachers Union.
"The Union President, Mike Keely, says schools will lose hundreds of teachers if the Government does nOt increase pay rates across the board.
"We have a lot of teachers who are in the age range where they can retire and the anecdotal advice that we're getting from members around the state is that there will be a significant increase in retirements at the end of this year simply because those people who may choose or could've chosen to work another couple of years have had enough," he said.
"The Opposition spokesman on Education, Peter Collier, says the government must take immediate steps to address the problem.
"The numbers that would leave without having told the department at this stage would be minimal," he said.
"The Department of Education and the Minister would have a very clear idea of how many teachers are leaving and they need to take some bold action immediately or there will be hundreds of classrooms potentially across the State without a teacher in front of them at the beginning of the 2008 academic year."
"The Minister for Education, Mark McGowan, has accused the State School Teachers Union of scaremongering.
"Mr McGowan says he is doing all he can to address the teacher shortage, but will not know until next year how many positioins remain unfilled.
"We have tens of thousands of employees in the Department of Education and Training and it's very difficult until some time in January to get an actual read on exactly how many teachers we have," he said."
From ABC News at link
- Mark McGowan Media Statement
- State acts to retain experienced teachers close to retirement
Innovative changes to public sector superannuation have the potential to benefit up to 6,000 teachers over the next five years, Education and Training Minister Mark McGowan said today.Mr McGowan said the changes, which would kick in from January 2008, would allow teachers aged over 55 to access their superannuation while still working.
Under the changes, teachers aged over 55 will be able to:
* continue working full-time while accessing their superannuation;
* opt for part-time or casual work while supplementing their income with superannuation; and
* salary package their entire salary and draw on as much superannuation as desired.
The Minister said it was estimated that about 25 per cent of the State’s teaching workforce would be eligible for retirement over the next five years.“These teachers have a wealth of experience and are incredibly valuable,” he said.
“The changes announced today will give alternative options to many of those teachers who may be thinking of retirement over the coming years.
“These changes will allow teachers to phase in their retirement without being penalised financially or spend a number of years significantly increasing their superannuation benefit.”
Mr McGowan said teachers in GESB’s defined benefit schemes, Gold State Super and the Pension Scheme, would be eligible.
“I have asked the Department of Education and Training to ensure information on this important initiative is provided to teachers as soon as possible,” he said.
“This will assist teachers making important decisions following the end of the 2007 school year.”
The Minister said the changes were one of the many ways in which the Carpenter Government was acting to boost the teaching workforce.
“I recently announced a graduate salary boost to ensure that graduate teachers are among the highest paid in the country and a $19million scheme to offer lucrative scholarships to more than 1,300 university students and existing teachers,” he said.
“We are also continuing to recruit interstate and overseas and began recruiting graduates six months earlier than usual.
“I also recently announced a massive pay offer to the State’s teaching workforce which, if accepted, will see all teachers receive a significant pay increase.”
- Schoolwork and little play makes dull day for young kids (page 3)
by Bethany Hiatt and Gabrielle Knowles
"Guidelines for teaching kindergarten and pre-primary children next year are under fire from early childhood education experts, who say they are "grossly flawed" because they are too structured and do not place enough importance on learning through play."Edith Cowan University early childhood program director Carmel Maloney said the draft syllabuses needed substantial rewriting because they failed to take into account ways that young children learnt.
"We feel the document is grossly flawed in its development," she said. "We won't be supporting its use in our teacher education program." ...
"The early childhood syllabuses, aimed at children from 3 ½ - 6, use the same template as syllabuses for children in primary and secondary school. They detail content that children are expected to know under separate learning areas, such as maths, English and science..."
"Sarah Weaving, of Wembley, who has four children, said the plan seemed to assume children did not learn while playing games. "An ability to read, write or count comes without having a formal process," she said..." [emphasis added]
Full story in The West Australian
- Ticks all around for Labor IT plan (page 11)
by Bethany Hiatt
"Independent schools would need up to 20,000 new computers under Kevin Rudd's education plan to give every student in Years 9 to 12 access to their own computer...""Association of Independent Schools WA executive director Audrey Jackson applauded Labor's broadband policy but said that one computer between two students was enough. Independent schools would have to install at least 19,000 more computers. "I think that every Australian student should have access to the very best in technology," she said. "Whether that actually means that they need access to their own dedicated computer or not, I'm not convinced."
"Catholic Education Office director Ron Dullard said extra computers would give schools more flexibility and access to online learning resources. He said it would cost about $17 million to fit out more than 40 Catholic high schools with another 14,650 computers..."
Full story in The West Australian
- A reponse from 'Boxer', PLATO FORUM:
What a right load of old bollocks Tin Tin dribbles sometimes. Filling schools with shiny new computers and hooking them up to some distant broadband nirvana is not the panacea to our collective educational woes the earnest bluffer suggests.For a start, the cost of housing these computers in a purpose built laboratory, benches, approved seating, cabling the schools, upgrading power supply infrastructures, upgrading room security, upgrading room cooling, funding printing consumables, providing maintenance support staff and providing suitable software is massive. If all of this isn't carefully worked out and funding and staffing provided, all we will have is piles of increasingly redundant technology stacked in rooms.
My guess is that schools will get a pile of boxes full of computers and left to work out the logistics, training, infrastructure, maintenance, software, security and replacement strategies for themselves. This will result in an increased workload for harried teachers and an increasing ongoing and unfunded financial burden on schools. In my experience, rooms full of computers are extremely effective in convincing gullible parents, politicians and educational bureaucrats that amazing things are happening in schools but the reality is much different.
Without a carefully developed integration strategy, a staff training regime and quality software and technical support, IT in schools becomes and expensive and onerous burden that simply serves as another distraction to the majority of students. Better paid teachers, better rooming, equipment, professional development, a rational curriculum with carefully developed support resources and the promotion of proven learning strategies would do infinitely more for education than rooms full of hot, wasteful and rapidly depreciating grey or black boxes.
- The Sunday Times online / PerthNow
- Best candidates no longer attracted to teaching
by Jeff Turnbull, AAP
"Inflexible salary arrangements and low job status are reasons why graduates are no longer attracted to teaching careers, Education Minister Julie Bishop said."Ms Bishop said university leavers were more interested in chasing careers where they were paid on excellence rather than the amount of time they have spent in the job.
"In a debate with opposition education and training spokesman Stephen Smith, Ms Bishop said 3000 teachers had enrolled in summer school next January in order to upgrade their skills.
"We do know there is a problem, we're not attracting our best and brightest into teaching,'' Ms Bishop said.
"Students say they are not going into teaching because of the inflexible salary arrangements and the status of the profession - they want to be in a profession where people are paid on excellence, not on years in the job.''
"She said the government was trialling a salary model to try to break down ``this one-size-fits-all mediocrity that has beset the teaching profession''.
"Mr Smith said schools were faced with ageing teachers and a decline in their skills.
"We now have teachers with the average age of 50, or if you are in a vocational and technical area, 55 years,'' Mr Smith said.
"He said only 25 per cent of science teachers in secondary schools have science degrees and about 10 per cent of maths teacher have a major in maths in their degrees.
"So we have a rebuilding job to do here and the starting point is rebuilding respect and regard and encouraging our best and brightest to enter the teaching profession,'' he said.
"We have to tell young Australians (teaching) is a noble profession and absolutely essential to our fundamental economic and social prosperity and one of the great challenges for our ageing teacher stock is to become attuned to the digital age.''
"Mr Smith said there were signs that HECS fees burden on students and families may be becoming a disincentive for students, especially those from lower socio-economic areas, to seek tertiary education.
"He said Labor had committed to a 50 per cent reduction in HECS upfront for those studying maths and science with a 50 per cent remission at the back end where the student takes up a relative occupation such as maths teacher or scientist.
"If not studying those two key national priorities areas is affected by the HECS rate then we have sent the financial signal, but we have also sent the public policy signal that studying maths and science is important, particularly the teaching of maths and science,'' Mr Smith said.
"Ms Bishop said HECS was not a barrier for young people attending university.
"We have more people at university than at any time in our history - we're about to hit the one million student mark,'' she said.
"She said research had shown reducing HECS, even cutting it to zero, made no discernible difference in terms of enrolment numbers.
"Students are smart, they look at the long term career benefits that a university education will bring them,'' Ms Bishop said.
From The Sunday Times online / PerthNow at link
- Reader comments to date [same link]
Let the teachers discipline the kids first! That would take away half the teacher's stress and then actually allow them to get on and teach! And the joke salaries must go and be replaced with a sum that reflects Teachers actual value to society. Think about it, if you want to attract 'the brightest and the best' you have to pay appropriate salaries. This is nothing new but I can't see that anything's been done about it since I went through school over 15 years ago. When I was correcting my teacher's spelling in Years 5 and 6, I certainly didn't think, 'Oh yeah, my Teachers are the brightest and the best.' That's for sure. I hate to think how thick some of the teachers are that have entered the system since. And obviously this points to the blind leading the blind. Teaching IS a noble occupation deserving of great respect if the teachers are good. The State Government has the responsibility to do what it takes to address the real problems and restore the profession to it's previous standing!
Posted by: Matt of London 7:48pm todayLast career I'd consider too. Not just salary but like adrian says, the student behaviour. And their parents. The risk of violence by some students, or even their feral parents. The disrespect. Having to try to teach a class full of kids with "issues", behavioural problems, zero motivation, foul mouths, mental disorders, ADHD, real or not. The lack of power. The airy-fairy curriculum, the bureaucracy, the political correctness rubbish. No wonder we're hundreds of teachers short. Who in their right mind would want to do that?
Posted by: HJR of Perth 7:32pm todayspot on Adrian. I spend 50% of my time playing crowd controller.
Posted by: matt of perth 7:15pm todayTRY FIXING STUDENT BEHAVIOUR FIRST then everything else will fix itself!
Posted by: adrian of bris 5:39pm today
- The Australian
- $1bn to create digital classrooms
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"Every student in years 9 to 12 will have access to their own school computer under a $1 billion Labor policy to bring classrooms into the digital world."Under the National Secondary School Computer Fund announced yesterday by Kevin Rudd, high schools will be able to apply for up to $1 million to buy new computers or upgrade existing internet facilities.
"The announcement was one of the few spending initiatives outlined in Labor's campaign launch at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. The $1 billion over four years would supply computers to about one million students, and schools would apply to upgrade their equipment every three years.
"Schools would determine the best computer systems for their students. The scheme would connect the nation's more than 9000 primary and high schools to Labor's planned national high-speed broadband network, ensuring internet access at speeds of up to 100megabits a second.
