Monday 21 January

Tuesday 22 January

Wednesday 23 January

Thursday 24 January

Friday 25 January

Saturday – Sunday, 26 – 27 January

Monday 21 January

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Teacher shortage "much worse if pay deal fails" (page 16)
    by Keryn McKinnon

    "An expected shortfall of up to 600 teachers for the start of the school year could be exacerbated if the State Government fails to offer significant pay increases when enterprise bargaining negotiations resume on Thursday, the State School Teachers' Union said yesterday.

    "Union vice-president Anne Gisborne said many teachers were hinging their decision on whether to stay in the profession, to retire or to seek work elsewhere, on the outcome of the latest pay deal.

    "The Government needs to take a clear approach that will encourage those teachers who are in that position to extend their professional life," Ms Gisborne said.

    "She said many teachers felt there was a lack of recognition of the additional workload they had been taking on and the impact staff shortages had on them.

    "There is a sense this agreement has to be one of the key strategies and planks in the Government's approach to redressing teacher shortages and standards of living (for teachers) within the current economic backdrop," Ms Gisborne said.

    "She said WA's high cost of living compared to other States, and higher salaries in other sectors, was also driving teachers from the classroom.

    "Education Minister Mark McGowan was on leave and could not be contacted yesterday.

    "A spokesman for the Department of Education and Training said only that the department was confident the negotiations would have a positive outcome.

    "The union has issued a directive to all public schoolteachers to work to rule when school resumes in a fortnight if significant progress is not made in the pay negotiations. That means all out-of-school activities, including excursions, sports events and camps, will not take place.

    "Last month, an overwhelming 90 per cent of teachers voted against a Government offer of a 13 per cent increase over four years. The deal would have increased the salary of the highest paid average classroom teacher from $69,132 to $78,557 over the period.

    "The union wants WA's highest paid average classroom teachers to earn an automatic increase to more than $75,000 a year, bringing them in line with their NSW counterparts.

    "Opposition education spokesman Peter Collier said it was a sad indictment on how seriously the Government took the issue when a week before teachers returned to school the EBA had not been resolved.

    "It should have been done and dusted months before the end of the 2007 academic year," Mr Collier said. "They have been pushing teachers as far as they possibly can at a time when they should be embracing them."

    From The West Australian
    
    
    

• The Age
  
  
  • Op Ed
    Teacher pay flunks the fairness test
    by Ann Rennie
    

    "The writer (and teacher of 30 years) Frank McCourt remarks in his 2005 memoir Teacher Man that teaching is the downstairs maid of the professions.

    "He speaks warmly of his years spent teaching in the blackboard jungle of New York, of his adventures and misadventures in his classroom. He remembers the days, months and years spent preparing lessons, standing in front of classes, exhorting them to understanding and correcting essays in the hope that some of his students would find more than mere literacy under his tutelage.

    "For 30 years, before the Angela's Ashes phenomenon, McCourt lived an unsung life, going about his work as a teacher with his own ambitions placed firmly on the back burner. He put his heart into his sometimes crazy and chaotic classes, into the word-songs he coaxed from his erstwhile students as he encouraged them to write in their own voices, even if it wasn't the voice of the curriculum norm.

    "For 30 years he was just another educated, invisible teacher, doing a manifestly important job for manifestly meagre pay. No glossy brochures or schmoozy networking when it's only a child's life you have changed, when it's only the door to their future that you hold open.

    "And this is where Victorian teachers are today — the poor relations of the professional classes, their expertise devalued and their self-esteem sorely bruised as they loiter at the bottom of the professional ladder; the very people who enable others to go on to careers that are respected and well paid.

    "When parents can't or won't do the life lessons for their children, it falls to the school and the teacher to provide the social safety net for an increasingly fragmented society. Teachers no longer simply teach. They are also counsellors and coaches, friends and facilitators, mentors and mediators. The school is often the one-stop shop for the remediation or instruction that should come from home. [emphasis added]

    "I went to the University of Melbourne in the late 1970s. My friends and I completed degrees and did postgraduate study. Today my salary is now so far below that of my peers that it is laughable — except that it is so disheartening. I joke that I don't suffer from postmodernist status anxiety — because teachers no longer have any status; their once respected position eroded as they become mere service providers.

    "My friends in other professions have succeeded due to years of hard work, long hours, dedication, weekend work and a desire to be and do the best they can professionally.

    "My colleagues in teaching have also done the hard work, long hours, weekends preparing and correcting, but their salaries do not reflect this dedication; a dedication to the future.

    "Some may argue that this is simply a whinge about the financial lottery that is part of any professional life and that the politics of envy is rearing its ugly head. Yes, sometimes I am envious, but I do know that I am in the right job for me and that my salary is only a small part of my job satisfaction.

    "Teachers have a right to a wage commensurate with their experience and expertise. The starting salary for a first-year dentist in this state is $58,000. This is not far below what teachers of 12 years' experience earn, and where their salary is capped unless they take on further administrative work.

    "Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has talked about an education revolution. The laptop provision is a quick fix; a start-up kit for technological know-how and no replacement for the personal instruction and relational interactions essential for real learning.

    "What if Victorian teachers, tired of poor pay, low status, lack of permanency or career stalemate, start revolting? In an editorial, The Age suggested (at least) the implementation of pay parity across state borders. This could go hand in glove with the proposed national curriculum. [emphasis added]

    "Teachers are now enjoying the holidays, unwinding from the 2007 fray and mentally preparing for what 2008 will bring. They are reading books, preparing notes and studying to enhance their professional knowledge and skill so that they can unleash what Einstein called "the holy curiosity of inquiry" in the next generation.

    "And when term time comes, the real work will begin, much of which will take place outside school attendance hours.

    "If teachers lay the groundwork for Australia's future prosperity and are also the gatekeepers for transmitting the cultural views and values of our society, surely they deserve something more tangible than the occasional "Well done!"

    "Without their investment in the social capital and cultural legacy that is the purpose of truly enlightened education, not just utilitarian economic productivity, our future would not be so bright.

    "All the talk about a hemorrhaging profession with an average age of 50, some leaving the profession after five years as they see their peers' careers and pay escalate, recruiting the best and the brightest with scholarships and incentives, will mean nothing if the status of teaching is not improved.

    "In the past, a notion prevailed that teachers taught for love, not money; that they were vocationally disposed to work for the common good. Well, teachers can't live on love alone. If the profession is to attract and retain the best teachers, it needs pay and conditions that reflect that professional position.

    "Until teachers are rewarded for their effort and expertise, they will remain the poor relations of the professional classes, providing futures for others at the expense of their own. " [emphasis added]

    Ann Rennie is a Melbourne teacher.

