Monday 26 November

Tuesday 27 November

Wednesday 28 November

Thursday 29 November

Friday 30 November

Saturday – Sunday, 1 – 2 December

 

Monday 26 November

• The Australian
  
  
  • Short cut to find vocation
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "Students failing to make the grade at school should be encouraged to leave for the workforce and undertake training on the job rather than struggle through an extra year or two in the classroom.

    "Researcher with the Melbourne Institute and the Australian Council for Educational Research, Gary Marks, says a push for all students to complete Year 12 assumes all young people would be better off if they completed school.

    "In a study examining the influence that individual schools have on students leaving before Year 12, Dr Marks says schools cannot compete with workplaces in providing the appropriate skills.

    "Since school leavers are predominantly low achievers, it is unlikely that an extra year or two in the predominantly academic environment of upper secondary school would be beneficial," he says. "Resources would be better directed by providing appropriate post-school education and training once they have entered the labour force. [emphasis added]

    "Post-school vocational education works best if it is closely tied to actual jobs in existing workplaces."

    "Dr Marks says the school a student attends has little to do with their leaving early, with social factors having a greater influence, including socio-economic status, being a boy, and living in rural areas or in non-traditional families.

    "He said at a time of low unemployment, government efforts to broaden the curriculum in Years 11 and 12 or increasing its vocational component was unlikely to keep these students at school. "Such broadening may prove counterproductive to the government school system - where the expansion would most likely occur - since they have to cater for potential school leavers as well as higher-achieving students competing for university places," he said.

    "Dr Marks's comments, in a journal called School Effectiveness and School Improvement, were echoed by the managing director of the National Council for Vocational Education Research, Tom Karmel. Speaking at the Our Schools Our Future conference, hosted by the Melbourne Institute and The Australian, Dr Karmel said offering vocational subjects had no effect on retention rates beyond Year 11, although it did convince some Year 10 students to stay on an extra year.

    "The council's figures show that Year 10 retention rates rose by 1.4 per cent among boys and 0.8 per cent among girls who studied vocational subjects.

    "But retention rates fell as they entered Year 12, by 3.3 per cent for boys and 1.3 per cent for girls.

    "Dr Karmel said to some extent vocational courses were victims of their own success.

    "Among boys who left school in Year 11, almost 80 per cent who studied vocational courses had jobs, were still studying, or a combination of both, compared with 68 per cent who undertook no vocational education.

    "The difference among girls was even more marked, with 64 per cent of vocational students in work or studying after leaving school in Year 11, compared with only 50 per cent of students without any vocational study.

    "Large groups of these kids are doing work experience and get engaged with the working world and are finding a job through their program," he said.

    "That's one reason why Year 11 and 12 retention rates have gone down in recent years; they're leaving school because they're finding jobs."
    
    From The Australian at link
    
    
    

• ABC News
  
  
  • Rudd to focus Cabinet on education plan
    
    "Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd says education reform will be the first priority when Federal Cabinet meets next week.

    "Mr Rudd headed to a school in Scarborough outside Brisbane this afternoon to show he was getting the ball rolling on his education revolution.

    "At his election campaign launch, Mr Rudd promised to fund a computer for every secondary school student in years nine to 12.

    "He says he has asked the head of the Prime Minister's department to draft a cabinet submission to implement the plan.

    "That will be agenda item number one for the first meeting of the Cabinet, which we anticipate will meet for the first time next week," he said.

    "He says he has also written to his new MPs about the plan.

    "I want them in the next two days to visit both a government school and a non-government school in their electorates," he said.

    "I want them to take to those schools two core parts of our policy - one on computers, as I've just discussed, and the second, our proposal to construct trades training centres in each one of Australia's secondary schools."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
    
• The Melbourne Herald Sun
  
  
  • Labor goes back to school
    
    "All members of the in-coming Labor government have been ordered to visit a government school and a private school in their electorate in the next two days.

    "In his first meaningful policy move, Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd has told all caucus members they must outline the new government's education plans to each school they visit.

    "This includes the plan to provide computers to every high school student and the introduction of school-based workplace training centres.

    "I expect, therefore, that when our parliamentary party meets in Canberra on Thursday that we will also nominate on the agenda for that meeting a discussion and debate on the implementation of these programs," Mr Rudd said.

    "And I will expect members of the party to report back on what they've found in their communities."

    "The move is a clear signal that Mr Rudd will make education the foremost priority in the coming term of government.

    "He told reporters he had instructed the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Peter Shergold, to prepare the Labor Party's education policies as the first submission to the new cabinet.

    "It is important that we get to work on this straight away," Mr Rudd told reporters.

    "Next year there will be a very extensive tendering process on behalf of the various school systems in Australia and therefore it is critical we get that planning work started straight away.

    "That will be agenda item number one." ...
    
    Full story in The Melbourne Herald Sun at link
    
    
    

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Oh that Mitchell's is not a lone voice, for Knox is not alone

      "Congratulations to the retiring Knox Grammar school captain, Mitchell Donaldson, for speaking out against cheats and bullies in his school's student and parent population ("The boy who defied bully parents at the school of hard Knox", November 24-25). Sadly, pushy, aggressive parents getting their way are not restricted to "elite" schools.

      "As a teacher, I've noticed this growing phenomenon in many schools, public and private. It's a symptom of how greedy and manipulative our society has become.

      "Snobbish stage mums and coach dads often demand favours for their "gifted" children, with the threat of complaints to the authorities or the media. This 21st-century affliction is so prevalent that whenever there's a news article about another school "in crisis", I always view it with a sceptical and discerning eye, reading between the lines to determine if someone is pulling the strings and setting the agenda behind the story."