"Schools unable to access broadband would be provided with alternatives, such as the best available fixed line, wireless or satellite technologies. All schools, whether government, Catholic or independent, would be eligible and those schools where students already had computers would be able to apply to upgrade.
"The Opposition Leader said broadband was transforming overseas economies and the impact could be greater than that of the Industrial Revolution.
"The problem again for Australia is we are falling behind other nations," he said. "This is an education revolution. I want to turn every secondary school in Australia into a digital school."
"Mr Rudd said computer technology was no longer a key subject to learn but was the key to learning in almost every subject. The policy says a federal Labor government would work with the states, territories and universities to ensure teachers had the skills to use the technologies, and it would develop web portals for parents to participate in their children's education. It would work with the different school systems to ensure technical support was provided, as well as maintenance costs.
"Education Minister Julie Bishop said schools already had sufficient computer resources. She said schools could buy computer equipment under the Investing In Our Schools program.
"It's rare a school isn't connected to the internet. Across the country, state government programs and federal government programs, schools have very high levels of access to computers," she said. "Kevin Rudd clearly hasn't done his homework."
"But one of the five education priorities nominated by the Australian Secondary Principals Association ahead of the election was ensuring schools had effective computer infrastructure. Labor's computer plan was welcomed by the Independent Schools Council of Australia and the Australian Council of State School Organisations. The latter's executive officer, Terry Aulich, said: "It's a good example of educational leadership that comes from a federal government."
"ISCA executive director Bill Daniels said technological advances were challenging the nature and cost of schooling and the ALP policy recognised all schools needed support to stay up to date.
"But Australian Education Union president Pat Byrne said the education revolution failed to make up the $2.9 billion shortfall in funding for public schools."
From The Australian at link
- Scholarships, computers in ALP plan
Staff reporters
"Kevin Rudd has launched his education pitch, promising more tertiary tuition and research scholarships, broadband to every school and a computer for every senior school child.
"Announcing “three new chapters in Australia’s education revolution” at the ALP campaign launch in Brisbane today, Mr Rudd said a Labor government would double the number of university undergraduate scholarships to 88,000 and postgraduate scholarships to almost 10,000 by 2012."He also promised 1000 mid-career research fellowships valued at $140,000 each to “help reverse the brain drain” from Australia.
"Australia was the only country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to have disinvested in its universities during the past decade, he said.
"This has got to stop, it has got to stop now, otherwise the brain drain will continue to see us lose many of our best and brightest overseas,'' Mr Rudd said.
"Australia cannot survive as a knowledge economy if we do not help our universities attract and retain our best scientists, innovators and researchers into the future.''
"In another “chapter” of his plan, for skills training, the number of funded training places would be boosted by 450,000, including 65,000 apprenticeships.
"And for schools, Labor would to connect Australia’s 9000 primary and secondary schools to the planned National Broadband network at speeds of up to 100 megabits a second.
"It would also ensure every students in years nine to 12 has access to their own computer.
"Mr Rudd had already announced five “chapters’’ in his education revolution: pre-literacy and numeracy education for four-year-olds; a 50 per cent tax refund on home computers and broadband connections; incentives for maths and science teachers; increased funding for Asian language teaching; and state-of-the-art trades training centres in schools.
"I am intensely proud of Labor’s plan for education. It’s core business for Labor. It is core business for me. And it’s a core part of our nation’s pathway to the future," he said today.
"Declaring he wanted to turn every school into a digital school, Mr Rudd said Labor was committed to ongoing investment to ensure Australia remained competitive.
"The economies we are competing against are making a huge new investment in education. They know that knowledge-intensive economies will be the wealthiest economies of the future.
"We must take action now. We need nothing less than an education revolution now.’’
"For those schools that already had computers, Labor will help pay for upgrades, and Mr Rudd promised that his government would continue to pay for upgrades.
“Our National Secondary School Computer Fund will help students in all subject areas – such as technical students who use computer aided design as a key part of trades projects including furniture making, carpentry, metals and electronics,’’ he said.
"It will turbo-charge the effective teaching of foreign languages providing pronunciation online.
"And it will deepen and broaden the study of chemistry, physics, biology and the hard sciences.’’
"Mr Rudd said that Mr Howard did not understand how vital computers were, even in the traditional trades areas.
"The best tech blocks or automotive workshops had computer integrated.
"I believe for that Australia’s future a trade certificate will be just as important as a university degree,’’ he said."
From The Australian at link
- Op Ed
Battle plan without an army
by Justine Ferrari
"Kevin Rudd promises an education revolution but his battle plan is silent on the one thing that would guarantee success: teachers."Labor deserves some credit for recognising that the future of education is digital classrooms, and for spending $1 billion to ensure every school, public or private, enters the digital world.
"But Mr Rudd, where's your army? Where are the foot soldiers that will transform the education system?
"The average age of teachers today is 50. They are immigrants to the digital world; their students are natives who have to "power down" when they enter the classroom.
"Labor's school computer policy mentions teachers as an aside, promising to work with the states, territories and universities to give them the training they need to use new technology.
"Training middle-aged teachers on the verge of retirement to use modern technology in their lessons is not a revolution.
"If Mr Rudd is serious about lifting education standards, he must have a plan for the nation's teachers.
"Research shows again and again that the main variable in student performance is the quality of the teacher standing at the front of the classroom. Not family background, not a private school, not a smaller class, not technology - the teacher.
"Students with high-performing teachers progress at three times the rate of students with low-performing teachers. Three times.
"The best school systems in the world have high entry standards into teaching programs. Only the top 10 to 30 per cent of university graduates are eligible. Teaching is a highly respected and sought-after vocation.
"In Australia, the opposite is true. Education degrees have one of the lowest entry scores. Some of the nation's most academically able students do choose to become teachers but the profession is held in low esteem by the community.
"While the commonwealth does not run schools or set curriculums, the one area it does control is teacher training, through its funding of universities.
"At the moment, the funding system encourages universities to enrol as many students as possible. The entry scores are a reflection of demand not academic ability.
"The best the Coalition has come up with on improving teacher quality is summer schools to boost the skills of teachers already in the system.
"While it floated paying teachers bonuses for improvements in student performance, trenchant opposition from the states, which pay teacher salaries, has all but scuttled the idea.
"Rudd has talked about a new federalism since he became Labor leader and education is just the area in which to launch it.
"A national training program for teachers that selects candidates from the cream of the academic crop. Teachers paid for excellence, for the depth of improvement in their students. Now that would be a revolution."
From The Australian at link
- Op Ed
It smells sweet, but it's a lemon
by George Megalogenis
"Read his lips. Kevin Rudd wants Australia to have "the best education system in the world"."Now look at the Labor leader's chequebook. The education revolution has eight chapters by Rudd's reckoning. Three chapters were announced yesterday, costing $1.9billion, with a little over half taken up by a plan to get every school student a computer.
"Rudd will, no doubt, get feel-good headlines from the popular press, and a nod of approval from the economics fraternity for finding his inner Scrooge.
"The total value of Rudd's campaign launch program is just $2.3billion, and not a dollar in direct cash to voters. It sits well against John Howard's $9.3billion total, which covered $7.9billion in handouts and a $1.4billion increase in public spending.
"What jars here is the gap between Rudd's ambition on education and the money he is committing.
"This isn't to say Rudd should have gone over the top yesterday. Only that the goal of world's best education system can't be achieved by a politician who has placed most of his campaign eggs in his opponent's tax-cuts basket.
"Australia plainly can't rise from the bottom half of the world education tables with a $1.9billion bread-and-butter plan.
"Even if you add the $2 billion already announced in chapters one to five, which dealt with early childhood learning, Asian languages, maths and science, and trades training centres, the Book of Rudd doesn't come close to its ambition. Rudd's total investment of $3.9 billion amounts to $1.3 billion a year, or 0.12 per cent of gross domestic product.
"Let's assume, fantastically, that the rest of the world stands still while it waits for Australia to catch up. A funding boost of 0.12 percentage points would barely shift Australia's total public spending on all levels of education to 4.4 per cent per cent of GDP, based on the latest data from the OECD.
"That would leave us ranked 20 on the OECD ladder of the 28 nations rated.
"Let's say we would settle for third place. That would require spending as a proportion of GDP to rise by another 2.1 percentage points to 6.5 per cent, or an extra $20 billion a year.
"Rudd cheekily added his $1 billion-a-year education tax refund into his sums yesterday, calling it chapter two. But that is money in the hands of voters. The OECD would ignore it in its calculations.
"Now the hard part. The rest of the world won't wait for the Book of Rudd. Also, the OECD figures were based on 2004 data.
"Rudd sounds like he is serious. His policy appeals at the gut level. A computer for every school student is surely a good idea. Yet Rudd is no different in practice to the education revolutionaries who preceded him, namely Kim Beazley and Mark Latham. Beazley's ho-hum GST rollback was worth more than his incremental knowledge nation at the 2001 election.
"And Latham's contentious tax and family package was more expensive than his controversial schools funding policy in 2004.
"Rudd handcuffed himself in the first week of the campaign by agreeing to $31 billion of the Coalition's $34 billion in tax cuts.
"Now let's tot up the two launches. The bulk of Howard's $9.3 billion offer on Monday dealt with policies where Rudd had made his mark earlier in the campaign - namely the education tax refund, childcare and home saver accounts. Those Rudd promises were worth $4.2 billion.
"So if you want to compare lemons with lemons, the final "launch" tally is Howard $9.3 billion versus Rudd $6.5 billion."
From The Australian at link
- Op Ed
An education policy full of holes
by Kevin Donnelly
"Given Kevin Rudd's promise to provide broadband and internet access to all schools and computers to every student in years 9-12, you would hope that spending millions of taxpayers' dollars investing in IT was a good investment, financially and educationally."Such is not the case. The Australian Council for Educational Research found that not only did all students already have access to a computer at school, but there was no guarantee that using computers would raise standards.
"ACER's Monograph 62 states: "The relationship between student performance and access to computers is ambiguous."
"Two German researchers, Thomas Fuchs and Ludger Woessmann, made a similar point after analysing the results of an international test for 15-year-old students organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. "The availability of computers at school is unrelated to student performance," they stated.
"A US government-funded study into the impact of IT on student learning - in particular, the effectiveness of software products used to teach reading and mathematics - also throws doubt on Rudd's enthusiastic embrace of the digital age. The US report states: "Test scores are not significantly higher in classrooms using selected reading and mathematics software products."
"As many parents know, computers and the internet are double-edged swords. Cyber-bullying, sexual harassment and wasting hours on vacuous computer games and networking sites such as Facebook are unintended consequences of embracing new technology.