    From The Age at link
    
    
    

  • Exclusive Brethren schools to get $10m subsidy
    by Gerard Noonan and Michael Bachelard
    

    "The secretive Exclusive Brethren religious sect is to receive more than $10 million from the Federal Government this year, despite Prime Minister Kevin Rudd having described it as an extremist cult that breaks up families.

    "The money will be paid to five schools run by the Brethren. The largest, in the north-western Sydney suburb of Meadowbank, known as M.E.T. Meadowbank, will receive $4.3 million. Over the next four years, the schools, which operate across many campuses, will collect almost $50 million in subsidies..."

    Full story in The Age at link
    
    
    
    

• The Telegraph (UK)
  
  
  • Why punish parents for doing the right thing?
    by Janet Daley
    
    "I have a confession to make. I spent the best part of an afternoon last week helping my four-year-old granddaughter learn to read. So I am ready for a knock on the door at 3am from the Equality Police. I haven't even bothered to hide the little scraps of paper on which she and I printed out the letters which formed those pernicious words: "c-a-t", "s-a-t", "f-a-t". No, it's a fair enough cop. After all, I am a serial offender: this is the second generation of children whom I have attempted to turn into social criminals, who will steal educational opportunities from the poor and deprived by becoming dangerously irresistible to school head teachers.
    
    "When the Brown (or is it Balls?) team of enforcers come to the door, I will give up my collection of bedtime stories and flash cards without a murmur, repeating the mantra "No child must be given an advantage over any other child", until I am fit to return to the community. No doubt I will be serving out my time in the correction camp with all those head teachers who broke the law by carrying out "covert interviews" with prospective parents before admitting children to their schools.
    
    "No, that last bit is not a joke. University graduate are you? Like to fill your children's time with museum visits and music lessons, do you? Hoping to get them into a good local school where the academic standards and codes of behaviour will be consistent with those you have tried to instil at home? Well, you - yes, you - are personally responsible for the collapse in educational attainment, and consequent delinquency, of the poorest children in society.

    "But even more culpable than you, in your single-minded ambition for your own privileged offspring, are those desirable schools which will insist on "cherry-picking" the most obligingly conscientious families over the disadvantaged ones, whose children may hold back a whole class full of eager learners with their behavioural problems. So heads were warned once again last week: it is now illegal - a criminal offence - for a primary school head to conduct an interview of any kind with the parents of applying pupils or to request any information from them which might, in any way, indicate their class background or provide clues about their own educational achievements.

    "What exactly does this mean, and what measures would be required to see to it that the law was strictly enforced? Are heads forbidden to engage in conversation with prospective parents when they come to school open days? (After all, the social connotations of British speech being what they are, a five-minute chat could tell an experienced head a great deal about a family.) Perhaps open days should be held in strict Trappist silence and visitors provided with all-enveloping overalls at the door to conceal any identifiable distinctions in sartorial taste. Or should parents who attend such events be automatically suspect since only the more educationally ambitious would be inclined to do so? How ridiculous - and how morally repugnant - are we prepared to get over this?

    "Let me make one thing clear: I am as concerned as all those sinister Maoist levellers in the Government about the extent to which the school system is failing poorer children. And I do see a direct connection between that failure and the epidemic of youth crime and anti-social behaviour over which Jacqui Smith has got herself into such a hopeless self-contradictory mess. I just do not believe that the problem is caused by "pushy" middle-class parents monopolising the best schools with the artful complicity of head teachers. Those schools are only the best because the most educable (not necessarily the brightest) children attend them: it is the attitude of the pupils and the support of their parents that allow the schools to be so good. Casting out those pupils (and their parents) and replacing them with disruptive or less educable ones will simply mean that the school will no longer be a "good" one: its staff will become dispirited and leave, its carefully cultivated ethos will collapse and it will cease to be desirable to precisely that section of the community that once helped to make it so successful.

    "The Government's formula for enforced "opportunity" (just a variation of the old "bussing" solution used in the American South) is a recipe for destroying what good schools there are, not for improving access to them. If Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, is serious about addressing juvenile crime and the alienation of boys, he should reinstate the notions of healthy competition and structured learning, which offered clearly defined goals in the classroom - the only mechanisms that can maintain male interest (and contain male aggression) at school.

    "Previous generations who managed to educate working-class boys without turning them out as nihilists understood that male adolescents were potentially dangerous: that their destructive and amoral impulses had to be channelled and disciplined if they were to become responsible, functioning members of society. A schooling system that rejects competitiveness and substitutes vague "creative" activities for a comprehensible ladder of achievements is a recipe for frustration in boys - who turn, in their confusion, to the clear-cut satisfactions that are available on the street.

    "But there is a wider principle here which is even more wicked (if that is possible to imagine) than the systematic destruction of what excellence remains in the state-school system. It is the notion that those who do the right thing - encourage their children to learn and to behave well - should be discriminated against in favour of those who do not. I fully accept the argument that the children of feckless or disadvantaged parents are themselves blameless and should not be penalised by the education system. But the children of conscientious, educated parents are also innocent: they should not be handicapped as if the circumstances of their birth were a form of original sin.

    "There is a general rule, which can be applied as a test of any social policy: people should never be punished for doing the right thing. So, the tax-and-benefits system should not be constructed to favour those who do not work over those who do: it should never be possible to be better off by doing nothing than by working for your living. And it should never be the case that those who save for retirement end up worse off than those who don't. You might try asking yourself the next time a politician speaks: does this mean he wants to punish me for being virtuous?"

    From The Telegraph at link
    
    
    

• The Washington Post
  
  
  • Rethinking Principal Priorities of Training
    
    Cities across America have long hunted for tougher, better-trained principals to turn around struggling schools full of impoverished children. A major university and an influential group of educators in Texas are proposing a provocative way to meet the demand: They say urban principals of the future can skip the traditional education school credentials and learn instead about business. [emphasis added]

 

Tuesday 22 January

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Letter to the Editor (page 22)
    
    
    • Sad parting

      "The Education Department is crying out for quality teachers but providing little incentive to retain experienced members. My beef is not about the salary, conditions or quality of teachers, but the treatment of retiring members from the TAFE sector.

      "You would expect, after 26 years service as a TAFE lecturer to be given at least a "thankyou and goodbye", but when my husband retired at the end of 2006 he walked out with nothing. No speeches, morning or afternoon teas, gifts or even a retirement card. He was devastated. The only positive feedback was from the students.

      "Now, 12 months later and it still plays on his mind constantly. From a confident and high self esteem person he is now asking why everyone is no negative towards him.

      "The people in authority in TAFE need to understand the lecturers are professional people with feelings. We are still waiting for an explanation.

      "In contrast, I retired from the primary sector at the same time and was given a wonderful send-off."

      Name and address supplied
      

 

• The Australian
  
  
  • Unis told to root out extremists
    by Alexandra Frean
    

    "British university leaders have agreed to inform the police of any extremist behaviour by students or visiting speakers that they suspect may lead to terrorism.