      Robert Yen, Bradbury
      
      

    • "Congratulations to Mitchell Donaldson for his speech condemning nepotism and undue influence at Knox, but what does it tell us about the culture of our exclusive private schools, where his comments are regarded as being so courageous that they receive a standing ovation and make the front page of the Herald? Had Mitchell attended any of our fine public schools, where every action taken and every appointment made is subject to public scrutiny, his valedictory speech would not have been front-page news. His comments would have been unnecessary."

      Mike Fullerton, Croydon
      
      

    • "Congratulations for telling it as it is in posh private schools. The experience of teaching in such schools convinced me that the higher the profile of the parents, the more obnoxious their children were, and the higher the parents were up the rich list, the more they expected favours for their undeserving kids.

      "Thankfully I now teach in a school in a low socioeconomic area where parents are grateful and kids will say, "Thank you for being my teacher."

      Ron Inglis, Strathfield
      
      

    • "Good Lord. On the very morning of the election, a schoolboy shows more moral fibre, more eloquence, more common sense, more courage, more leadership and somehow a better read on at least one aspect of what needs fixing in Australia than any politician has come close to in the past six weeks.

      "Puts into sharp relief the calibre of politicians we're asked to settle for."

      Mark Schroeder, Woollahra
      
      

    • "Hold on to your moral outrage, Mitchell, and do not be disillusioned. Your comments reach far beyond a school hall. My hope is that you, and others like you, will enter politics so we will have a real choice on election day and a better future for us all."

      Janet Maddison, Newcastle West

Tuesday 27 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Plan to run schools 10 hours each day [Front Page Headline]
    by Bethany Hiatt

    "Students could be forced to study certain subjects at different schools and the traditional school day could start as early as 7.30 am and finish as late as 5.30 pm, under State Government plans to overcome the teacher shortage.

    "The Department of Education and Training wants some teachers divided into morning and afternoon shifts as part of a proposal to have greater flexibility about the times classes are held.

    "The plan is revealed in the department's log of claims prepared as part of its negotiations with teachers for a new enterprise bargaining agreement, due to start in February.

    "The department is seeking increased flexibility in the times when classes are delivered during the day," it says in a summary of its claims published on its website. "Teaching times are to included the hours before and after the traditional school day finishing time, including allowing for the delivery of composite classes (across schools) where required."

    "Under the existing EBA, a handful of schools can run classes between 7.30 am and 5.30 pm and it is understood DET wants to adopt these hours for all schools.

    "The department's EBA offer was rejected by teachers two weeks ago on the grounds that the vast majority of classroom teachers would not get a pay rise until 2009, despite a pledge to pay elite teachers $100,000 a year by 2011.

    "State School Teachers Union vice-president Anne Gisborne said the union had no objection to flexible working hours, provided teachers, parents and communities were consulted and teachers' personal commitments taken into account.

    "Teachers who worked before or after normal hours may get time off during the day or be paid overtime.

    "She said a clause in the existing agreement already gave schools the ability to operate outside traditional hours to offer music and sport classes and vocational courses such as hospitality, but the department was attempting to extend that flexibility so students could study subjects outside their home school. "The only thing we're interested in is ensuring it's through consultation and that the various conditions that teachers work under are not eroded," she said.

    "Ms Gisborne said allowing for composite classes across schools would mean that if only a few students from one school wanted to study a particular TEE subject, they could join a bigger class held at a neighbouring school outside normal hours.

    "For example, if you had three kids doing Literature at Kent Street (Senior High School) and maybe 10 over at Como (SHS), in terms of staffing, you can't deliver to the three people so what you might do is arrange to run a class at 4 pm at Como and the kids from Kent St would go over," she said.

    "But shadow minister Peter Collier said the move was a ploy to mask the reality of the teacher shortage because it would enable the department to claim that schools were fully staffed, even though they could not provide teachers in some subjects. He said transporting students between schools was an unsatisfactory solution because it was disruptive.

    "WA Council of State School Organisations president Rob Fry said parents would have to see the "nuts and bolts" of the proposal to understand how changes to school hours would affect students who may need transport to another school.

    "The main thing to consider is that we don't want to deny any child the opportunity of undertaking the study, no matter where they are, that they should be entitled to get," he said. "There are a number of issues and bridges to be crossed to make it work effectively".

    "The Education Department said: "The offer has been rejected by the SSTUWA and negotiations are continuing".

    From The West Australian
    
    
    

• The Australian
  
  
  • Fight for funding to go on: teachers
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "The government might have changed but the teachers union yesterday signalled the fight for extra funding for public education would continue.

    "The Australian Education Union, representing teachers in government schools, criticised Kevin Rudd's policies as "hardly revolutionary", saying that while some were promising there was still a long way to go.

    "AEU deputy national president Angelo Gavrielatos said the union would continue its campaign to ensure a Rudd government maintained a public education system of high quality. "The government has changed but the $2.9 billion a year shortfall in funding for our public schools has not changed," he said.

    "The AEU ran a campaign in the lead-up to the election calling for public school funding to be boosted by $2.9 billion a year, based on a report commissioned by the education ministers council that found this was the amount required for schools to meet national standards.

    "The AEU welcomed Labor's commitment to universal preschool as well as the program to install broadband and computers in every school, and the promise to establish trades skills centres.

    "It also welcomed the chance to end the "blame game" over funding between the commonwealth and the states, and to work with state Labor governments co-operatively. The Howard government had increasingly tied funding to the implementation of its policies, many of which were unpopular with the unions and state governments, such as A to E report cards, performance pay and a national curriculum.