"Rudd's promise to fund additional training places and trade apprenticeships, while pushing the right buttons, also troubles on closer analysis.
"Australia, especially Western Australia where the economy is booming, is facing a teacher shortage and the question has to be asked: where will the necessary trade teachers come from and how will they be convinced to remain in classrooms and trade centres? [emphasis added]
"The ALP has also promised to build technical centres in all secondary schools. But, as a result of closing technical schools and making all schools adopt a generalist, comprehensive-style of curriculum, existing secondary school education will have to be radically reshaped if technical subjects are to regain their rightful place on the school timetable.
"Yesterday's campaign launch was equally significant for what was left out.
"Both major parties are committed to providing tax rebates for educational expenses, but when it comes to including school fees there is a difference. The Government defends parental choice in education and has made school fees, for both government and non-government schools, tax deductible. Rudd, after initially saying "I have no ideological problem whatsoever with private school fees being tax deductible", has done an about-face. Yesterday, he refused to include school fees in the ALP's list of concessions. Rudd's change will win the support of cultural-left groups such as the Australian Education Union, but it will not be popular with the thousands of parents struggling to pay school fees."
Kevin Donnelly, a former Howard government employee, is director of Education Strategies in Melbourne
From The Australian at link
- School leads way into hi-tech future
by Elizabeth Gosch
"Kevin Rudd's dream of digital schools and computers for every student is a reality at St Mary's Anglican Girls' School in Perth's northern suburbs."Launching the Labor Party's election campaign yesterday, the Opposition Leader promised a computer for every student in Years 9-12 and connection to the new National Broadband Network for every primary and secondary school.
"This is an education revolution - I want to turn every secondary school in Australia into a digital school," Mr Rudd said.
"The package involves an initial $1 billion in funding to get more computers into schools as well as ongoing funding to keep the technology up to date.
"Students at St Mary's, in Karrinyup, are already well-equipped for Mr Rudd's digital future.
"Year 11 student Lucy Turnbull told The Australian yesterday: "The school is very connected, we all have our own email addresses, we can log in remotely to the school from home."
"Kelsey Smith, who is also in Year 11, said: "You can log on from home and check on any revision or homework you need to do or download PowerPoint presentations the teachers have loaded up for us."
"Another Year 11 student, Emily Jasper, said the school, which has 1200 students from pre-primary to Year 12, had a number of computer labs with enough computers for every student.
"And every classroom has two computers in it which we can use during other lessons," Emily said.
"Mr Rudd said schools that already had enough computers could use the money to upgrade their equipment. "Our National Secondary School Computer Fund will help students in all subject areas such as technical students who use computer-aided design as a key part of trades projects, including furniture-making, carpentry, metals and electronics," he said.
"St Mary's head of IT Lynne Malone said the school already encouraged students to use computers across most of their studies.
"We integrate computers and computing across the curriculum," Ms Malone said.
"Students are learning how to use computers to draw, and receiving podcasts of language lessons to help them with their pronunciation," she said."
From The Australian at link
- Howard 'doesn't get' the digital age
Kevin Rudd's promise of an education revolution to deliver digital classrooms is hardwired to paint John Howard as a man of the past. But the Opposition Leader is gambling voters will accept that the price of his "economic conservative" creed is a failure to match the Prime Minister's promise of cash voucher handouts for private training and private schools.
- Experts weigh in on PC funding
Computer experts are confident $1billion would be plenty of money to supply one million secondary students with computers at school. But they warned some of the money on offer from Labor's computer fund would need to be quarantined to ensure the technology was properly maintained.
- Scholarships to smarten nation
Kevin Rudd has pledged to double the number of scholarships for undergraduates and students undertaking a doctorate.
- Cheap but clever icing for unis
At last the planks of Kevin Rudd's much-heralded education revolution are laid out: investment in early childhood, fast broadband for schools, a computer for every child, technical training in schools, 450,000 new training places and - wait for it - more scholarships to attend university.
And
to sum it all up...
© The Australian
- The Age
- Op Ed
An education system for families, not shareholders, would be real reform
by Kenneth Davidson
Talk of revolutions in education hides the entrenching of privilege.
"Education revolution? Bah humbug. Both the Rudd Labor and Howard Coalition's so-called initiatives are poorly targeted tax rebates to families with children which, according to tax accountants, will add unnecessary complexity to the tax system."At least Howard has a plan. His fees rebate is the first step to replacing funding for schools with the Friedmanite ideal of vouchers for parents. By providing base funding to parents and allowing non-government schools to top up with fees, school resourcing becomes about what parents can afford, rather than equity. Vouchers (and flattening the progressive income tax structure to which both parties are committed) are about institutionalising the intergenerational transfer of wealth and advantage.
"Public education is underfunded especially in regard to the universal service it is still expected to offer. And yet in this election Rudd Labor never mentions the special needs of government schools. The neo-liberals are now so confident that the Labor candidate for the marginal seat of Eden-Monaro, Mike Kelly, was slapped down yesterday for saying the existing method of funding private schools would have to give way "eventually to a proper needs-based approach".
"If Rudd Labor was serious about an education revolution it would be based on the latest survey of internet usage by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which showed that 76 per cent of households with children under the age of 15 already had access to the internet.
"Why subsidise the majority of parents for spending already undertaken without subsidy? If Rudd Labor wanted to extend student access to the internet, and improve overall school retention rates, it would have focused its $2.6 billion on poor primary and secondary schools, poor areas with a low computer-pupil ratio and internet access, and provide the money necessary to provide access supervision outside school hours.
"The reason why a targeted approach to funding based on needs wasn't considered is because it wasn't a vote buyer. But even this tawdry political excuse is not available to the Premier, John Brumby, who announced earlier this week that the schools to be built in Melbourne's new growth areas to the west and north will be financed by public-private partnerships rather than less costly government borrowings.
"The beneficiaries of this decision are the shareholders and executives of the financial institutions such as Macquarie Bank, ABN Amro and Deutsche Bank, which specialise in financing PPPs. They are well connected politically — former Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale and former NSW premier Bob Carr joined Macquarie and former NSW treasurer Michael Egan joined the Plenary Group, which is associated with Deutsche Bank, after retiring from politics.
"Egan pioneered the building of state schools as PPPs. I understand he is involved in promoting school PPPs in Victoria. The NSW school PPPs have been proclaimed as a success, backed up by the NSW Auditor-General, who said: "We found that the Department of Employment and Training presented a persuasive case that the the proposed project using a PPP approach was likely to provide value for money … although this was not supported by comprehensive financial and economic analysis of all the alternatives." This did not prevent the director-general of the department from saying: "I am pleased the review confirms our opinion on the success of the delivery model for new schools."
"One of the big innovations of the NSW PPPs was provision on site for before and after-school care, which has turned out to be the least profitable part of the deal.
"At the same time as the AG's report was signed off last year, the department faced a barrage of complaints over the quality of before and after-school care that forced the NSW Government to spend six months negotiating an "out" clause from the unprofitable business. According to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald, "the schools affected were left to cobble together their own before and after-care programs while ABC Learning continues to operate the more profitable aspect of child care in each of the schools — long-day care for children under six, charged at a commercial rate".
"The financial engineers who design these school projects expect to get their money back within a couple of years and a return on their highly geared equity in the projects of about 125 per cent. It will be extracted from the very battlers that governments constantly claim to serve."
From The Age at link
- Letters to the Editor
Several on education... more politics than content.
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Editorial
Move over Grandpa and let me at the computer
"Kevin Rudd has offered voters not so much the light on the hill as the green diode lit up on the computer. His campaign speech yesterday was as distinctive of the man as John Howard's was in the same city two days earlier. Both men speak to different aspects of the Australian character from within a narrow cultural band, and despite the blatant me-tooism on either side, there is now a clear choice to digest in the nine days remaining before the vote."The Prime Minister is assuring Australians that the good times can keep rolling, if the country is in the right hands, that there is nothing wrong with spreading the wealth now, and he claims to be on the point of managing a transition from a welfare society to an enterprise-based one. The Labor leader is trying to capture the nagging worry that prosperity may not be passed on to the next generation, and that more effort has to come before further rewards.
"Mr Rudd makes a persuasive case. The point of his "education revolution" is only sketchily spelled out, but most will agree that Australians need more skills if they are to enjoy the benefits of the emerging knowledge-based economy, and not fall into the American trap of an underclass in poverty-line "McJobs", beneath a prosperous strata of the highly educated. With hungry tradesmen of the Third World flooding into skilled work under the 457 visa scheme and white-collar jobs being moved to other countries, anxiety about prospects is high among the young and their parents. Mr Rudd's promise to fund 450,000 new training places over the next four years, including 65,000 new apprenticeships, is a crash program to address the skills shortage and get more Australians fulfilling their potential and enjoying the resources and construction boom.
"With the promise of broadband for all, the Labor leader is also on a winner. To a lot of Australians, the Howard Government has been too caught up in ideological purity about free markets and is allowing the country to fall behind advanced economies such as South Korea and France in use of the internet. The wrangling with Telstra and its competitors has gone on for years, and the Government's proposed solution is obsolete even before it is rolled out. Australians are not averse to public investment in infrastructure - nor was Mr Howard in the case of the Alice Springs-Darwin railway - and they are likely to respond favourably to Mr Rudd's catch-up plans. The internet is indeed the base of a second industrial revolution and will be vital to the spread of entrepreneurship that Mr Howard says he is trying to instil.
"Parents with children at school or about to start their education will be torn between the immediate cash in the pocket offered by Mr Howard through tax rebates, and the Rudd vision of computers on every desk, allowing senior high school students to refine their industrial designs or Mandarin pronunciation. The incentives for maths and science education, through halving of HECS fees at universities, and the expanded scholarships are also a big step back from the fee-based funding schemes that began under the Hawke government and which now, two decades later, are resulting in universities with declining standards. [emphasis added]
"If Mr Rudd is to persuade voters that Mr Howard is a generation out of date and just "doesn't get it" it will be through this appeal to the ethos of self-improvement. His folksy homeground pitch in booming Brisbane - with supporting act by the Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, rather than the tired Labor chiefs of the south-eastern states - will have added a powerful spin to the message.