    "A new “tool kit” for universities issued today by Bill Rammell, the Universities Minister, advises universities to draw up a national watch list of guest speakers who should be banned from speaking on campus.

    "It also suggests that universities consider setting up multi-faith chaplaincies instead of separate prayer rooms for different faiths, to promote integration and prevent pockets of extremists forming..."
    

    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Teachers victims of 'cyberbullying'
    by Nicola Woolcock
    

    "Soaring numbers of British teachers are calling helplines for advice on how to cope after being "cyberbullied" on the internet by their pupils.

    "The Association of School and College Leaders said that it now receives a call every day from teachers who say they have become victims. The problem was unheard of just two years ago.

    "Pupils are scouring the internet looking for embarrassing photographs of them. They also use chatrooms and networking sites, such as Facebook or Bebo, to share incriminating material or make vicious accusations about their tutors.

    "Union leaders are urging their members to be cautious about content and ease of access to material they put on the internet. Many teachers have Facebook pages on which they share photographs of holidays or nights out with friends.

    "The caution comes after a teacher who allegedly appeared in a provocative advert was suspended from her job at an independent school, Stockport Grammar School. Her pupils found the advertisement, for construction workers’ clothes, on the internet. It shows three women simulating sex acts with three workers. One of them, allegedly the teacher, is shown apparently having sex on a desk. The video has been viewed thousands of times on a website.

    "It emerged this week that students at the University of Bradford used Facebook to criticise a lecturer.

    "They created a page entitled “Annie Smith is S***”, Times Higher Education reported. The webpage listed grievances about the woman along with a number of abusive comments. Dr Smith said: “Lecturers are finding that there is a big change in the way that students behave. They are becoming more aggressive.”

    "Bob Carstairs, assistant general secretary of the ASCL, assists with a helpline. He said: “One of the most commonly reported problems is pupils being extremely rude about teachers on the internet. The advice we give heads is to ignore it and get on with your life, unless the material is sexual or violent.”

    "One head teacher contacted the helpline after his pupils created a page on Bebo that said he became aroused by beating children. Husband and wife teachers had allegations about their sex life placed on a website by pupils.

    "Another teacher contacted her union after a disgruntled former boyfriend put intimate footage of them on the internet, which she did not know had been filmed. She became aware of this when her pupils found it and told her. A spokeswoman for the Association of Teachers and Lecturers said: “It made things very awkward with her pupils.”

    "A survey by the Teacher Support Network found 17 per cent of teachers had suffered cyberbullying. Pupils were responsible in more than a third of cases. A spokesman for the Department of Children, Schools and Families said: “We have issued clear guidance on cyberbullying. Teachers can now confiscate phones and control computer access and usage in the classroom.”

    From The Australian at link

 

Wednesday 23 January

• The Brisbane Courier Mail
  
  
  • Teaching degrees in firing line [from 22 January]
    by Craig Johnstone
    

    "A slide in the entry standards for students training to be teachers in Queensland universities has prompted a threat from the Bligh Government to refuse to recognise an education degree as an automatic qualification into the state's school system.

    "Education Minister Rod Welford accused some universities of "desperation" by continuing to lower the academic bar school-leavers have to clear to be accepted in to a teaching degree course.
    
    "He said that, if the slide continued, education authorities might need to introduce extra testing and screening measures for graduates wanting to become teachers so professional standards were maintained.

    "I'm growing increasingly concerned at the desperation by some universities to fill their quotas by allowing what appear to be underperforming students attempting to become teachers," Mr Welford said.

    "He was responding to an analysis of education degrees on offer in Queensland this year, which showed that several universities were accepting some students with an OP score as low as 19 into their teacher-training courses.

    "The analysis of course information held by the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre showed that it is commonplace for universities – particularly regional institutions – to offer education degree courses to school-leavers with an OP of 17 or lower.

    "Mr Welford said these institutions were doing a disservice to teaching as a career choice.

    "My fear is that by going lower and lower in the OP scale the universities are damaging the professional standing of teaching," he said.

    "If it's too easy to get into, people don't see it as the highly significant and noble profession that it is."

    "While minimum entry levels have fallen at some universities, teaching continues to attract high achievers.

    "Mr Welford said many students with ordinary OP scores did end up being outstanding teachers, and not everyone with an exceptional academic record at school necessarily made a good teacher.

    "But, he said, the approach of some universities to their teaching courses was "more about bums on seats than it is about quality teaching".

    "He said it was important to ensure universities produced education graduates who were "capable and successful students".

    "Otherwise we will reach the point where education systems and departments will simply not be able to recognise a degree alone as a qualification for entry as a school teacher."

    "But university administrators defended the lowering of cut-offs for teaching degrees, insisting academic attainment was not the only indicator of to who would make a good teacher.

    "University of Southern Queensland Dean of Education Nita Temmerman said it was important the state's teachers were made up of the best and brightest but that an OP score was "only one indicator of achievement".

    "USQ has an OP cut-off of 19 for most of its education-degree courses, but Professor Temmerman said that once in a degree course, students with ordinary OP scores regularly did better than their more academically gifted counterparts.

    "Kids with an OP of 16 have outperformed academically kids that have come in with an OP2," she said.

    "Professor Toni Downes of the Australian Council of Deans of Education, said academic rank was an important factor for trainee teachers but not to the exclusion of other qualities in students.

    "What parents want most is for teachers to be passionate and committed about their childrens' education," she said.

    "I never graduate somebody who I would not be proud to have teach my children."

    From The Brisbane Courier Mail at link
    
    
    
    
    • Perspectives: Rankling in the ranking
      by Professor Nita Temmerman, Pro Vice Chancellor, Academic Quality, and Dean Faculty of Education, USQ
      
      "The OP or Overall Position is the tertiary entrance score measure used in Queensland. It provides a statewide rank order of students based on achievement in recognised subjects studied for the Queensland Senior Certificate.

      "A scale of one to 25 is used, with those students receiving an OP of 1 considered to be among the top 2 per cent of students in Queensland overall. OPs are used by tertiary institutions such as universities to set quotas, especially in degree programs where there is high demand for places.

      "This means that the OP is the main determinant of what the minimum acceptable academic standard of achievement is for entry to university programs for those coming direct from Year 12.

      "Success at school like success at university, however, is about much more than academic achievement. This is made evident in schools where leadership positions are conferred on students whose accomplishments include cultural and community contributions, not solely academic success..."
      
      Full story in The Brisbane Courier Mail at link
      
      
      

• The Australian
  
  
  • Uni fees forecast to rocket
    by Milanda Rout
    
    "University fees for students are set to skyrocket and could top $26,000 a year in the next three decades, putting an even greater hole in the back pocket of families trying to educate their children.