    "During the election campaign, Labor's education spokesman Stephen Smith promised a co-operative approach to negotiations with the states in the implementation of federal Labor's policies and a national approach on key issues such as school curriculum and teacher pay.

    "Labor's federal education minister, expected to be Mr Smith, will be thrown into the heart of commonwealth-state relations with negotiations for the next schools funding agreement due to start. The current funding agreement expires at the end of June and a meeting of the nation's education ministers is supposed to occur by the end of the year.

    "State governments yesterday were reluctant to disclose details of commitments they would seek from the Rudd government.

    "But they would be expecting the new government to drop conditions the Howard government had placed on funding, including measures inserted in the last budget such as trialling different systems of paying teachers based on their performance and students' results. NSW Education Minister John Della Bosca said he was looking forward to working constructively with the new federal government. "We'll be working on the new funding agreement shortly and we'd also expect to discuss skills training with the new government."

    From The Australian at link
    
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Giving children computers does not educate them
      
      "Congratulations to John Howard for more than a decade of indefatigable service to the Australian people, and to Kevin Rudd who promises a great future for us all.

      "But wait a minute: education revolution? Computers for all? Dear me! What on earth will the young do with them if their brains aren’t in gear? At the best, they will lead lotus-eating lives playing games, and at the worst they will surf the net and discover all sorts of nasty things.

      "What of the enrichment of the mind? The heart? Surely, at the heart of education is the education of the heart. Why not be a true revolutionary, Mr Rudd? What about putting a violin into the hands of every six-year-old across the country? With every schoolchild music making, we shall slash the incidence of violence in one fell swoop.

      "With your fluency in Mandarin, why not insist on a second language for every student in the land? How much more articulate we would all become in our own tongue if we were multilingual?

      "Why not give school principals the option of advertising for and appointing their own staff so that they can gather about them a staff that reflects their own educational ideas?
      
      "Why not give absolute priority to hard subjects that are a delight to the mind, such as ancient and modern history, English literature, physics, sculpture, Latin, Aboriginal languages, advanced mathematics. Surely these newfangled subjects that have insinuated themselves into our curriculum in recent years must be suspect – society and culture, retail? Especially subjects with the word studies in them.

      "And remember the first Australians. The good work of the admirable Mal Brough must continue. Think only of the children, and you can’t go wrong. Good luck."
      
      Roderick West, Newport Beach, NSW
      
      
      

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Schoolies week as party heads back to class
    
    "Kevin Rudd's first action as prime minister-elect yesterday was to send all Labor MPs back to school.

    "He instructed all Labor MPs to visit at least two schools in their electorates over the next two days to gather ideas about how Labor could enact his plans for an "education revolution".

    "Mr Rudd and his deputy, Julia Gillard, visited Southern Cross Catholic College in Scarborough, in Brisbane's north, yesterday morning to highlight the incoming government's plans to improve the education system.

    "Speaking after the visit, Mr Rudd said he had asked each of his MPs to visit one government and one non-government school before they gathered in Canberra this Thursday for Labor's first partyroom meeting following the election.

    "He wanted his MPs to discuss with principals, teachers and students Labor's policies to put a computer on the desk of every secondary student in years 9 to 12 and its plans to establish trades training centres in schools.

    "I expect, therefore, that when our parliamentary party meets in Canberra on Thursday that we will also nominate on the agenda for that meeting a discussion and debate on the implementation of these programs," Mr Rudd said. "And I will expect members of the party to report back on what they have found in their communities."

    "Mr Rudd said he had also asked the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Peter Shergold, to prepare cabinet submissions on implementing Labor's education policies.

    "He said the new Labor government would carry out an extensive tendering process next year to select companies to supply the new computers and internet connections. "It is important that we get to work on this straight away." ...
    
    Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link

    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Knocking Knox

      "I am appalled at the recent reports of parental bullying and teacher capitulation at Knox Grammar. For how many years has this gone on at this once well-regarded school? The school is admitting that the teachers allowed themselves to be intimidated or bribed into giving in to the demands of obnoxious, power-hungry parents. Somehow the principal manages to put a positive spin on this while it sadly falls to a teenager to do something about it.

      "My sons were booked into Knox but we turned down their spots as we did not feel right about this school. I think our decision has been vindicated."

      Steve Davis, Killara

      
      
      
• The Age
  
  
  • The "Monday Education Section" is available online this week, and contains 11 articles, including
    
    
    
    • We need results, not rhetoric
      
      There was a lot of talk about education during the election, but was it hot air?
      
      
      
    • Learning for life's journey
      
      Students need better career counselling to cope with our changing workplace, writes Margaret Cook.
      
      
      
    • Embracing the joy of teaching
      
      In 31 years of service at the same kindergarten, Judy Collard has taught hundreds of children - with some bringing their own children back to the kindergarten.
      
      
      
    • Maori schools keeping it 'reo'
      
      A New Zealand school is tackling a decline in indigenous language and culture.

 

Wednesday 28 November

• The Age
  
  
  • MP back to school for a lesson on computers
    by Bridie Smith
    
    "Without proper investment in IT infrastructure such as broadband and wireless internet, school computers will become little more than paperweights, says the head of the state's largest Catholic secondary college.

    "As Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd ordered his MPs to gather ideas on how best to implement Labor's education policy, the Catholic Regional College in Sydenham urged the Government to focus on IT infrastructure as well as laptops and computers.

    "College principal Brendan Watson said he did not want funding tied to laptops, and his students would benefit more from an interactive whiteboard in each classroom (costing about $12,000 each), a wireless network and wireless internet access.

    "Servers should also be boosted to enable students and staff to increase the amount of work they can store.