"But that really is the positive side of the election campaign. Both Mr Howard and Mr Rudd are otherwise raising phantoms to scare the voters. Mr Howard would have us believe that Labor's former trade union officials are intent on taking us back to the days when the trades halls were about as powerful as the state governments, and the actions of union officials such as Clarrie O'Shea could bring the nation to a standstill. Mr Rudd, and his warm-up speakers, were telling us "we all know" that Peter Costello is a secret agent of the H.R. Nicholls Society, intent on introducing a nasty Work Choices Mark II when he gets the chance. The reality is that the margin of difference in industrial relations policy is now very narrow, and neither side is likely now to commit electoral suicide by stepping outside that margin.
"Likewise, the claims of economic responsibility. Both sides have committed themselves to putting tens of billions of dollars from projected spending back into discretionary spending via tax cuts. Mr Rudd may be slightly behind Mr Howard in spending promises, or at least the ones he has costed, but it was almost camping things up for him to proclaim "this sort of reckless spending has to stop".
"Neither side has really used the chance to step back from the tax-cut bidding war to look at ways of halting the asset-price spiral that is putting home ownership in big cities out of the reach of average earners. The supply-side remedies are tokenistic, and the broader mix of tax, regulatory and interest-rate incentives unaddressed. For a Labor leader who had his predecessor Gough Whitlam sitting in the audience, the lack of attention to cities was puzzling. Certainly, the problems of rural and indigenous communities deserved their mention - and more - but who is facing up to the problem that, increasingly, city workers can't afford to commute from their homes to their jobs?"
From The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- The West Australian
- Cash, sweeteners fail to boost teacher intake (page 13)
by Bethany Hiatt and Kate Campbell
"State Government measures to recruit extra teachers have failed to attract more students to sign up for postgraduate education courses next year.
"University statistics reveal numbers are at their lowest in six years in a new sign the teacher crisis will worsen.
"Latest figures from the Tertiary Institutions Service Centre show applications to study one-year graduate diplomas in education at WA’s four public universities in 2008 have fallen to 667 compared with 705 at the same time last year and 998 the year before. More than 1200 people applied in 2002. The downward trend comes on top of a significant plunge in undergraduate applications to study four-year secondary teaching courses next year. Universities reported a fall of between 15 and 50 per cent.
"University of WA graduate school of education deputy dean Simon Clarke said graduate applications had fallen enough to cause concern but he hoped to recruit more students in the next two months.
“It’s a little disappointing because it would indicate that a lot of the strategies that have been put in place over the past few months or so to make the teaching profession more appealing don’t at this stage appear to be working,” he said.
"Dr Clarke said the teaching profession had been demoralised by teacher shortages, ongoing curriculum debate and “constant bagging by the media”. “I think it will take some time for the teaching profession, unfortunately, to bounce back from the circumstances that have been brought to bear on the profession over the past couple of years or so,” he said.
"Murdoch University said even though its graduate diploma applications through TISC had fallen from 251 last year to 158 this year, this had been offset by a large number of enrolments mid-year, which did not appear in the TISC figures.
"State Government strategies put in place this year to address the shortage include poaching teachers from overseas and interstate, recruiting graduates six months earlier than previously, boosting graduate salaries to $50,000 a year, offering elite teachers $100,000 a year by 2011, incentives to lure retired teachers back into the classroom and scholarships for university students and existing teachers worth $60,000 over four years.
"Education Minister Mark Mc-Gowan’s latest pitch to teachers was a pledge yesterday to give those over 55 access to their superannuation while working. “This means if you are a teacher, once you’re 55 you will be able to dramatically increase your income or you can dramatically increase your final superannuation payout,” he said.
"About a quarter of WA’s teaching workforce will be eligible for retirement in the next five years.
"Shadow education minister Peter Collier said the logical solution to the teaching crisis was to give a significant pay rise to all teachers." [emphasis added]
From The West Australian at link
- Archbishop fears rise of moral decay (page 7)
by Bethany Hiatt
"Perth Catholic Archbishop Barry Hickey has issued a plea to hundreds of young Catholic teachers to adhere to core biblical values in the classroom and fight the rise of immorality."He urged teachers to go back to basics and stick strictly to religious textbooks in class, as well as lead by example, to help protect their students and strengthen their faith from attacks on Christianity.
"Teachers were on the front line in the war for control of children's souls so they had to be conscious of the "rising tide of secularism that threatens both societal and personal wellbeing" he said.
"Secular or non religious ideas they had to guard against included evolution, militant atheism, non religious Christmas decorations, homosexuality, prostitution, abortion, the pervasive drug culture, stemcell research on human embryos and cloning. [emphasis added]
"One does not have to look too far to see the way in which secular ideas have taken hold at the expense of religion," he told teachers and youth workers at a recent conference.
"These ideas were evidenced in recent legislation and in the progressive degeneration of programmes being aired on television, many of which promoted permissiveness and sexual immorality, he said.
"He said the young would be lost to this culture unless they had solid foundations that were strengthened through Catholic education.
"He stressed the systematic use of religious education textbooks and championed Catholic schools' policy that only teachers who were practising and living their faith were permitted to teach religion. "If they're not, they can teach Maths or Geometry, but not religion," he said.
"Any teacher who was living with a partner but was not married should not be teaching religion in schools.
"Society had become far too tolerant of secularism. "I think it has abandoned Christian principles and gone off with the belief you can do anything you like," he said. "And that will be ultimately to the harm of society, it will break down family life and a lot of people will get damaged as a result."
"Evolution was another non religious idea that had hijacked society's values. "Evolution is now being promoted as dispensing altogether with even a creator and that is a secular idea," he said. [So is the Archbishop rewriting the TEE biology syllabus? Will there be separate marking guides for Catholic students sitting TEE science exams? The mind boggles... Web]
"Archbishop Hickey said Christmas celebrations had also fallen victim, with many voices calling for religion to be kept out of Christmas.
"It sounds ridiculous but they're doing it so Christmas cards and decorations seem to have to be secular without mentioning the whole need for Christmas after all," he said.
"Atheists are frequently attacking Christian religion in letters to the paper but more importantly in books. They're getting a lot of publicity … so that atheism seems to be on the rise and a sort of militant atheism with it. They're no longer willing to just live and let live, they want to crush the belief in God."
"Sydney Catholic Education Office religious education director Anthony Cleary told the conference that trends among young people towards "a person centred morality" posed a great challenge to the Church. "
From The West Australian
Op Ed
Education revolution that isn't (page 11)
by Mike Nahan
We need a fresh approach to our public education system, but there's nothing new in the plan unveiled by Kevin Rudd
"... Mr Rudd's education "revolution" is little more than a rebadging of what is being done with more money and more top-down direction."It leaves many of the more important issues unaddressed.
"Will a Rudd government ditch the outcomes-based education curriculum being introduced by the WA Government or will the OBE become part of the national curriculum? [emphasis added]
"What will Mr Rudd do about teacher shortages and the declining status of the teaching profession? What will Mr Rudd do if some teachers fail numeracy and literacy tests? Will he stop schools from hiring them in the face of chronic teacher shortages?
"If Mr Rudd were really serious about an education revolution he would focus not on trying to copy and duplicate what already is being done but on driving innovation and flexibility in public education.
"Parents and students are leaving the public system for the private system in droves. They are not doing this for status or for the pleasure of paying tuition, but because the public system is not delivering.
"The problem is not money or staffing levels or computer access. The public system in WA is better endowed on all fronts than all but the most elite private schools.
"The problem lies with the system - bureaucratic, excessive regulation and empowerment of teachers and school leaders. Good people are being undermined by a bad system. [emphasis added]
"A revolution is needed, but Mr Rudd offers only more of the same."
Full story in The West Australian
- The Australian
- Editorial
More teachers needed, not more laptops
The education revolution must tackle union power
"To promote Labor's much-anticipated education revolution, Kevin Rudd has talked a big game but ultimately aimed low. It is a similar story on health, where the Labor leader has made a big noise but not really explained how quality will be improved and waiting lists made shorter. Labor's "small is beautiful" mantra goes well beyond being a highly crafted attack on John Howard's economic credibility. Rather than an education revolution, it is difficult to see how $2.1 billion worth of tax breaks and $1.9 billion for school computers and skills training constitutes more than tinkering at the edges. On health, it is hard to imagine how $500million in incentive payments will cut hospital waiting lists or how a commonwealth takeover will happen, even if it should, without the co-operation of the states. Most of all, Mr Rudd is asking voters to suspend disbelief and accept that union demands will not wreck Labor's promise to spend less than the Coalition if it wins government and deliver lower interest rates as a result."Labor knows it has hit a nerve with the public for better schools and hospitals. But Mr Rudd has attempted to hide the fact that the poor state of government schools and public hospitals is the responsibility of Labor state governments with rhetoric about ending the blame game. Nice try, but Mr Rudd will have to do more than dazzle voters with the promise of new laptop computers for kids to make a difference. The Australian believes in the digital future, including in education. But after studying the detail of Labor's plan it is difficult not to believe Mr Rudd's broadband and laptop revolution has been primarily calculated to make the Prime Minister appear old-fashioned by comparison. Labor's plan ignores the fact that OECD figures show that all Australian students already have access to computers at school. In addition, Labor's broadband rollout will not be completed until 2013, whereas the Government has one already due for completion by 2009. On training and scholarships, Labor is mostly expanding programs that are already in place rather than proposing a new approach. The Australian welcomes Mr Rudd's promise to put a big emphasis on education but we are having difficulty seeing the revolution. We question also whether parents may not ultimately be more persuaded by Mr Howard's pledge to fix the core curriculum and get the basics right than Mr Rudd's promise to promote computer use at a time when a pressing issue is to get children to switch the computer off and take some real exercise. In addition, both the Coalition and Labor have already announced tax incentives for personal laptop purchases.
"The big disappointment in Labor's education revolution is its lack of emphasis on lifting the quality of teaching staff, fixing the national curriculum and making sure parents get better feedback on school performance. These issues, more than anything else, highlight the difficulty Mr Rudd can expect if he intends to truly embark on a revolution.
"The average age of teachers is 50 and university students considering a career are reluctant to choose teaching because it has a rigid pay system, based on tenure rather than performance. The federal Government has tinkered at the edges with summer schools to encourage teachers to lift their skills in exchange for a pay bonus. The program has been oversubscribed but still represents only a tiny fraction of teaching staff. A big obstacle is the socialist collective bent of the teacher unions, which remain hostile to any system that links teacher pay to performance outcomes or even different skills sets. Labor says it is determined to make teaching a more prestigious career choice but has given little detail on how it will do so. There is broad agreement that university entry scores for teaching courses are too low, but that is the only way to attract the required numbers. [emphasis added]
"The bottom line is that school education is a state responsibility and both the Coalition and Labor are loath to commit to additional recurrent funding for teachers to get the desired lift in standards. Anyone who is going to fix Australia's education problem must be brave enough to stand up to the teachers' unions and break the unholy cycle in which public sector employees have kept state Labor in a deadly embrace. State employees have been the big beneficiaries from the boom in property tax and GST receipts. In return for big increases in pay, public sector unions have helped fund Labor to remain in power at a state level. Bureaucratic staff numbers in health and education have exploded at a much faster rate than frontline staff and the culture has become more focused on staff wellbeing than on service delivery and outcomes. If he dares, fixing this is where Mr Rudd can expect to find his real revolution."