    "New figures from the Australian Scholarships Group predict annual HECS fees could rise to as much as $11,573 by 2017, $17,462 by 2027 and $26,349 by 2037.

    "The increase does not include living expenses, books or computers and comes amid fears students are turning their backs on universities because of concerns about long-term debt.
    
    "The latest round of university applications shows a decline in demand as school-leavers decide to get a job in the nation's booming economy rather than start a costly tertiary education.

    "Australian Scholarships Group managing director Terry O'Connell said university fees, like all education costs, were continuing to rise. "Education costs are increasing by double the rate of inflation over the last 15 years," Mr O'Connell said.

    "He said the research showed students would pay up to $13,144 this year for university, which included HECS fees, $1156 in books and stationery, $2221 in extra course activities and travel, and $1776 for computer use.

    "Mr O'Connell said the estimates - based on a survey of more than 1200 students and taking into account education inflation rates - showed that sending a student to university would cost as much as $18,150 by 2017, $26,088 by 2027 and $37,664 by 2037.

    "He said the research showed school-leavers were rethinking university.

    "They are concerned with the debt they would accumulate while at university ... they are hearing stories about couples unable to buy houses because of their university debt," Mr O'Connell said. "And because of low unemployment levels, students are saying they can get a job so 'I won't go to university'."

    "Higher education expert Richard James said that although HECS debts were still manageable, there were signs students were becoming worried about the levels of debt they were taking on to get a tertiary education.

    "Professor James, based at Melbourne University, said there had been a slight decline in university applications, believed to be connected to the strong labour market.

    "He said the more significant costs facing students were living expenses rather than HECS. "The problem we have got in Australia is living support," he said.

    "National Union of Students president Angus McFarland said it was not surprising that school-leavers were being turned off university by increasing costs.

    "Mr McFarland called on the Rudd Government to undertake a review of HECS and student income support.

    "University of Technology Sydney second-year student Julie Ngo said she was beginning to realise how much her degree would cost.

    "I really wasn't aware of it until I got the bill about how much I owed in HECS," she said.

    "It was like 'how long is that going to take me to pay it back'."

    "The 19-year-old said she would also like to move out of home to be closer to university but the high cost of living prevented it."

    From The Australian at link
    
    
    
    
• The Times
  
  
  • Cooking lessons to be compulsory for teens [from 22 January]
    
    Teenagers will be given compulsory cooking lessons at school, under government plans to ensure that all pupils know how to make eight different healthy meals.
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Students bemoan course shift
    
    A private college is understood to be under investigation after students who had been promised places in commercial cookery courses were funnelled into business classes after they had paid their fees.

 

Thursday 24 January

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Young Libs claim left-wing bias at unis, schools
    
    The Young Liberals organisation is pushing for a Senate inquiry into what it claims is left-wing bias among teachers and university lecturers, prompting the WA Teachers Union to claim the organisation wants a McCarthyist-style witch-hunt.
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • UQ role for teaching and learning
    

    The high-profile field of "teaching and learning" at university has been boosted by a leading exponent, the University of Queensland, which has created a deputy vice-chancellor portfolio to manage it.
    
    

  • Iraqi scholars to study in Australia
    
    Up to 50 Iraqi scholars are expected to take up post-graduate studies at Australian universities by the end of March as part of their nation's rebuilding program.
    
    

  • Text tool to give cheats a blasting
    
    Cheating is on the rise in academic circles, as scientists increasingly claim fradulent glory by plagiarising the work of others - and even themselves.
    
    
  
  
  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Gains for the economy
      

      "Professor Chapman's HECS ("The economist and the kid from Kathmandu", HES, January 16) is founded on the fallacy that unless graduates contribute directly to the cost of their degrees through the retrospective income-contingent HECS fee, they make no recompense to society.

      "While all economists have recognised that degrees on average result in higher lifetime earnings than those received by non-graduates, virtually no economists have admitted that such higher earnings attract higher income taxes (and sales or GST taxes on the spending therefrom)."

      Tim Curtin, Spence, ACT

 

Friday 25 January

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Teachers threaten classroom disruption as pay row tension rises [Front page]
    by Kim MacDonald

    "Teachers are threatening more aggressive industrial action, such as turning away new students from over-crowded classrooms and refusing to write reports cards, as they ramp up their bitter pay campaign with the State Government.

    "The State School Teachers' Union raised the tension of the negotiations with the Education Department yesterday by revealing it could launch a range of industrial measures within weeks of the start of the academic year if it was unable to make satisfactory progress with the State Government.

    "Union vice-president Anne Gisborne said a range of strategies would be considered as part of the next phase of the industrial campaign, including moves to deliberately disrupt classes with stop-work meetings and a ban on some administrative work.

    "Teachers might also refuse to conduct interviews with parents.

    "Those measures, if endorsed by the union's State executive during the next few weeks, would add to industrial action announced last week that would involve teachers refusing to take part in extracurricular activities, such as student excursions, when schools re-open on February 4.

    "Ms. Gisborne said the progressive campaign could culminate in a strike, but she refused to nominate when that would be considered. "Industrial action would get progressively stronger," she said. "Teachers are not prepared to wait months to get a sense of sufficient progress."

    "The union last month rejected a Government offer to lift teachers' pay by 13 per cent over the next four years, and a new round of talks yesterday failed to break the impasse.

    "Ms. Gisborne said teachers wanted to build on the Government's second pay offer, rather than going back to "square one" as signalled by the Government.

    "The sticking points in present negotiations concern pay and work-load issues, with teachers wanting bigger salaries, additional planning and preparation time for primary teachers, extra administration time and a reduction in class sizes for Years 4 to 10.

    "But they were pleased with the Government offers to provide more generous allowances for teachers in remote and country districts and also with the improvements to a process for classifying senior teachers.

    "The union wants WA's highest paid average classroom teachers to earn an automatic increase to more than $75,000 a year, bring them in line with their NSW counterparts.

    "The Education Department called on the union to suspend plans to ramp up its industrial action.

    "Executive director of human resources John Serich sad both parties had indicated they would negotiate in good faith.

    "In view of this commitment, the department has an expectation that the SSTU will respond favourably to its request to suspend any form of industrial action while negotiations continue," he said."

    From The West Australian
    
    

    
    
  • Alston (page 20)
    


© The West Australian



• Letter to the Editor (page 22)
  
  
  • Teaching worry

    "I have one child in primary school and another in high school. I have followed the outcomes-based education fiasco reported over the last two or so years and from my experience with children, I fully agree that OBE in WA has been foisted on our schools by bureaucrats, who know little of the situation within classrooms.

    "They have advocated a system that has compromised the education of many students.

    "I also know that our system has lost many experienced science and maths teachers to the private sector and industry because of this fiasco.