    "The school yesterday hosted Brendan O'Connor, the re-elected Labor member for Gorton, who was complying with Mr Rudd's order to visit two schools by tomorrow. Gorton takes in Caroline Springs, Sydenham and Keilor Downs in Melbourne's west.

    "Under Labor's education plan, more than 9000 schools will be connected to a national broadband network, with speeds of up to 100 megabits per second. Year 9 to 12 students will also get access to their own computer at school.

    "Mr O'Connor said the desire to focus on IT infrastructure made sense, and he would relay this to caucus when it met tomorrow morning."

    From The Age at link
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Reading, writing and earning more

      "The pathetic pay that teachers currently receive was brought home to me at our secondary college yesterday when we received a flyer from our own union, the Australian Education Union, advertising a position of "membership services officer". The job requires no tertiary degree or graduate diploma in education and includes such stressful activities as maintaining files and resources, answering phones, solving pay problems and co-ordinating welfare services. The annual salary? — $72,822, as well as a generous non-contributory super scheme.

      "That's $13,000 more than I get after years of tertiary study, HECS debts and 10 years experience teaching in a public secondary school."

      Bernie Brown, Creightons Creek
      
      
      

• ABC News
  
  
  • Little risk from asbestos in WA schools
    
    "A parliamentary committee looking at asbestos in schools, has been told that there is little or no risk to school children of developing asbestos-related diseases.

    "A survey of Western Australia's 765 public schools shows many contain asbestos.

    "However, physician Maharaj Tandon says disease only develops with prolonged, heavy exposure to asbestos fibres, and if the material is in good condition, the risk is non-existent.

    "Dr Tandon says asbestos should be labelled so its condition can be monitored.

    "The committee has also been told the Education Department needs to keep a proper register of asbestos."

    From ABC News at link
    
    There's also a related story in today's West Australian
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • Long lead time for early education scheme
    by Stephen Lunn, Social affairs writer
    
    "Parents who voted Labor on childcare and early childhood education grounds will not see the policies fully implemented until their children are well into primary school.

    "Kevin Rudd's education revolution policy has as its foundation a plan to offer a preschool year for all four-year-olds, with a qualified early learning teacher.

    "Labor has targeted early childhood learning, particularly among poorer communities, as the key to better social outcomes in later life - better job prospects, less welfare dependence and less crime.

    "But delivering on the promise will require more buildings than are currently available and more teachers to gain their qualifications. And ramping up the program will take until at least 2013 before all four-year-olds are engaged in a learning environment.

    "The Rudd government wants to work with state Labor governments to complete an assessment of the many gaps in preschool education across the country in staff and infrastructure.

    "South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania are better equipped than other states, with Queensland furthest behind..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Sector waits in hope of renewal
    by Bernard Lane
    
    "The Rudd government could give private education a "huge free kick" at the expense of public universities if it mishandles the abolition of full-fee places for domestic undergraduates, vice-chancellor Ross Milbourne has warned.

    "The full-fee issue, the future of the Higher Education Endowment Fund, research policy and the ministerial line-up were among the key issues raised by commentators in the sector anticipating the first term of a Rudd government.

    "Professor Milbourne, chief at the University of Technology, Sydney, pointed out that a private university, such as Notre Dame, could have both HECS and full-fee places for local undergraduates, a freedom to be denied public universities. [emphasis added]

    "(The private sector) is small but growing and its growth will be given a big boost unless we're careful how we handle this issue," he said.

    "Macquarie University vice-chancellor Steven Schwartz appealed to the incoming government to allow universities to shift excess HECS places from areas of low demand to those of high demand as a way of responding to the loss of full-fee-paying places.

    "ALP education spokesman Stephen Smith, regarded within the sector as a popular choice for the ministry tomorrow, had intimated there would be financial compensation for universities denied full-fee places although on the eve of the election Kevin Rudd spoke of substitute HECS places..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    

    • Long road to funding intentions
      
      It would be a mistake for universities to imagine that with Labor their funding troubles are over. There's a long way and a big, combative budget process between Labor promising it wants to do something and actually doing it, with dollars attached. Hard yards on policy lie ahead.
      
      
      
    • This promises to be even tougher
      
      For universities, there is one crucial fact about the 2007 election campaign to remember: neither party promised to make them better off. Indonesian orang-utans were higher on the Coalition's priority list. And, for universities, Labor's education revolution fizzled. The minor changes it announced will barely be noticed on campus.
      
      
      
    • Op Ed
      Do the research, then make policy
      by Gavin Moodie
      
      "Higher education was largely ignored in the recent federal election campaign and it will continue in the policy background in the first Rudd Labor government if history is any guide. This is because school education has much more political salience than higher education.

      "Arguably, preschool and early childhood education is much more important for people’s life chances than higher education, by which time most people’s prospects are largely set. Susan Ryan was minister for education and youth affairs in the first and second Hawke governments from 1983 to July 1987. Ryan’s ministry was important for its emphasis on increased participation in higher education and more equitable participation by disadvantaged groups..."
      
      "The education revolution of the first Rudd government will start with early childhood and school education, then proceed to the election commitments in higher education. Universities will be seeking early decisions on the research quality framework, but the sector will be fortunate to get much detail before Christmas beyond confirmation that the exercise will be deferred for at least a year..."
      
      Full story in The Australian at link
      
      

    • Little action on English
      
      The idea of a uniform English language test for all overseas university students has been rejected as simplistic. A report commissioned by Australian Education International also opposes any limits on so-called pathway programs, which can allow overseas students to enter degree programs without any formal test of their proficiency in English.
      