From The Australian at link
- Bishop to steer subjects
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"A Coalition government will take over the drafting of the school curriculum in the core subjects of English, maths and the sciences to protect students from educational fads."Education Minister Julie Bishop yesterday dumped her policy to establish a National Board of Studies to decide on the content of the nation's most critical school subjects.
"Instead, a returned Coalition government would appoint a panel of experts to write curriculum guides, as it did with Australian history earlier this year.
"A day after Kevin Rudd made education the centrepiece of his campaign launch, the Coalition sought to regain the initiative on schools policy at the campaign education debate between Ms Bishop and Labor education spokesman Stephen Smith.
"The debate was hosted by The Australian and The Melbourne Institute, and moderated by Melbourne University vice-chancellor Glyn Davis.
"Ms Bishop pointed to a lack of policy detail in Labor's education revolution, with the only new schools initiatives the Opposition Leader announced in his campaign launch being a pledge to give every student a computer and connecting every school tobroadband.
"Kevin Rudd said he's been working on his education revolution for 10 years; if that's 10 years of policy development, heaven help us," she said.
"There was nothing new, nothing original, nothing remotely innovative. There was nothing on the single-most important issue that affects educational outcomes apart from parents, and that's the quality of teachers. There was nothing on higher standards, or greater rewards for excellence. In this election, the Labor Party has vacated the field of ideas."
"Education has emerged as one of the few policy battlegrounds of the election, with Labor and the Coalition both promising to introduce rebates for school expenses.
"The Government's $6.3 billion worth of rebates can be used for a wider range of expenses, including school fees, and, unlike Labor's $2.3 billion promise, are not means-tested.
"Mr Smith yesterday accused the Government of failing schools, saying they were battling an ageing of the teaching workforce and a decline in their skills.
"We now have teachers with the average age of 50, or if you are in a vocational and technical area, 55 years," Mr Smith said, adding that only 25 per cent of science teachers in secondary schools had science degrees and about 10 per cent of maths teacher had a major in maths in their degrees. [emphasis added]
"So we have a rebuilding job to do here, and the starting point is rebuilding respect and regard and encouraging our best and brightest to enter the teaching profession. We have to tell young Australians (teaching) is a noble profession and absolutely essential to our fundamental economic and social prosperity, and one of the great challenges for our ageing teacher stock is to become attuned to the digital age."
"One of the biggest differences between the education policies of the two parties is their approach to a national curriculum.
"Both sides support a national curriculum, but Labor remains committed to its being written by a national curriculum body incorporating the states, territories and independent and Catholic school systems.
"Mr Smith said curriculum should be written by a national authority in collaboration with the school systems.
"It should not be written by members of parliament, whether it's me, John Howard or Julie Bishop," he said.
"But Ms Bishop said the drafting of national curriculum would be more appropriately done using the model the Coalition introduced in Australian history.
"It's an appropriate approach across the core subjects," she said. "You start with the experts developing what should be in the curriculum, go through a number of revisions and then sit down with the states and say these are the parameters in this subject."
"The federal Government held an Australian history summit last year from which a draft curriculum was formed, which was sent to a four-person panel earlier this year to revise.
"Ms Bishop first proposed a uniform curriculum set by a national panel last year as a way of wresting control of school courses away from what she has described as the ideologues in state education bureaucracies.
"Ms Bishop pointed to the curriculum experiments in Western Australia and Tasmania as evidence of the need for federal intervention.
"The Western Australian Government has rewritten almost its entire set of new courses following widespread criticism that they dumbed down subjects and the assessment process was complicated and meaningless, levelling students according to their progress rather than giving them a grade.
"Tasmania jettisoned its Essential Learnings curriculum last year, which was widely criticised for being vague and meaningless, after it cost the education minister her seat in the state election. [emphasis added]
"Ms Bishop said she stood by comments she made at the history teachers conference last year that state education bureaucrats distorted school curriculums with Chairman Mao-type ideologies.
"When I read that Pat Byrne, president of the Australian Education Union, said publicly that 'the conservatives still have a lot of work to do to undo the progressive curriculum', I know I'm on the right track," she said.
"After the debacle we've seen with essential learnings in Tasmania and outcomes-based education in Western Australia, what we're seeking to do is ensure we get a nationally consistent framework." [emphasis added]
From The Australian at link
- Labor relies on revolution in rhetoric
by Catherine Armitage, Higher education editor
The education debate went to the Coalition's Julie Bishop.
"All fired up, eyes sparkling with energy even though she has given up caffeine for the campaign, the Education Minister took the podium yesterday to outline her Government's vision. For universities, it boiled down to them topping world rankings for teaching and research; to making a place available for every eligible student; and to lecture theatres becoming accessible "online, real time"."Stephen Smith was muted. He walked through the Labor lines about a good education being the best chance you can give a kid.
"His central point was that the quality of educational outcomes and levels of investment in our learning institutions must be rated against those of our international competitors, "and if we don't do that, it is ultimately toour long-term economic and social risk".
"But the education story of the election campaign is becoming one of the missing billions. The Coalition relies on the $6 billion Higher Education Endowment Fund, which Bishop said would go up by $4 billion if the Government was re-elected.
"Smith dodged a question about when Labor might stump up the billions that universities say they need to stay competitive.
"Kevin Rudd and Smith are selling us a revolution in thinking which is short on action.
"Smith repeatedly said he accepted "unreservedly" that universities needed more funding.
"This was Labor's "political, philosophical, intellectual starting point", he said.
"But the only concrete measures he foreshadowed relating to universities, beyond the couple of hundred million dollars worth of new scholarships announced yesterday, was for HECS rebates or discounts in targeted discipline areas such as those Labor had already promised for maths and science students. These discounts were "on our list", he said.
"That leaves the intriguing prospect that Labor's list of things to do for education might have been longer before Rudd apparently took the bold decision to tout fiscal responsibility by holding back on big spending.
"So the question becomes: is a revolution in rhetoric enough to swing the education vote for Labor?"
From The Australian at link
- Bishop attacks Rudd's vision
Kevin Rudd has rejected criticism from the Howard Government that his vaunted education revolution is hollow and completely lacking in new ideas or major funding increases.
- Coalition accused of living in past
Labor has seized on a claim by Education Minister Julie Bishop that she had not seen any Australian schools in need of extra computers as evidence the Howard Government is out of touch.
- PCs to put all students in the same class
Providing young people with computers isn't exotic. So said Kevin Rudd, at the Labor campaign launch on Wednesday.
- Educators 'not as smart as they used to be'
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"The intellectual capacity of the teaching profession has diminished over the past two decades, largely as a result of a flat, short salary structure."Head of the University of Western Australia's graduate school of education Professor Bill Louden yesterday called for a pay structure that gave teachers a 25-year career path to attract smart students to the profession.
"Speaking at the Our Schools, Our Future conference in Melbourne hosted yesterday by The Australian and the Melbourne Institute, Professor Louden said there had been a generational shift in the intellectual capacity of the teaching profession.
"We've got to find some ways of replacing the current generation of intellectually able teachers with a group of teachers like them," he said.
"A large proportion of people we are now recruiting into teaching have been to school and stayed to Year 12, not been very successful at school, and then chosen to become teachers.
"Intellectual ability is not the only or the most important thing required in a teacher but it isn't trivial. It's difficult to teach Year 12 physics if you've not been successful at school."
"Professor Louden said the quality of the teacher accounted for the greatest variation in student performance. He pointed to a study examining the school record of teachers that found those who were in Year 9 in 1983 were among the top two quintiles of test results.
"By 2003, the proportion from the top two quintiles had halved to be replaced by students in the second-lowest quintile of test results. The trend was also evident in the falling university entrance scores for teaching.
"Many people enter teaching as graduates and can choose among occupations; so why choose one where you reach the top salary of 1.7 times the starting salary in seven years?"
"Professor Louden said it was relatively easy to implement a pay structure that remunerated teachers according to the standard of their qualifications, the assessments they were prepared to undertake, where they taught and the subjects they taught."
From The Australian at link
- Op Ed
Teacher training must be assessed
by Jennifer Buckingham
"In the past decade there has been increasing recognition that the quality of schooling is pretty much dependent on the quality of teaching."Academics and teaching organisations are acknowledging what parents have long known. Some teachers are better than others and good teaching (and bad, for that matter) has a lasting and cumulative effect on students.
"New research by Bill Louden presented at the Our Schools Our Future Conference in Melbourne yesterday finds that an outstanding teacher can put students on a higher achievement trajectory for years into the future.
"We are getting a clearer picture of what good teaching looks like and what characterises a good teacher. However, we don't know how to create them.
"There are two conflicting sets of research findings.
"One says that teacher education courses, whether pre-service or post-graduate, have little or no impact on teacher effectiveness.
"The other says that quality teachers are the result of quality teacher education programs.
"These perspectives seem irreconcilable but this does not mean teacher education is ineffective - just that many existing programs seem to be. That is the view of the Australian Secondary Principals Association, which described pre-service teacher education as "extremely poor".
"Since 1979 there have been 102 reviews of teaching training. Each has contributed to awareness of the problem with teacher preparation, but none has had a measurable impact on overall quality.
"Why is this so? Program evaluation in this country is woeful. There has been no proper audit or assessment of individual teacher education programs and the calibre of their graduates.
"We should be interested in the opinions of principals and teachers about how well the programs prepared them for the classroom.
"Most importantly, we need to know the impact of teacher education on students.
"There is a great resistance within the education profession to the idea that teachers should be evaluated according to how much their students learn, but what could be more important?
"In an indepth review of teacher education in the US, Arthur Levine found that, as in Australia, quality of teacher preparation was highly variable. He recommended that student achievement should be the primary measure of the success of teacher education.
"Too much is made of teacher education programs because they meet quality criteria and are in alignment with professional frameworks. These programs sound, look and feel good but whether they deliver the desired results, we simply do not know.
"Program evaluation that follows graduate teachers into school and measures their effectiveness initially and over time is essential. [emphasis added]
"A little less conversation, a little more action, please."