    "Just when I thought this mess was on the way to being cleaned-up, my sister, a pre-primary teacher, informed me that she and many other non-science and maths teachers had received a letter from the Education Department inviting her to start a graduate certificate course, completed in one year of part-time study, which would allow her to teach physics up to Year 12.

    "This is simply irresponsible and I condemn the Education Department and Edith Cowan University for being a party to this.

    "I know many teachers at the high school my daughter attends and I know it is rare to find teachers with the level of background knowledge that makes them suitable for teaching Year 11 and 12 subjects.

    "I am not a teacher but I have no doubt that it would take more than one year of part-time study to produce a teacher with enough background knowledge and skill to teach a Year 11 and 12 subject. The department and ECU must know this.

    "The department is facing a teacher shortage crisis of its own creation and is now advocating further reduction of standards by accrediting non-specialist teachers for upper school specialist subjects. I have a selfish concern because I am a mother with children who shortly will be pawns in a game administered by the fools in our education system."

    Karen Jensen, Ballajura
    
    
    

• ABC News
  
  
  • No end in sight to teacher's payrise dispute
    
    "The State School Teachers Union (SSTU) says there is unlikely to be a resolution to its pay dispute with the State Government before school starts in little more than a week.

    "The President of the SSTU, Anne Gisborne, says the Government's pay offer is insufficient and issues still remain around teacher workloads, preparation times, and class sizes.

    "Ms Gisborne says it will take time to resolve, but there are some positive signs because the rejection of the original offer by Education Minister Mark McGowan sent the Government a clear signal.

    "The Minister has recognised that that was a significant no and has advised us that he is re-evaluating," she said.

    "We are thinking positively that the response will be one that is attempting to find a means by which we can have an offer that will be acceptable to our members."

    "The union says teachers will not participate in extra-curricular activities and may take further industrial action such as stop-work meetings if the dispute is not resolved.

    "The Opposition's Education spokesman, Peter Collier, says it is unacceptable the dispute is not resolved so close to school resuming.

    "He is calling for teachers to be offered salary increases of up to 16 per cent to match those in New South Wales.

    "Teachers feel undervalued and disenchanted," he said.

    "The most effective mechanism that the Government has at its disposal, is to offer all teachers a significant salary increase." [emphasis added]

    Revise offer

    "The Education department's head of human resources, John Serich, has indicated the department might revise its pay offer in order to reach an agreement.

    "The teachers have already rejected a 13 per cent pay rise over four years.

    "Mr Serich is not making any commitment on class sizes or workloads.

    "We'll take on board all of the issues that the union raised, but our response will have to be predicated upon the very publicly known fact that there is a shortage of teachers at the moment," he said.

    "We will have to try and find a balance where we can address some of those issues, but at the same time not sacrifice our capacity to provide teachers in classrooms."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
• Research council calls for transparent school funding system
  by Milanda Rout
  

  "The $30 billion federal and state government funding system for schools is highly political, inefficient, in disarray and needs to be urgently overhauled.

  "The Australian Council for Educational Research made the criticisms as it called on all governments to join together and fix the confusing funding system, which does not allow people to find out how much a school receives in funding.

  "The council says the lack of transparency and the confusion between the different states and their funding systems are barriers to improving efficiency and equity in schools across the country.

  "In a policy paper released yesterday, the council urged state and federal education ministers to agree to establish a national financial reporting system that shows how much funding each school receives and where they get it from.

  "ACER principal research fellow Andrew Dowling said: "What is so surprising about it is that the current system is broken in that it cannot answer questions about where the funding is directed, is it used adequately and is there enough.

  "The system of funding is in disarray because the states are moving separately and there is not a national coherent system of reporting of school funding."

  "Dr Dowling said the problems caused by differences between the states were already being felt, with inconsistencies in school curriculums, starting ages and final school certificates.

  "But he said funding, which was often key to improving curriculum and educational performance, had been left out off the debate.

  "It's a classic example of problems that occur in a federal system in which states do things their own way," Dr Dowling said.

  "But unlike moves to go towards a national curriculum and a national starting age, it has been one part of the educational landscape that has been neglected."

  "Dr Dowling said not being able to know how much funding each school received put the system at a great disadvantage.

  "This paper shows that basic information about school funding is not available in Australia at the current time," he said.

  "It's a significant barrier to increasing efficiency and equity in schools as a whole. It (that information) would allow people to make comparisons between schools and contextualise school performance. Some schools that may be performing well may be getting a lot of money."

  "Dr Dowling said his research showed the political nature of school funding, especially on a federal level.

  "The paper stated that the federal Government had provided 73 per cent of government funding for independent schools in 2004-2005 while states were responsible for 91.3 per cent of the funding to government schools.

  "What becomes apparent is the changing level of commonwealth support for non-government students decreases or plateaus when a federal Labor government is in power and increases whenever a Liberal government is in power," Dr Dowling said in the paper. "One possible conclusion to be drawn is that school funding, at least at the federal level, is a highly political exercise."

  "Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard said the ACER paper was consistent with the Rudd Government's view that there was a need for all levels of government to work together to deliver a world-class school system.

  "The Rudd Government is working in partnership with the states and territories to lift education standards though greater accountability with a stronger focus on student outcomes," Ms Gillard said."

  From The Australian at link
  
  
  

• Democrats call for action on HECS
  by Milanda Rout
  

  "The Australian Democrats have called on the Rudd Government to take urgent action to head off steep increases in the cost of university education.

  "Democrats higher education spokeswoman Senator Natasha Stott Despoja said the Government also had to move quickly to bolster income support for students.

  “We do not need another (government) review to show costs are rising, or that student income support is not meeting the basic living costs of students,” she said.

  “We've been promised an education revolution by this Government. When is it going to begin?” Senator Stott Despoja said.

  "The senator was commenting on forecasts, reported this week in The Australian, that HECS fees could rise to as much as $11,573 by 2017, $17,462 by 2027 and $26,349 by 2037.

  "The Australian Scholarship Group's calculations do not include living expenses, books or computers and come amid fears students are turning their backs on universities due to concerns about debt.

  "The latest round of university offers shows a decline in demand as school-leavers decide to get a job in the nation's booming economy rather than start a costly tertiary education.

  "Senator Stott Despoja said the predicted cost increases were alarming.

  “Few students will be able to afford to pay more than $75,000 for a three-year degree,” she said.

  “Already, we are seeing a drop in the number of school-leavers opting for university; instead they are choosing to enter the paid workforce sooner.

  “While university is not the preferred option for all students, the choice must be there and must not be determined by wealth.”

  "Commenting on the issue of student income support, Senator Stott Despoja said the Government should examine the 2005 Senate inquiry she initiated as well as recommendations issued last year by sector lobby Universities Australia.

  "This week new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that education costs rose by 4.1 per cent in 2007, ahead of the general cost of living, which was up 3 per cent."