      
      

  • Preschool role for business
    
    The business community has been urged to help establish good early childhood education, in recognition of the importance of the years before school in building a skilled workforce for the future.
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • "The incoming prime minister has asked all Labor MPs to visit one government and one non-government school in their electorate and to report on what they see to the party's first caucus meeting.

      "This is a great idea. The problem is that very few, if any, schools in remote parts of Australia will be visited, simply because they are not in Labor electorates.

      "I ask Mr Rudd to make sure MPs also visit these schools to ensure their needs are addressed in his education revolution.

      "I extend an invitation to the new Labor government to visit St Joseph's School at Walgett and I am sure the NSW Government would extend an invitation to visit Walgett Community College."

      Rick Johnston, Director of Catholic Schools, Diocese of Armidale

Thursday 29 November

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Half of Australians illiterate (page 3)
    by Bethany Hiatt

    "Almost half of Australian adults do not have the basic reading and writing skills needed for everyday living have difficulty finding information in newspapers, using a bus timetable or understanding directions on medicine labels, a new report reveals.

    "The Australian Bureau of Statistics adult literacy and life skills survey released yesterday found the worst literacy problems were in school leavers aged 15 to 19.

    "The survey, only the second such study in the past 10 years, tested nearly 9000 people between 15 and 74 on their ability to deal with literacy demands of everyday life.

    "Those taking part in the random survey, between July last year and January this year, completed a 90-minute written test which demanded solutions to real life problems such as choosing the best flat to rent out of a possible four. Their skills were ranked between 1 and 5, with 1 being very poor and 5 very good, across four main areas of literacy.

    "The survey found that between 46 per cent and 70 per cent of Australian adults had poor or very poor skills across one of more of those areas. This meant they did not attain level 3, the level regarded as the minimum required to cope with modern life.

    "Just 54 per cent were assessed as having adequate skills to use printed information from new stories, brochures or instruction manuals; 53 per cent had appropriate skills to get information from maps, pay roll forms or transport schedules and 47 per cent were able to interpret statistics or apply addition and multiplication skills in different situations.

    "Women proved better at getting information from printed sources, while men were better at reading maps or timetables and had better numeracy skills. People with jobs were more likely to meet modern literacy demands, such as obtaining information from the internet and managing their own finances, than those who were unemployed.

    "The survey also showed that higher literacy levels led to better job prospects. The median weekly income for people assessed at the highest level was $890 compared to $298 for those assessed at the lowest level.

    "WA had the second highest proportion of people ranked at level 3 or above. ACT was top. About 44 per cent of West Australians were ranked below level 3 and would be expected to find it difficult to read printed material they encountered each day.

    "Internationally, Australia was ranked in the middle across the different types of literacy with results closely aligned with those from Canada. Norway was on top.

    "ABS spokeswoman Jenny Dean said that even though fewer people were in the lowest literacy category than a decade ago, there had been little change in overall adult literacy levels since the last survey in 1996.

    "The results revealed a slight decrease in the ability of young people compared with 1996.

    "But for the older age groups you are seeing an improvement," she said.

    "Australian Council for Adult Literacy spokesman Dave Tout said more government resources were needed in adult literacy programmes.

    "Southern Cross University literacy expert Rose Wickert said the results indicated some teenagers were struggling with everyday literacy tasks."

    From The West Australian
    
    

    
    
  • Letter to the Editor (page 22)
    
    
    • They're brilliant
      
      "I admit it, I was very wrong to have voted Liberal. I see now that Messrs Rudd and Carpenter are political geniuses. The breadth and scope of their education policies are awe-inspiring.

      "Computers for senior-school students and extended school hours? Brilliant! Why didn't anyone ever think of this before?

      "They could apply this approach right across the board - hospitals could all get a free thermometer and extended canteen hours; farmers could get a free watering-can and year-round daylight savings so they can work later each day, thus solving all the drought problems.

      "Of course, here in WA, there will be some pesky regional schools to ruin the new system; those that have trouble attracting and then keeping teachers and those that are too isolated to send their students to a neighbouring school for extra subjects, but if we ignore them long enough, they'll close and, hey presto, problem solved!

      "Labor, I applaud you."

      Toni Laws, Norseman
      

      
      
      
• The Age
  
  
  • Teachers' strike looms over pay wrangle
    by Farrah Tomazin
    
    "Victorian schools could face industrial chaos well into term two of next year after negotiations between the State Government and the teachers' union broke down yesterday.

    "Talks between the two parties over a new wage deal have officially been suspended after the Government refused to move on its offer of an annual 3.25% pay increase over three years.

    "Teachers — who want an annual 10% wage rise — will vote on Friday to endorse an extended campaign, beginning with a 24-hour strike shortly after school resumes next year and continuing with rolling stoppages into the first few weeks of term two.

    "Australian Education Union state president Mary Bluett said the February 14 strike was likely to be even bigger than the strike that about 20,000 teachers took part in last week, unless the Government was prepared to give ground.

    "But the Government argues that giving teachers a 30% wage rise over three years would cost taxpayers about $8 billion.

    "Matt Nurse, spokesman for Education Minister Bronwyn Pike, last night said the union's decision to suspend talks was disappointing.

    "It is incumbent on all sides to find the best way to give teachers a pay rise but also leave enough money left over to keep improving our schools' libraries, classrooms and IT infrastructure," he said.

    "Figures show Victorian teachers are the lowest paid in the country, receiving $65,414 a year at the top of the classroom scale, compared with $72,454 in NSW and more than $68,000 in South Australia and Tasmania.

    "Asked to what extent the union would be prepared to soften its wage claim, Ms Bluett said teachers would not settle for anything less than pay parity with NSW."