From The Australian at link
- Letters to the Editor
- Most Talked About: Education Revolution?
Neither major party is really addressing the core issue
"Attracted though I am to Kevin Rudd’s "education revolution’’ rhetoric, I have to question the detail. Putting more computers in schools raises two problems."Where is the funding for the extra trained staff to look after the computers (without whom the technology is an extra impost on already-overworked teachers) and where’s the evidence that more computers result in better learning outcomes?
"I’ve been researching science education for 25 years and have not found a single convincing study showing that computers in themselves result in improved learning.
"As I type this, I’m sitting in an airport lounge on my way to checking out opportunities overseas, because employment for science academics in Australia has collapsed.
"Addressing this would require a real turnaround in education policy: a funding model based on long-term needs, rather than boom-and-bust cycles. Neither major party is really addressing the core issue in education: making it an attractive career choice, whether at school or at tertiary level."
Philip Machanick, Taringa, Qld
"When it comes to skills reform, both major parties have missed the boat in this election campaign. To be sure, Kevin Rudd and his team have at least identified the major issue, which is increasing training places for trade certificate qualifications ("Rudd cure for `skills crisis’’’, 15/11).
"The real problem, however, has not been addressed. We need a national skills and training system, not this hotchpotch of state-based systems with different rules and regulations overseen by a benign federal review process. Just as universities evolved out of state-based systems into a federally controlled one, we need the same for the vocational education sector.
"The TAFE system is not meeting the needs of employers and students and fundamental changes are needed. In Queensland, the average TAFE teacher has 22 hours a week of class time, 12 weeks’ leave a year and, in most cases, is reluctant to leave the campus to conduct workplace training. Despite the so-called skills crisis, most TAFE campuses are empty on Fridays. This is completely unsustainable in a modern, competitive and productive economy."
Scott Flavell, Morningside, Qld
- "Money and computers alone will not lead to an "education revolution’’. It also needs programs and teaching methods that encourage students and workers to think creatively and critically for themselves.
"We live in a rapidly changing and competitive world – a world that demands societies that can solve problems with novel ideas.
"Inquisitiveness and inventiveness need to be the foundations of any education system. Both parties are talking big about the importance of early childhood education but have not announced any new programs for going beyond plasticine, play and paint."
John Langrehr, Hazelwood Park, SA
- "Don't be fooled by John Howard’s pledge of $800 per secondary student to help with education expenses. It’s not a grant, allocated to all students, but a tax rebate, which means that only those spending over $2000 per student per year on education expenses will receive the full $800 per student. A lovely little $800 "gift’’ for the nation’s wealthy elite, who will always send their kids to private schools (regardless of the cost), and some welcome assistance for the rest of those who who can afford private education.
"Howard is not nearly as generous to those whose expenses are less than $2000 per student per year, ie, the majority of public school students. And, of course, you can’t get a tax rebate if you don’t pay any tax, so those at the bottom of the economic "food chain’’ – single parents, pensioners, etc – will get nothing at all."
Guy Barnwell, West Croydon, SA
"How did we ever learn anything at school in the past without computers? Perhaps it was because we were actually taught the various subjects by the teachers, rather than just being told where to find the information. Kevin Rudd’s policy of providing all students in years 9 to 12 with their own personal computer will no doubt be a boost to YouTube, etc, but will it also produce a generation of couch potatoes?"
B. Cooper, Frankston, Vic
- "It's great that Kevin Rudd has announced that he will support 65,000 more apprenticeship places, but I wonder if he will also do something about giving them fair wages. As shown by the just-published survey by Group Training Australia, pay rates for first and second-year apprentices place them below the poverty line and barely above the level of unemployment benefits."
Willem Bouma, Kangaroo Ground, Vic
"Liberal Party ads tell us that a Rudd Labor government would be dominated by union bosses. Scary stuff. What they don’t tell us is that there is an upside.
"If union heavies are now running the show in the Labor Party, that means that somewhere along the line they must have kicked out the latte-drinking elites who despise ordinary Australians and who, the Liberals assured us, dictated Labor policy for the past few elections. That’s progress, or at least change – if you can believe the Liberals."
John Chandler, Toorak Gardens, SA
- The Age
- Classroom lessons we need to learn
by Farrah Tomazin
"The scene was the leaders' debate and the tension was palpable. Kevin Rudd has just used OECD data to say Australia was the only country where public funding for universities and TAFEs fell between 1995 and 2004. All other OECD nations, essentially developed countries, had increased investment by almost 50%."Prime Minister John Howard was ropeable. The OECD did not take into account HECS subsidies from the Government, he said, nor the Coalition's $6 billion higher education endowment fund for research infrastructure, nor recent investments in technical education. Rudd was "trying to mislead the public", Howard said. "That's pathetic."
"The heated exchange was emblematic of the tensions that underpin education policy. As both parties try to gain the upper hand, questions remain about the funding, costs and quality of Australia's education system.
"When it comes to performance, the news is generally good. Figures from the Program for International Student Assessment, which measures students from 42 OECD nations on their literacy and numeracy skills, show that Australians are well ahead of the US in literacy and numeracy. Australian students come fourth on reading benchmarks (behind Finland, Canada and New Zealand) and are ranked 11th in maths and sixth in science.
"The level of students completing year 12 has also improved over the past two decades, from a retention rate of about 47% in 1986 to about 80% in 2006, although we are still behind such countries as the Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany, Japan, and Israel.
"But Australia still has its problems. Figures show that only 0.1% of GDP is invested in early childhood education, compared with the OECD average of 0.5%. And only 42% of three and four-year-olds are enrolled in Australian preschools compared with 69% in the average OECD nation.
"Arguably, early learning is the largest hole in Australia's educational capability," says Melbourne University's Simon Marginson. "The legacy of early neglect in Australia is relatively weak literacy in the bottom layer of school students and a higher than average drop out rate at 15 years and later."
"Inequality in education is also starker in Australia than in comparable countries. Leading education consultant Barry McGaw says that while Australia performs relatively well on key benchmarks, our weaker students do worse than those in other high-performing countries. "Social background makes more of a difference to the results in Australia than some of the other high-performing countries. So our system is less equitable in that sense," he says.
"But educators say it needn't be this way. Australia's education system is underpinned by choice: a public system that is meant to be free and secular and a non-government system that is partly subsidised through the socio-economic status funding model that takes into account the education, income and occupation of parents within a school's postcode.
"Schools are not segregated as they are in countries such as Germany, where children from the age of 11 or 12 are directed to a particular type of school, depending on the educational future judged to be most appropriate. Those from low socio-economic backgrounds generally end up in a struggling vocational school; those from wealthier backgrounds are directed towards high-performing schools.
"Experts say part of the equity problem is about funding. Figures suggest Australia's overall investment in education is 5.9% of GDP — behind 17 other OECD countries, including the US and Britain. About 16.8% of that investment comes from private fees rather than government spending — the third highest out of any of the OECD countries. In raw dollars, taxpayers spend an average $6418 per primary school student, just below the OECD average of $6481, and lower than Britain ($6602) and the US ($9787).
"And increasingly, more parents have turned to the private school system, with enrolments increasing by 21.5% over the past 12 years, compared with 1.2% growth in the government system.
"Funding is also a problem for universities. In the decade to 2004, Australia was one of only 13 OECD countries to cut public spending on tertiary education. While the average OECD nation increased public funding by 49% and private funding by 176%, Australia increased private funding by 98% — and cut public spending by 4%. (The Coalition, however, disputes this, arguing that university funding increased by 31% over the same period).
"The loss of public income has resulted in universities becoming increasingly reliant on full fees paid by domestic and international students.
"According to Simon Marginson, more than 20% of students now come from overseas, and more than 13 Australian universities have more than 8000 international students. He warns that while private income can substitute for public income, revenue from international students does not fund the same level of academic capacity and teaching quality. "Quite often, the money from international fees goes into areas such as the marketing and recruitment of international students, health and welfare support for foreign students, rather than basic research and quality teaching," he says.
"Sensitive to criticism over its tertiary spending, the Government used this year's budget to announce a $5 billion higher education endowment fund in which investment earnings will be used to fund new campus buildings and research, in perpetuity. It also abolished caps on full-fee university courses for domestic students, gave universities more power to negotiate which courses get HECS places, and allowed them to over-enrol by 5% — which will increase HECS places by 21,000.
"Labor, for its part, has pledged to slash HECS bills for students who study maths and science (from $21,300 to $12,000 for a third-year degree), and this week promised to double the number of undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships over the next four years, as well as create 1000 research fellowships worth up to $140,000 to prevent talented academics from being lured overseas.
"Monash University professor Richard Larkins says that if Australian universities are to become truly internationally competitive, research capacity must increase even further.
"Australia has 17 out of its 39 universities in the Shanghai Jiao Tong top 500, which is widely regarded as the best measure of university research output. But only two, ANU and Melbourne University, are in the top 100. Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands are ahead of Australia.
"Britain, albeit with a GDP three times larger than Australia's is streets ahead (11 universities in the top 100); Canada has four in the top 100, two in the top 50. "It's absolutely critical that our universities are internationally competitive," says Larkins."
From The Age at link
- Education debate sticks to script
by Farrah Tomazin
"Federal Labor has no further election plans to reduce soaring debt for university students — despite conceding that HECS costs have almost reached a "tipping point" in Australia."As education continued to dominate the second-last week of the campaign, Opposition education spokesman Stephen Smith yesterday said Labor's desire to be more economically responsible meant it would not be unveiling any new policies to reduce the growing debt burden for students.
"The admission came after Labor leader Kevin Rudd declared earlier this year that student debt had become a "national disgrace" — and despite Mr Smith's own view that paying back the cost of HECS degrees could soon deter students from attending university.
"We are very close to being at a tipping point in terms of HECS becoming a disincentive," said Mr Smith, speaking at yesterday's education debate against Federal Minister Julie Bishop.
"We have been looking carefully at other targeted HECS arrangements and we certainly have this on our list. But given that we made a point that we want to balance our financial commitments with being responsible … we're going to take our time to do things."
"Labor this year announced it would slash the cost of a three-year degree in maths or science from $21,300 to $12,000 in a bid to reverse the decline in these important areas.
"University graduates who then go on to teach maths or science, or work in the field, would have their HECS bills reduced further under the $111 million plan.
"However, Mr Smith said yesterday that Labor had no other plans at this stage to reduce HECS costs, which have almost tripled over the past 10 years.
"In other developments in yesterday's debate:
- Julie Bishop defended the Coalition's decision to give tax rebates to all families for education expenses regardless of their income, despite criticism from the public schools lobby that $6 billion policy would "further privilege the already privileged".