  From The Australian at link
  
  
  

• Editorial
  A good investment
  
  Graduate salaries make HECS worthwhile
  
  "The concerns of student unions and others over "skyrocketing" university HECS fees are misplaced. While it is understandable that students do not like starting their working lives in debt, a dispassionate look at the wider picture should allay their worries. This year, HECS students starting courses in highly paid disciplines such as law, medicine, accountancy and dentistry will incur fees of $8499. In a few years, many will start work well ahead of average weekly earnings and most will be paid double or treble that benchmark within a decade. For these students, $8499 a year, plus equipment costs, is an excellent investment. Those in many courses will pay less, with teaching and nursing students charged $4077 a year.
  
  "If HECS fees were reduced, as some in academia advocate, taxpayers would shoulder a greater share of tertiary education costs. This would force those on lower incomes, many of whom are among the 72 per cent of Australian workers without a degree or diploma, to further subsidise highly paid professionals. Contrary to what some claim, the current system should not deter students from poorer families from signing up for a degree. This is because no HECS fees need to be paid back until the student is in the workforce earning more than $39,000.

  "Recent surveys show that employer demand for graduates is on the rise, and so are graduate salaries. The average last year was $43,000, although many new graduates did much better. Dentists in private practice started work on $70,000, while new optometrists earned $51,200, doctors $50,000, engineers $46,000 and teachers $44,000.

  "To suggest, as National Union of Students president Angus McFarland does, that school-leavers are being turned off university by increasing costs is to underestimate their capacity to make sound decisions about their futures. A stronger job market has drawn some away from study or influenced their decision to postpone going to university for a few years. If, after leaving school, young people are unsure about what university course, if any, they want to do, working for a few years gives them the time and perspective to make informed choices. While broad degrees in arts and science are a good preparation for some careers, or precursors to professional qualifications, graduate surveys show that some graduates with general degrees have been forced to take lower-paid jobs than they wanted.

  "New figures from the Australian Scholarships Group, published in The Australian this week, predict HECS fees will rise to as high as $11,573 a year by 2017. Given inflationary pressures and the increasing sophistication of education, this seems likely. But it would still be less than many parents pay in school fees in today's dollars. As a future investment, however, such imposts should make students look carefully at their long-term prospects before enrolling in cinema, leisure, games, sustainability, communications and other general courses."
  
  From The Australian at link
  
  
  

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Funds formula benefits private schools: report
    by Anna Patty, Education Editor
    

    "Private schools are becoming more advantaged and receiving greater amounts of Commonwealth funding because public schools are taking on a greater load of disadvantaged students, a national report has found.

    "The report by the Australian Council for Educational Research has identified a nexus between Commonwealth funding for private schools and state funding for public schools that delivers a disproportionate benefit to private schools.

    "Federal government funding for private schools is based on the average cost to state governments of educating a child in a public school. It also takes into account the socio-economic status of the area in which students live.

    "The report, Australia's School Funding System, by Andrew Dowling, indicates that public schools are losing their share of students who are the least expensive to teach and increasing their share of the most disadvantaged students, who are the costliest to educate.

    "Dr Dowling said there were no consistent measures of need or reporting between state and federal governments.

    "This is one area where federalism is failing the nation," Dr Dowling said. "It appears that government schools do most of society's heavy lifting in terms of the students they enrol. But the reporting of school funding makes it impossible to measure need consistently across sectors."

    "The report explains that non-government schools are benefiting from the increasing cost of educating children in public schools, even though they are not facing the same costs.

    "This does not mean the Commonwealth is giving less money to government schools but rather that its funding to non-government schools may be disproportionate to that sector's needs."

    "Dr Dowling said the Howard government had tried to encourage private schools to raise their own funds without penalty, but had taken no account of their resources from fees and donations when measuring a school's need for funding.

    "The Herald recently reported that some schools, including Cranbrook, had profits of more than $4 million a year while receiving millions in state and federal government funding.

    "Dr Dowling's report criticised the lack of transparency and politicised nature of funding. He said the Commonwealth's SES (socio-economic status) formula was not applied consistently. More than half of non-government schools received an adjusted amount of funding because strict application of the formula would have resulted in less funding."

    From The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    See related AAP story in The West Australian online
  
  
  
  
• The Washington Post
  
  
  • Tougher Policy on Bullying Proposed
    by Philip Rucker
    
    "The effort to combat bullying by teens in Maryland's public schools and on the Internet would be strengthened under legislation being considered by state lawmakers at the request of a Montgomery County high schooler who was tormented by her peers when she came out as a lesbian.

    "A state law might never end teenage teasing: a nasty look here, a snub there. But some in the General Assembly want to tighten school enforcement policies for more serious physical and emotional offenses and cyber-bullying, which national research suggests is escalating as students take to social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

    "Del. Craig L. Rice (D-Montgomery) introduced a bill this week that would require school officials to set new standards for investigating complaints and discipline students accused of bullying their peers on school grounds and the Internet. Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Montgomery) said she intends to file the same bill in her chamber.

    "The problem is expanding exponentially," Rice said. "What used to be a bullying incident amongst six people in a high school hallway has now evolved into a national broadcast, a global broadcast, on the Internet." ...
    
    Full story in The Washington Post at link

 

Saturday – Sunday, 26 – 27 January

• The Sunday Age
  
  
  • Editorial
    To attract quality teachers we need to pay competitive wages
    
    "Hollywood, at least, loves the narrative of the inspirational teacher. It's the one where the miscreant/lonely/poor/rebellious/all-of-the-above teenagers who have been cast off and left to fulfil a bleak destiny are rescued by an unconventional teacher who believes in them and helps them imagine the best possible lives for themselves. From Goodbye, Mr Chips and To Sir, with Love through to Dead Poets Society and Freedom Writers, the place of the inspirational educator in the collective imagination is a powerful one.

    "It works in film precisely because it works in life. Those of us who have been lucky enough to have had great teachers — even if great only to us — know what an important role they can play in our lives.

    "Which makes it all the more essential that we attract the best possible people to teach in our schools, and that we ensure the profession is held in the high esteem it deserves. For a start, it means paying Victorian state school teachers in line with their interstate colleagues — recent figures show that Victorian teachers are the lowest-paid in the country, with the most experienced paid $65,414, compared with $72,454 in NSW and more than $68,000 in South Australia and Tasmania. The Australian Education Union wants an annual pay rise of 10%; the Brumby Government has offered 3.25% a year over three years, with teachers set to strike over the issue on February 14 if they cannot reach a deal by then.

    "Aside from the obvious importance of investing in a strong public education system — of which high-quality, caring and dedicated teachers are the linchpin — there are other good reasons for the Government to give teachers a better deal. In political polling, education consistently ranks as one of the most important issues for Australian voters — we largely accept paying relatively high tax rates on the understanding that this public money will then be invested in public service such as schooling, recognising the vital role that a good, broad and equitable education provides for the community and young people as they grow into adults.