    From The Age at link
    
    
    
    
  • Aboriginal college under threat
    
    Hundreds of indigenous students fear they could be forced into the mainstream education system as the State Government considers closing Victoria's only public Aboriginal college.
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • Feature
    Fight to the last breath
    
    When Bernie Banton won a court settlement against James Hardie Industries last week, his wife Karen said the message from her dying husband was "never give up, never take no for an answer".
    
    
    • Editorial: To his last breath [28 November]
      
      
      
      
  • The Wry Side [Op Ed]
    Ebook will have 'em wondering if you're a pervert or a loon [27 November]
    by Louise Evans
    
    [Despite the title, something we should probably know about... Web]
    
    "... That slab is an electronic book reader and it's the next chapter in publishing. It's called an ebook and last week online book selling giant Amazon introduced its version.

    "Called a Kindle, it costs $US400 ($456), excluding book, magazine and newspaper downloads.

    "The Kindle is a hand-held screen and keyboard that can hold 200 items downloaded via a free wireless cellular broadband service. Amazon says its goal is to have every printed book available for instant download.

    "Following Amazon's launch came Dymocks' announcement last week it was preparing to launch an electronic book reader in Australia before Christmas.

    "It's an interesting innovation, but will ebooks catch on in the same way as email and iPods? It's being marketed as the thinking person's iPod. Why tap your finger to mindless music when you can feed your brain with some instant wireless gratification for half the cost of a book? Like all new electronic gadgets, the cost of an ebook will fall and it will become smaller, sleeker and easier to use if it becomes more mainstream.

    "Ebook is good for the planet too. Less trees will die as printing, packing and shipping books will become obsolete. And it's a great space saver. The ebook in its current form can hold about 200 books. Insert a memory card to hold thousands more and become a mobile library. There would still be a role for libraries, which would become more like museums for books.

    "Household bookshelves however would become redundant, which is a joy to those of us who believe Ikea and flatpacks are a pox on the planet.

    "The downside is there is nothing romantic or alluring about having an ebook collection. You can't run your hand along an ebook, side out a silky tome, snuggle into a couch with its weight pressing on your thighs and stroke its spine as you devour the contents.

    "But ebooks could make reading books, and not just Harry Potter, cool again much as the mobile made it cool for teenagers to communicate, rather than just grunt..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link

Friday 30 November

• The Australian
  
  
  • Gillard to drive Rudd agenda [Lead story]
    
    Kevin Rudd has handed deputy Julia Gillard responsibility for delivering his education and workplace relations revolutions and moved to entrench his own power through Labor Party rule changes to sideline factions. The incoming prime minister yesterday shocked colleagues by giving the left-wing Ms Gillard a workload normally spread between at least two cabinet ministers.
    
    
    • Complete list of the new ministry
      
      
      
      
  • Settle IR first, then turn to education
    by Brad Norington
    
    "Julia Gillard is gambling on her ability to quickly sideline industrial relations as a key issue for Labor so she can concentrate on the massive job of running Kevin Rudd's "education revolution".

    "Ms Gillard has exercised her right as the prime minister-elect's deputy to choose her own portfolio. But she surprised many yesterday by taking the unprecedented step of combining education with her former workplace relations portfolio to create a super-ministry.

    "The decision is being promoted by the Labor leadership as a perfect fit.

    "However, critics wondered if Ms Gillard's enormous areas of responsibility could be too much for one minister to handle..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Super job will leave us out: unis
    
    University leaders fear Julia Gillard's super-portfolio combining education and industrial relations will leave the Labor deputy leader too stretched to tackle the rejuvenation of the higher education system.
    
    
    

  • Analysis
    Writing was on board for Julia's education coup
    by Jennifer Hewett
    
    "Kevin Rudd was swept to office promising an education revolution and an end to Work Choices.

    "Now he's loaded up his deputy, Julia Gillard, with the responsibility for both massive tasks. It's a big risk, and a completely unexpected one.

    "But Julia Gillard deliberately asked for the education portfolio, in addition to keeping industrial relations. As deputy prime minister, she traditionally has the choice of portfolios..."
    
    "But it means his promised revolution, the work of Stephen Smith for the past year, abruptly transfers to his deputy. The education sector - from schools to universities - will be extremely anxious to discover Gillard's priorities as opposed to Smith's.

    "Certainly, a stunned Smith had always planned on being education minister, after asking Rudd for the position of shadow spokesman a year ago. Having suddenly discovered this is no longer his future, Smith will hardly complain given that he has been made the minister for foreign affairs.

    "And even some business groups are acknowledging that the skills crisis means it makes sense to combine industrial relations with education. But it is a huge new policy agenda for Gillard to get on top of just as she tries to bed down Labor's new and still controversial workplace changes. The optimistic view within Labor is that the drafting of the legislation will be relatively straightforward and that industrial relations will fade as an issue once it is passed..."

    "Yet Gillard's determination to take on the education portfolio was undaunted. And, in retrospect, she gave plenty of hints as to her personal reasons. The new deputy prime minister came from a relatively underprivileged background as the daughter of working class, "pound stg. 10 Poms" who arrived in Adelaide in 1966.

    "Gillard has often argued that the difference between her life and that of her parents was access to a good education. She told The Australian earlier this year that the "education opportunity agenda" remained the issue that most drove her in politics.

    "This was even truer, she said, because she was convinced that disadvantaged public schools had become much harder places in which to learn than she experienced in the 1970s and 1980s.

    "Rudd said yesterday that he could think of no better way to underline the importance he attached to education than having the deputy prime minister as the minister. "Julia Gillard is a formidable individual with formidable talents," he said.