- Mr Smith reiterated that Labor would abolish full-fee-paying places for domestic undergraduate students, but did not explain how a Rudd government would compensate universities for the cost of phasing out full-fee degrees.
- In defending the Coalition's funding of universities, Ms Bishop said state governments ought to take greater responsibility for higher education funding.
"Student debt has been a growing problem in Australia, with a recent study finding that the number of students who take out a loan to survive their degree has more than doubled in six years, while student debt has skyrocketed by $2 billion a year following a 25% rise in HECS.
"But Ms Bishop said research showed HECS debts did not deter students from enrolling into universities, and that Australian students had the highest percentage of student support in the OECD nations.
"Democrats higher education spokeswoman Natasha Stott Despoja said the minister's view was "incredibly short-sighted".
"If students are coming out of university with mountainous debt, it immediately puts them on the back foot for other significant purchases in life," she said."
From The Age at link
- Brumby pig-headed, say parents
by Bridie Smith, with David Rood
"The state's top parents group has criticised the State Government for being "pig-headed" in its pay negotiations with teachers, ahead of a 24-hour stopwork next week."Parents Victoria executive officer Gail McHardy said that with federal Labor pledging to invest in schools as part of its so-called "education revolution", parents had a right to expect the same support from the Brumby Government.
"They're obviously being quite pig-headed about it … and we need to retain teachers not revolt them," she said.
"Ms McHardy said while parents and students would find the strike action inconvenient — particularly next Wednesday's action, which will coincide with almost 4500 VCE students sitting their exams — teachers were entitled to have a voice.
"Further action is planned for next year, with a 24-hour statewide stopwork scheduled for February 14, as well as rolling, regional four-hour stoppages in next year's first school term.
"Teachers are seeking a 30% wage rise over three years and the Government is standing firm with its offer of 3.25% a year. "The Government needs to better invest in public teachers and public education," Ms McHardy said. [emphasis added]
"Meanwhile, the state's principals also aim to increase the pressure, saying that they too would consider industrial action if the Government didn't improve its offer.
"Australian Principals Federation president Fred Wubbeling said members were seeking a 30% pay rise over three years as well as administrative help to improve workload issues and measures to tackle the attraction and retention of staff.
"We are hopeful of an outcome and we have not signalled that we intend to take industrial action, but that's not to say that we won't," he said.
"Premier John Brumby said striking during VCE exams sends a "bad message" to students and parents. He said the Government has a wages policy of 3.25% and anything above that salary increase had to be offset by productivity improvements.
"Most parents would be very disappointed," he said.
"You should not be having a stopwork while VCE exams are on. That's the bottom line."
"Mr Brumby said he was not confident of reaching a deal before next week's strike."
From The Age at link
- ABC in kids' TV appeal
The ABC yesterday waded into the election campaign, pressuring the ALP to back plans for a dedicated children's channel to be launched next April.
- Letters to the Editor
- Build the schools, and they will come
"All parties to the education funding debate should point out that if government schools were properly resourced, fewer parents would be struggling with private school expenses. Many would choose instead to send their children to the local state school if it was well run and well funded."Several factors influence parents to choose state or private schooling. For some these are fixed, such as religious belief, but for others it is concern that state schools are under-resourced, lax in their discipline and low in fostering academic achievement. This is a combination of reality and perception. Both can be changed if a proper commitment is made on the part of governments — state and federal — as well as the school communities.
"The ideologically chaotic '70s, which saw the beginning of the flight to private schools, are over. Some of the approaches to discipline, study and teaching that prevailed then have been rejected by educators and the public. Several state high schools have since developed such good reputations for academic and extracurricular opportunities that their intake zones have had to be strictly enforced because demand for enrolments exceeds supply.
"These are not "selective" high schools that can choose all of their students. Nevertheless, they achieve very impressive results.
"The building of a truly excellent state education is, in the long run, not only a more equitable approach to educating the nation but also more economically responsible than ad hoc, Band-aid tax cuts."
Daria Fedewytsch-Dickson, Prahran
Lessons of the past
"Richard Teese (Opinion, 14/11) proposes a wall-to-wall state-run school system that would "concentrate resources" and thus revitalise the quality of education for all. But this is exactly the rationale behind the failed totalitarian states of last century. He is ignoring the lesson that where there is no choice and no competition, a state monopoly can consume unlimited resources and still deliver poor quality and terrible inequities."In his eagerness to deny parents the right to choose who shall teach their children, Teese would lock every child into a union-dominated system that refuses to recognise individual teacher quality. Does he need proof that money by itself will not redeem a centralised school system controlled by a narrow political faction? He need only remember the huge funding boost provided by the Whitlam government. Lots of cash, but no improvement in quality.
"Another simple test is to look at the Catholic system. It operates on a lower budget per child, yet achieves higher outcomes. Even more parent choice will deliver even more opportunity to children of all income levels."
Philip O'Carroll, North Fitzroy
- The 'revolution' starts in childhood
"Money and computers alone will not lead to an education revolution (The Age, 15/11). It also needs programs and teaching methods that encourage students and workers to think creatively and critically for themselves. We live in a rapidly changing and competitive world — a world that demands societies that can solve problems with novel ideas and people who can reason and make relevant decisions. Inquisitiveness and inventiveness need to be the foundations of any education system.
"Such a revolution has already begun in Singapore, where children are successfully being taught the mindset and thinking skills needed to create novel ideas and to make personal judgements. Both of our political parties are talking big about early childhood but have not announced any new programs for going beyond Plasticine, play, and paint. Please inform us with specifics rather than vague slogans."
John Langrehr, Hazelwood Park, SA
This is not education
"It's amazing how our politicians equate having an internet-linked computer with learning. Access to an uncontrolled media is not education. Give every teenager a computer and the real beneficiaries will be MySpace, YouTube and the plethora of porn sites that dominate the "information super highway".Peter Worcester, Glen Iris
Saturday – Sunday, 17 – 18 November
- The West Australian
- Sack OBE exam panel, urge teachers (page 16)
by Bethany Hiatt
"Teachers of the outcomes-based education engineering studies course are calling for a panel which set the Year 12 exam to be sacked, saying the paper contained questions which did not appear on the syllabus or in sample exams."The teachers said many students would have had "no chance" of answering parts of the exam, which 130 students sat on Tuesday because it was completely different to anything they had studied. Some said the panel should not be allowed to set any future exams in the subject.
"This was despite reassurance from the Curriculum Council staff that the TEE paper would be similar to sample exams issued in the past two years.
"Engineering studies was one of the three OBE courses Year 12s did for the first time this year, alongside English and media production and analysis.
"Complaints about the engineering exam come after criticism from English teachers that students could have completed the English exam without having read a single book and from media teachers that their exam was poorly constructed and did not adequately examine material students had covered in Year 12.
"Mazenod College engineering teacher Ralph Bradstreet, who is one of the teachers calling for the exam panel's dismissal, said students had been disadvantaged because the Curriculum Council's system had allowed the panel to largely ignore council advice to stick closely to the types of questions set out in sample exams.
"Students have essentially been guinea pigs in a course that the Curriculum Council knows was poorly trialled, hastily introduced and is still in need of major revision," he said.
"Another engineering teacher from a private school, who declined to be named, said the council had failed teachers, who had to face questions from parents about the way they had prepared their students for the exam.
"I think students were very disappointed because a lot of them have worked hard, covered the content that they were led to believe would be in it and found that the paper had no relation to what they'd been studying."
"Curriculum Council chief executive David Wood confirmed the council had received feedback about the engineering exam. "A routine statistical analysis will be conducted to assess the quality of the exam questions," he said. "Where necessary, marks will be adjusted to ensure that no student is disadvantaged."
"He said a report on the exam would be presented at a meeting of teachers and examiners early next year."
From The West Australian
- State steps up ad blitz to lure teachers [online update of 18 November]
AAP
"Western Australia is stepping up its campaign to lure new teachers into state public schools."WA Education Minister Mark McGowan today launched a new $230,000 advertising blitz to lure teaching graduates into the system, promoting the lucrative salaries available for those who go bush. [This must be the new "I was meant to be a teacher" advertising campaign, featuring teachers who "love it so much that I never consider it work", that we saw in yesterday's Sunday Times. Web].
“The state government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure public schools are staffed, and we started recruiting teachers six months earlier than in previous years,” Mr McGowan said in a statement.
“For example... a graduate in Mount Magnet District High School will earn $64,535 in the first year and a graduate in Jigalong Remote Community School will earn $72,280 a year next year, plus free rent.”
"Last month the minister unveiled the new pay deal for the state’s 22,000-strong teaching workforce, designed to ensure senior teachers and graduates were the highest paid in Australia.
"Exemplary teachers would be paid more than $100,000 a year by 2011 as an incentive to stay in classrooms.
"The deal was labelled a stunt and “a slap in the face” by the State School Teachers Union of WA, with president Mike Keely saying it would do nothing to retain experienced teachers.
"It offered the vast majority of classroom teachers absolutely nothing until February 2009, he said.
"WA has faced a teacher shortage this year and has been actively trying to lure teachers from interstate and overseas.
"Mr McGowan today said he was particularly keen to attract graduates to teach in country secondary schools in physics, chemistry, maths, English, home economics and design and technology." [So keen he'll throw in a free late-model BMW convertible? Web]
From The West Ausralian online at link
- Letter to the Editor (page 22)
- Please explain
"It is indeed a sorry state of affairs when concerned parents from a primary school have to take their kids out of class and march on Parliament. It was disturbing to see the Minister fob them off with party rhetoric about "considering the needs of all schools" when these little ones and their teachers work in conditions that our parliamentary masters would never risk.
"Sometimes I wonder whether Mr McGowan really gets it. He says the teachers' union is over-stating the teacher shortage problem. Does he really believe that he has got these things sorted out? Did the Minister honestly believe that teachers would welcome a pay offer that would reward only 0.03 per cent of the teaching workforce and for everyone else barely keep pace with inflation?
"Maybe, like Captain Bligh, our Minister is blind to the plight of his crew. The morale of teachers is at rock bottom and they may very well mutiny to get professional pay an school improvements. Desperate times demand desperate measures."
Andrew Bell, Woodvale
- The Sunday Age
- Op Ed
An education revolution begins with good teachers
by Alice Pung
"On the eve of this election, both major parties have promised to provide students with greater educational resources — computers, faster internet connection, even school fee payments — through rebates and tax cuts for parents. Our politicians claim that spending money this way is a good investment in a student's future."Yet amid all these promises, investment in our most important educational resource has largely been forgotten: teachers. These are the people who have self-funded photocopying accounts with Officeworks, because their work photocopying budget ran out. The ones using their own money to pay for whiteboard markers and paper. The ones whose evenings are filled with meetings, and whose weekends are filled with marking.