    "To be fair, the Bracks/Brumby Government has invested heavily in education since coming to office in 1999 — at the last election, for example, it committed itself to $1.9 billion in much-needed improvements and upgrades to school infrastructure. All of these measures are welcome, and it's true that public education is hugely expensive — and there's always more money needed.

    "But as the new school year kicks off on Wednesday, it is time to address the teacher pay issue. We must find ways to continue to attract high-quality candidates into teacher training courses at university, and keep them in the profession.

    "Naturally, teaching is about more than money, but good educators are entitled to be properly rewarded for their work and their talents. Paying Victorian teachers in line with their interstate colleagues is an important investment in our collective future." [emphasis added]

    From The Sunday Age at link
    
    
    
    
  • Alert parents early about troubled children
    by Jason Dowling
    
    "Schools should have an "early warning system" to alert parents immediately if a student is missing classes, behaving disruptively or slipping academically so they can become part of the solution to improve the child's performance, the Government has been told.

    "It helps no one, least of all the child, if teachers wait until the mid-year parent-teacher night to inform parents of a child's concerning behaviour, the Education Union has cautioned.

    "The union also has criticised the State Government's new "ultranet" service — hailed as a ground-breaking way to regularly update parents on their child's educational progress — as failing the majority of students at risk of troubling behaviour.

    "In its pre-budget submission to the Government, the union has called for the "early warning system" for troubled students to be mandatory in state schools.

    "The union's Victorian president, Mary Bluett, said it was vital parents be informed at the earliest opportunity if a child's behaviour was worrying a teacher.

    "She said some schools had introduced electronic attendance systems to monitor students, but they were expensive and use of them throughout the state system was piecemeal.

    "She said the Government's "ultranet" service to provide more information to parents about their children's learning would not help all parents, because some did not have internet access.

    "The single greatest predictor of student educational outcomes relates to parental occupation — there is a need to provide that sort of regular and rapid information to parents who aren't on the internet," she said.

    "This ultranet, which is the brave new world, is not a panacea … it will enable middle-class parents to know where their kids are", but the greatest numbers of students experiencing "disengagement and high absenteeism" did not fall into this category, she said.

    "In its pre-budget submission, the union also has called for:

    • Free preschool education for all four-year-olds as well as three-year-old children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
    • Guaranteed universal access to preschool.
    • Indigenous culture, language and social inclusion to be covered in teacher pre-service training and professional development.
    • Immediate reduction of the number of school teachers on short-term contracts.
    • Victorian teachers to receive the best salary and conditions for teaching staff in Australia.
      
      

  "Teachers across the state will strike for 24 hours on February 14 as part of an industrial campaign for better pay and conditions.

  "We have sought 10% per annum," Ms Bluett said.

  "As of January 1, an experienced teacher in Victoria gets 15% less than their NSW equivalent."

  "State Government spokesman Matt Nurse said "announcements about the coming budget will be made at budget time".

  From The Sunday Age at link

   

  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Checks and balance

      "The whole notion of repeated police checks on teachers and others who work with children is just another example of bureaucracy gone mad. Certainly every person who works with children needs an initial police check — but to keep doing it every five years or less is ridiculous.

      "Consider the following scenario. A new teacher gets a police check before starting in 2008 and gets a clean bill of health. Then the teacher comes before the courts in mid-2008 and is convicted of an offence that would render him or her unable to continue to work with children. The system should prevent him or her from working with children immediately and not wait until 2013 for the next police check. But if he or she has not done anything wrong, then it is a waste of time, effort and money to perform additional checks."

      Alan Inchley, Frankston
      

      
      
      
• The Age [Saturday]
  
  
  • Catholic teachers threaten walk-out
    by Farrah Tomazin
    
    "Victorian Catholic school teachers are planning to walk off the job on March 7 in pursuit of higher wages, lower class sizes and better working conditions.
    
    "The 24-hour strike could come only three weeks after 25,000 government school counterparts stage a threatened statewide stopwork.

    "The state teachers' walk-out is designed to pressure the State Government into brokering a better wage deal for its public school workforce and, in turn, Victoria's Catholic school staff.

    "Since 1997, pay rises for Catholic school teachers — who are currently locked in enterprise bargaining negotiations with their church employers — have been in line with increases in the state school system.

    "Negotiations between the government and its teachers have stalled, with the Australian Education Union wanting a 10%-a-year wage rise and the government offering 3.25%.

    "Victorian Independent Education Union general secretary Deb James said her union would use the day of the public school teachers' strike to vote on a resolution to aggressively step up their own campaign.

    "The pace of education has become so demanding over the past few years that teachers are under more pressure than ever, the workload is greater, and accountability is higher than it's ever been, yet Victorian teachers are the lowest paid in the country," Ms James said.

    "Despite the disruption that could take place only weeks into the school term, a parent group said yesterday it would support a strike as a last resort if negotiations with the Melbourne archdiocese did not make progress.

    "Dino Rebellato, head of the Victorian Catholic School Parents Body, said: "We want Catholic schools to be able to attract the best possible staff, and we're very supportive of the need to ensure that teachers are properly remunerated."

    "But the church condemned the move. Catholic Education Office assistant director Vin McPhee said talk of a strike by Catholic teachers before the government schools pay case was settled was disappointing.

    "Victorian Catholic school teachers get between $46,127 and $65,414. Those in NSW get $50,522 to $75,352.

    "Class sizes tend to be larger in Catholic schools, and scheduled class times — about 23 hours a week for primary school and 20 hours for secondary school — are longer. Last year, average class sizes in public schools hit a record low of 20.7 students in prep to year 2 but in Catholic schools, classes have an average of 22.4 students.

    "At the Academy of Mary Immaculate in Fitzroy, year 7 co-ordinator Melanie Malakunas said a better wage deal was overdue, adding that it was getting harder to recruit teachers, "especially against the independent schools, which can pay them more".

    From The Age at link
    
    
    
    
• The Sunday Times
  
  
  • Cost hits of private schooling (page 12)
    by Braden Quartermaine

    "One in ten private-school families spend more than half their take-home pay on their children's education, a study has revealed.

    "And more than half of Australian parents who send their children to private schools say the cost of education is a financial strain on the family.

    "The results of the BankWest Back to School Survey, to be released today, dispel the myth that private education is only for the rich.

    "According to research, about 53 per cent of private-school parents and 47 per cent of Catholic-school parents found paying for their children's education financially tough.

    "But parents are prepared to do the hard yards to send their children to rich schools, saying the standard of education, discipline, better academic records and resources were the main reasons.

    "Other reasons included more focus on social values, networking opportunities for their children when later entering the workforce, religious education and social benefits for the parents themselves.