    "That confidence will have been boosted by the fact that Gillard, after a rocky start in industrial relations, had a good campaign in a sensitive area. But she now faces a bigger test, given that Labor's education revolution has been heavy on promises but relatively light on spending."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Analysis
    Balanced without weight of factions
    by Dennis Shanahan
    
    "... As the senior left-wing representative in cabinet, Julia Gillard has been given a huge portfolio, probably too big, combining education and industrial relations - the "core" priorities for the Rudd government. She is now at the centre of Labor's reform agenda.

    "Just trying to appease the university sector would be a full-time job as Labor's education revolution bypasses higher education, and yet Gillard has that and the task of rolling back Work Choices.

    "What's more, she faces the newly elected Liberal deputy, Julie Bishop, who's been education minister for almost two years and has been given the job of squaring off with Gillard over industrial relations..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Analysis
    Gillard's role will be like a mini-PM
    by Sid Marris
    
    "Julia Gillard's super portfolio of education and industrial relations is a strong signal about Rudd Labor's core economic imperative: productivity.

    "At first blush the size and diversity of the portfolio seems unwieldy and disparate.

    "Education revolution may have been the sexy election title, but for Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan, it is really about creating a productivity revolution.

    "This is the thread that binds schools, higher education, childcare and the workplace. It is the thread that Labor hopes will boost capacity in the economy and take long-term pressure off inflation..."
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Letter to the Editor
    

    • A real education revolution
      
      "If prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd wants to deliver an education revolution, he will have to start doing some real thinking.

      "Tinkering with federal-state funding arrangements for schools and throwing money at bulk purchases of computers will not deliver anything that looks remotely like a revolution.

      "A real education revolution would start by funding parents, rather than schools, with vouchers so parents can fund the schools of their choice. Parent vouchers would transform the education debate in this country. It would see schools compete to offer individually tailored learning programs for every child. Schools should have to compete to attract the support of parents because vouchers make parents their funders.

      "The ALP and Liberals are still frightened of funding parents to drive education. They want to be able to control schools by pulling the purse-strings, instead of enabling parents to drive the direction of education.

      "In reality, education bureaucrats still determine the values, philosophy and curriculum in state schools, despite their rhetoric of diversity. Parents of children with learning difficulties still have to fight the bureaucrats to get learning programs tailored to their child’s needs. Without control over funding, most parents give up.

      "A real education revolution would also mean providing a schools information service, independent of the education department, to provide comparative information to parents on school cultures, programs, outcomes and student supports.

      "Let’s see how far Mr Rudd can go towards a real education revolution."
      
      Vern Hughes, Federation of Parents, Families and Carers, Yarraville, Vic
      
      
      

• The Age
  
  
  • Gillard role OK to education groups
    by Jewel Topsfield
    
    "Julia Gillard's appointment as Education Minister has been welcomed by university staff and students, and public and private school lobby groups — despite her herculean task of juggling the role with the demanding workplace relations portfolio..."
    
    "Australian Council of State School Organisations executive director Terry Aulich said bringing the two portfolios together made sense and was manageable if junior ministers and parliamentary secretaries took on some of the administrative burden.

    "He said if Ms Gillard did not try to micro-manage the Education Department and took a strategic overview, she would not be overwhelmed by the role..."
    
    "National Union of Students president Michael Nguyen welcomed Ms Gillard's appointment and said he looked forward to a more "productive relationship" with the new government.

    "National Tertiary Education Union president Carolyn Allport said she looked forward to working with Ms Gillard and working out what Labor's "education revolution" meant for universities. "While the announcements made by Labor during the election campaign were limited … the recognition that universities have been significantly underfunded over the last decade and the commitment to reverse this situation are significant," Dr Allport said.

    "Independent Schools Council of Australia executive director Bill Daniels said Ms Gillard's appointment highlighted the importance the Rudd Government was placing on education. But he warned it was a major policy area, with legislation on the next four years of school funding expected to be introduced in the first session of Parliament next year. "We'll be doing our best to get a fair share of her time," Mr Daniels said..."
    
    Full story in The Age at link
    
    
    

  • Private school fees break through $20,000
    by Bridie Smith
    

    "A growing number of private schools will increase fees to more than $20,000 from next year, with some fees rising at double the rate of inflation.

    "Among schools charging more than $20,000 for year 12 tuition fees next year are Wesley College ($21,482), Melbourne Girls Grammar ($20,244) and Scotch College ($20,160).

    "The cost of sending a year 9 student to Haileybury will be $21,450, a rise of 6% on last year. It is more expensive than years 10-12 because students attend an outdoor education camp..."
    
    Full story in The Age at link
    
    
    

  • Letters to the Editor
    
    
    • Superwoman?
      
      "Congratulations, Mr Rudd, you have just made your first serious error. If education and industrial relations require so much time and effort to bring them back to world standards, then why has one person been appointed to cover both portfolios.

      "I realise Ms Gillard is considered, by Labor anyway, to be one of the best ever, but is she good enough to be called Superwoman? I think not. If these portfolios are so important, at least allow two people to cover them and therefore do the job properly."

      Lindsay Dell, Vermont
      
      
      
    • Bad books
      
      "RE the education revolution, forget computers. Textbooks are out of reach for many. Every year at university, we learn almost exactly the same course as the year before and yet we are constantly forced to buy new editions of old textbooks. These often have only the page numbers changed and cost about $140 (including GST).

      "It is time for action to stop schools and universities prescribing new textbooks when content is unchanged. Algebra has really not changed that much lately and yet my sister and brother and I were unable to buy or sell our books second-hand. Constant new editions of old knowledge are bad for our pockets, unfair on those unable to buy the books required and bad for the environment."