"First-year teaching is all about survival," a friend told me. "And if you work hard, you just get more work." Handling department budgets was never part of her job description, nor was chasing up a television — which can take days — so she can show an educational DVD.
"A recent survey found that teachers are teaching outside their areas of qualification in about 26% of Victorian primary schools and 46% of secondary schools. Often this burden means that teachers experience burnout. [emphasis added]
"There is no social life," another teacher mate tells me, "your work just consumes you."
"It seems more acceptable for a lawyer to whine about their working hours than a teacher, despite the fact that most lawyers are more than adequately remunerated for their hours. This is because there are now two categories of employees: the economy-enhancing professional; and the teacher or nurse whose needs are ignored because their contribution may not be so clear in monetary terms.
"Yet the recent McKinsey report into education in OECD countries concluded that "the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers".
"New teachers have the enthusiasm, energy and skills to embark on a true education revolution. They have invaluable skills. But my generation has grown up with the idea that if we don't get job satisfaction, we can leave; and with the realisation that jobs are not for life.
"Meanwhile, more than half of Victoria's teachers are on contracts.
"So new teachers may not have the patience to campaign for change when they see how stuck in the mire the system is.
"New teachers feel that governments simply do not consider their needs a priority, even though teachers are responsible for thousands of children.
"According to the Australian Education Union's Victorian new teachers survey, new teachers only last on average five years before leaving the profession. The survey also revealed that 52% planned to leave public education within 10 years, and more than 80% planned to leave the profession entirely.
"The main reasons nominated by teachers for their decision to leave were: workload, lack of support, job tenure and class sizes.
"Because of the resulting ageing workforce in teaching, the union estimates that Victoria is going to have to recruit an extra 500 secondary teachers every year in addition to our university graduates.
"The biggest educational problem our country is facing is not a lack of material resources, but of human resources. Parents don't need shortsighted bribes from politicians; they want long-term solutions.
"Twenty years from now, no child is going to say: "I had an awesome education — the Dell laptop guided me through iambic pentameters, bullying, and deep moments of self-doubt." The essence of a good education is all about having good teachers.
"Educational philosopher Robert Hutchins said "the object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives". Hopefully, whatever party forms government after Saturday will give young people a greater incentive to educate others as well.
"Even though my friend is always exhausted, there's one reason she stays in teaching: "For the kids that I teach, it's worth it."
Alice Pung is a Melbourne lawyer and author of Unpolished Gem.
From The Sunday Age at link
- The Age [Saturday]
- Editorial
Pay teachers more and reap the rewards
"When the next crop of secondary school or university graduates weigh up their options, how many of the best and brightest will choose to be teachers? No doubt they will consider the maximum pay in Victoria of $65,414 a year, a level that can notionally be achieved after about 10 years in the job. They may also note that this is about $6500 a year less than what a senior teacher can earn in NSW. They might wonder what financial incentives would induce them to stay in the profession after they achieved the top rate. With a little research they would also realise that over the past three decades teachers' salaries have not kept pace with general wages growth and that teachers are not highly respected in the community, despite the increasing demands and pressures being placed upon them."During this federal election campaign the Coalition and the Labor Party have earmarked several billion dollars for education initiatives, but none effectively targets the central element of the system upon which its success ultimately depends — the quality of teachers. The key to attracting the best possible candidates, as retiring Business Council of Australia president Michael Chaney noted last month, is to increase salaries. Until this is done, no amount of tinkering at the edges will address the core problem of recruiting, and retaining, the brightest teachers. [emphasis added]
"Research consistently shows that the quality of an education system reflects the quality of its teachers: the better the teachers, the better students perform. There are many talented and dedicated teachers in the system, but unless something is done to make teaching a more attractive career, the best candidates will not apply and standards will decline. The first step in solving this problem would be to raise the salaries of Victoria's teachers to at least that of their colleagues in other states. The next would be to take Mr Chaney's advice and offer teachers remuneration that truly reflects the crucial role they play in building this nation's intellectual and economic prosperity. That would be an education revolution."
From The Age at link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Neither side makes the grade
by Anna Patty, Education Editor
"A national survey of school principals has given both major parties fail marks for their education policies, but has rated Labor just ahead of the Coalition."The Australian Secondary Principals Association has awarded the Coalition an E grade for its overall commitment to education and Labor a D to a C.
"The association's deputy president, Jim McAlpine, said about 200 of the group's 2000 members had so far responded to the survey.
"Principals were asked to rate the parties on their performance on five priority areas.
"Most said the Coalition's performance was unsatisfactory in delivering a national curriculum, and ensuring an adequate supply of teachers and training and a national computer technology framework. Three-quarters of respondents said the Coalition had failed to ensure school buildings and management practices were environmentally sustainable. Nor was there a consistent approach to developing the intellectual, physical and mental health of all young Australians.
"Labor's approach to teacher supply and school infrastructure was found to be unsatisfactory, most principals said. However, when it came to establishing a national computer technology framework, a national curriculum and a consistent plan for the overall wellbeing of children, Labor's approach was satisfactory.
"Principals were more positive about the education policies of the Greens, who scored a B.
"Barbara Stone, of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools, said members were pleased to see that education had moved up the political agenda."
From The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- Op Ed
Funds squabble impoverishes schools
by Dr Tim Hawkes
"Debate on the funding of schools tends to polarise rather quickly along ideological and political lines. Opinions become entrenched and, all too often, analysis is entered into only to refine prejudice, rather than to inform opinion."As headmaster of The King's School, I have been required to defend the funding of independent schools, particularly in the light of hostile attacks from past Labor leaders. This has resulted in me supporting the Federal Government in many of its funding policies, but I have endeavoured to maintain a critical independence which has sometimes seen me at odds with the Howard Government on school funding matters.
"There are many perspectives on school funding, but the two main views tend to boil down to whether you fund schools on the basis of need or on the basis of entitlement. Giving more support to those in want is a principle enshrined in Judeo-Christian ethics, philanthropy and civic duty. Giving everyone their entitled share is enshrined in principles of equity and fairness.
"Neither argument in its purest form is appropriate for schools funding. There needs to be a judicious mix of both to arrive at a sensible policy. [emphasis added]
"An extreme expression of the entitlement approach is the "voucher system", which would see a per capita grant made available to every student. It would be enough to fund them at a public school, but it could also be used to defray the cost of a private education. It's fair, perhaps, but it may be the death knell for several public schools, particularly those in disadvantaged areas.
"An extreme expression of needs-based funding involves giving no money to "rich" schools, even though their families pay often significant taxes. It's fair, perhaps, but it erodes the right of entitlement and choice.
"The present funding of independent schools according to the presumed wealth of parents is a needs-based model. It may not be perfect, but it is a much improved model on the messy funding method inherited by the Howard Government. The criteria are apolitical, transparent and sensible, and federal Labor has had difficulty improving upon them.
"While acknowledging this, I think the model can be improved. With so many independent schools funded in excess of their entitlement, one wonders at the Coalition's commitment to their "needs-based" model.
"Some have wanted to fund independent schools on the basis of need as revealed in the quality of a school's facilities. However, when it is recognised that many of these facilities are a result of self-help initiatives, such a policy threatens to kill off initiative, with school communities slumping back into the arms of a welfare mentality which this country can ill afford. It is also worth noting that many of the best equipped schools are Catholic, and to introduce a school funding policy which would put the Catholic vote offside is to invite political oblivion.
"Needs-based funding already exists under the Federal Government, so Labor cannot trumpet this as its exclusive policy. However, the two main parties are at slightly different positions on the scale. Despite the Opposition's education spokesman, Stephen Smith, declaring the Prime Minister's latest education funding policy but a "fig leaf" on Labor's, there is at least one significant difference. Kevin Rudd's promised tax rebates on education are only for those qualifying for Family Tax Benefit, but John Howard's are for all families, despite their wealth.
"Some from the left political persuasion have reacted hysterically, claiming the Howard policy would be "devastating for public education". This is nonsense. Yes, some rich schools would get money, but it still means the poor schools would get their money. The presumption that if the rich schools did not get their money the Government would give even more to poor schools is something only the naive would believe.
"That said, I am in favour of needs-based funding. Perhaps this view has grown out of the social justice agenda running strongly through my Christian background.
"But just before anyone from the left gleefully claims King's will happily forgo any of its government funding, let me add the following.
"We in independent schools are already supporting a needs-based funding policy. King's is not getting half as much money from the Government as we would if we were a public school. In fact, we are not even getting a quarter. I am happy with this.
"However, I do not feel it right to reduce independent school funding any further, for it begins to become an unacceptable erosion of entitlement. I might also add that if my Kingsmen trooped off into the public system of education, it would cost the government about $12 million more.
"There seems to be a zero sum game played in the minds of some that suggests that the proper funding of public schools can only happen at the expense of reduced funding of private schools. This is divisive thinking. Rather than a preoccupation with division, we need to consider the joys of multiplication. We should be looking at improving the size of the educational budget, rather than squabbling over how we are going to divide it.
"Much more money needs to be poured into education. Having noted this, it is as well to remember that money will not fix all the problems associated with our public schools.
"While recognising that there are many outstanding public schools that do a sensational job, it needs to be acknowledged that there are matters other than a money shortage that need to be looked at to achieve better educational outcomes for students. These include improved teacher morale, greater autonomy for principals to hire and fire, and more accountability to the community rather than to centralised bureaucracies.
"Just pouring in more money will not solve our educational problems."
Dr Tim Hawkes is the headmaster of The King's School.
From The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- The Sunday Times
- Letter to the Editor (page 63)
- Dumbing down
"Re the election campaign discussion on computers for students in schools. I have to ask why?
"My son is aged nine and in Year 3. His classroom has three computers, as do all the classrooms at his school.
"The school also has a computer studies room, with 20 or more computers, an each class goes to computer studies throughout the week.
"My son needs to learn writing skills, English, maths, social skills, community awareness, interaction with others, and an understanding of the world.
"All students start in Year 2 with a calculator and do not learn their times tables properly, nor spelling or other subjects thoroughly.
"Why are our politicians so busy dumbing down our children?
"Why are they so concerned with beating each other that our children will become the scapegoats?"
Kerry Ellery, Mandurah
All Alston cartoons are © The West Australian Newspaper
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This page last updated 17 April, 2009 11:00 PM