    "Audrey Jackson, executive director of the Association of Independent Schools of WA, agreed that some WA families would be finding it tough to fund private schooling, but said the perception of a private education was always expensive was wrong.

    "She said many private schools in WA charged only a fraction of what the top few asked for.

    "There's a very big variation in the fees these schools charge," Ms. Jackson said. "You have some schools that charge $3000 a year and schools that charge $13,000 a year.

    "Many people make a very well-thought-out decision to spend this money because they believe it's something that is important to their children"

    "And statistics released last week show education costs are rising faster than the official rate of inflation.

    "According to the research, the average cost of private-school tuition fees in Australia is $14,201 a year - double that of the Catholic schools.

    "Sending a child to an elite private school in Perth this year can cost more than $15,000, with increases of 6 to 9 per cent on last year.

    "A year at Christ Church Grammar School in Years 8-12 will cost at least $15,886. Presbyterian ladies College will charge about $15,700 for Years 10-12. Hale School is charging about $15,500 a year for Years 8-12.

    "On average, private-school parents fork out another $2,300 a year on uniforms, extracurricular activities, textbooks an school trips, compared with $1,600 for Catholic-school parents and $1,200 for parents whose children attend public schools."

    From The Sunday Times
    
    
    

  • Hi-tech kids off to school (page 58)
    by Darren Osborne

    "As children prepare for a new school year, a look into their schoolbags will reveal a much more sophisticated and tech-savvy generation than their parents remember.

    "A packed lunch, drink bottle and maybe a tennis ball are only the start of it.

    "As little as two decades ago, few primary-aged students would have taken a calculator to class.

    "But today's student is likely to carry around a mobile phone, MP3 player and possibly even a laptop computer.

    "Children see their friends with hi-tech gadgets and want them too, and many parents are reluctant to see their children fall behind in the move to a more computer savvy world.

    "But another reason has been the shrinking size of the microchip. Smaller chips mean smaller devices that are smarter and more energy efficient.

    "In the past it's been, 'I can have something thin and light, but that means I have to have a battery that isn't as powerful or last as long'," said Kate Burleigh, Intel Australia's national marketing manager.

    "Today we have the balance right, with sleek designs that don't sacrifice battery life or performance."

    "Statistics from analyst GfK Australia show laptop sales for the year ending November 2007 were up 39 per cent on the previous 12 months, while sales of desktop PCs declined by 5 per cent.

    "The role of technology in education wasn't lost on the Labor Party during last year's election campaign. Kevin Rudd, now prime minister, promised an education rebate that would include the cost of laptops, broadband and other IT-related expenses. The rebate, which will be available next financial year, will mean some households get a 50 per cent refund on education costs of up to $750 a year for primary schoolchildren and $1500 for those in high school.

    "Manufactures also see the education sector as a big opportunity.

    "In December, computer manufacturer ASUS launched its Eee PC to the Australian market. The mini-laptop, priced at $499, sold out in a week.

    "Intel Australia general manager Philip Cronin said at the laptop's launch: "Education is the key to Australian children's future and the emergence of the ASUS Eee PC will ensure that more Australian children can afford to be part of the digital future."

    "More recently, Apple unveiled it MacBook Air, which is 1.9cm thick and weighs less than 1.5kg. Though its price of $2499 is significantly more than the Government rebate, it shows laptops will continue to become more portable.

    "According to teacher George Stamell, computers first made their mark in the classroom 20 years ago. Computing studies was introduced in 1988 as a senior subject to be examined in the HSC level in New South Wales.

    "He believes the use of computers in the school environment has given students access to more information than ever.

    "With computers and the Internet, you have access at your fingertips to a window of knowledge and to the world," he said. "But you have to be very careful with the Internet (and) check the integrity of the data source."

    "Mr. Stamell said there some issues in allowing technology into schools.

    "You've got kids bringing content in on their laptops or thumb-drives that could cause all sorts of problems."

    "But, overall, he is convinced technology is having a positive impact on student education.

    "Is a child who has access to a computer learning better? The answer will be yes because that kid has access to data and information that kid without a computer doesn't have," Mr. Stamell said.

    "It's a bit like if you take a child around the world…he or she has an advantage over those kids who haven't gone."

    "Technology may also lighten the physical load students have to carry each day, with textbooks possibly becoming a thing of the past, replaced by DVD's or thumb-drives.

    "But technology isn't all about learning.

    "Sales of portable media players and game consoles mean it's a pretty good bet that you'll find one or both in a schoolbag.

    "According to GfK, sales of MP3 and MP4 players rose more than 12 per cent in 2007, compared with 2006 figures.

    "If the student is lucky enough to also own a portable games console, then it's a fair bet it's a Nintendo DS.

    "According to reports, Nintendo DS was the most popular games console of 2007, with the PlayStation Portable a distant sixth.

    "But despite technology becoming more widespread, some parents are concerned that what they are buying will quickly become outdated.

    "You shouldn't feel disappointed," Ms. Burleigh said. "Technology is always going to move on."

    "The important thing is that parents should buy the best high-performance all-round package they can afford at the time. They still should get a solid 3 years before they have to upgrade."

    "Another concern of parents is that technology may rob children of the fun experienced in previous generations.

    "I don't think it's an either-or situation," she said.

    "I have a seven-year old daughter who plays with skipping ropes and trampolines and jacks. However, when she gets home from school each day she gets on the computer and logs on to the school website to chat with her friends.

    "Kids will play and be entertained by whatever is around them, and a PC is just added to that list."

    From The Sunday Times
    
    
    

  • Parents taken to court over school fees
    
    Private schools are launching bankruptcy actions against parents over unpaid fees of up to $30,000. And dozens of principals have also ordered lawyers to chase parents through courts for outstanding bills as small as $500.
    
    
    

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Letter to the Editor (page 22)
    
    
    • "A letter (22/1) detailed the shoddy treatment meted out by TAFE to a lecturer on his retirement. Unfortunately he is not the only one to be treated by TAFE with disdain.

      "A couple of years ago, in the TAFE department where I worked, there were four lecturers who, lacking a certain qualification, were ineligible to progress to a higher salary grade.

      "In spite of this, three of them were allowed to progress. The fourth was denied progression. When he asked Human Resources why, he was told it was because of the lacking qualification. Fair enough. When asked why the same criterion was not applied to the others, HR would not explain and ultimately refused to discuss the matter further.

      "A letter from the teachers' union to senior management requesting an explanation has never, as far as can be ascertained, been accorded a reply.

      "The retired lecturer in Tuesday's letter is only one of many to suffer TAFE's less than professional treatment of its lecturing staff."

      Name and address supplied

All Alston cartoons are © The West Australian Newspaper
All media quotations, photographs and cartoons © their respective publishers

This page last updated 11 August, 2008 11:35 PM