      Jessica Oliveri, Camberwell

      
      
      
• ABC News
  
  
  • KLC urges Rudd to address Indigenous education
    
    "The Kimberley Land Council (KLC) is calling on prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd to make Indigenous education a priority for his government.

    "The KLC was responding to statements by Mr Rudd that he will say "sorry" to Indigenous Australians.

    "But the council says Mr Rudd also needs to address the severe disadvantage Kimberley communities are facing, including illiteracy rates of more than 90 per cent.

    "The council's executive director, Wayne Bergmann, says improving education standards for Aborigines is crucial to ensuring the resources boom benefits the whole community.

    "It's absolutely fundamental that there's equity in the resources boom," he said.

    "We think education is one of the foundation building blocks that will help Aboriginal people engage properly in the wider community and the economy."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Daily Telegraph
  
  
  • National teacher-bullying crisis
    by Bruce McDougall, education reporter
    
    "More than 90 per cent of teachers say they have been bullied by colleagues.

    "The teachers also claim they have been exposed to unmanageable workloads and have been ignored, frozen out or excluded from decision making.

    "The frightening picture of dysfunctional relationships and low morale in schools is exposed in a new national online survey - the first of its kind in Australia.

    "More than 80 per cent of teachers say they have had their personal integrity undermined, responsibilities removed or added without consultation and have had concerns about unfair treatment, harassment and bullying dismissed.

    "According to survey responses the bullies - in order - are school executive staff, colleagues, principals and parents.

    "One in five teachers said they had had personal property attacked, such as their car or their office, and a similar number complain about physical abuse or threats of violence.

    "Many teachers also claimed they had been subjected to insults about their political or religious convictions at school.

    "Survey boss Dan Riley of the University of New England described the results as "frightening"

    "We didn't expect to find what we did - we have a problem - teachers are not happy and we believe this is very serious," he said.

    "Dr Riley and Professor Deirdre Duncan from the Australian Catholic University surveyed more than 800 teachers in government, Catholic and independent schools.

    "The most serious findings were:

    • Ninety-one per cent of teachers said their mental or physical health had suffered;
    • Ninety per cent said they had been forced to deal with unmanageable workloads;
    • Ninety per cent said they had been frozen out, ignored or excluded from decision-making;
    • Eighty-eight per cent said their integrity had been undermined;
    • Eighty-seven per cent said they had lost or gained responsibilities without consultation; and
    • Eighty-three per cent said their concerns about unfair treatment, bullying and harassment had been dismissed.
      
      

  "Ninety-five per cent of teachers said they were not told when their work was unsatisfactory.

  "They also complained about superiors who frequently questioned their decisions and judgments, set tasks with unreasonable or impossible targets and deadlines and attempted to belittle or undermine their work.

  "This is the first national electronic survey to seek the experiences of support staff, teachers, executives and principals in relation to staff bullying in both government and non-government schools," Dr Riley said.

  "There's an enormous amount of pressure on schools to do more and more with less and less.

  "And parents, with their rising expectations, are quite often prepared to challenge how things are done in schools."

  "A growing number of experts believe bullying is now more common between staff in schools than it is between students."

  From The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
  
  
  

• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Labor signs up to flawed system of funding for private schools [late update from 29 Nov]
    by Anna Patty, Education Editor
    
    "Labor has hitched itself to a flawed system of Commonwealth funding for private schools that the national network of Anglican schools believes is unsustainable.

    "About 60 per cent of independent and Catholic schools have had their funding maintained at artificially inflated levels as a result of a "no losers" deal struck with both sides of politics. They are exceptions to the rule of the Commonwealth funding formula, which measures each school's need according to the socioeconomic status of its families.

    "In a confidential submission to last year's internal Federal Government inquiry into how it should distribute more than $5.5 billion of taxpayer dollars to independent schools each year, the Australian Anglican Schools Network said maintenance could not continue.

    "Funding maintenance is not sustainable in the long term as it ignores the logic of needs-based funding being assessed on the SES score that is at the core of the SES model," the submission, obtained under freedom of information laws, says.

    "Yesterday Peta Smith, the network's president, said a review of inequities in the SES model was overdue because some schools had government funding maintained at levels new schools in the same area could not access. "Equally, there are probably some schools that need to continue to have their funding maintained," she said.

    "In his submission to the inquiry, held behind closed doors without a final outcome, the headmaster of The King's School in Parramatta, Tim Hawkes, agreed that funding-maintained schools were an unsustainable anomaly. He made his submission to the inquiry well before federal Labor pledged to sustain the SES model in its existing form.

    "The NSW Greens MP John Kaye said: "It is a tragedy that the incoming Rudd government has bought into the same flawed system of funding."

    From The Sydney Morning Herald at link
    
    
    
  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • "Mr Rudd's call for MPs to visit schools and shelters has to move beyond tokenism if he is to avoid accusations of hypocrisy.

      "Labor members in both houses of Parliament should be encouraged to show faith in the public utilities they profess to support by withdrawing their children from, or not enrolling them in, private schools (especially the wealthy ones), reducing any recourse to private hospitals, installing Kyoto-friendly domestic water tanks and solar panels regardless of personal cost, buying year-long public transport tickets and selling the second car or the four-wheel-drive. Federal politicians could then pressure their state colleagues to do the same."

      Leonard Colquhoun, Invermay (Tas)

Saturday – Sunday, 1 – 2 December

Federal Education Politics News

• Education will sink: Bishop [The Weekend Australian]
  by Pia Akerman
  
  "Newly elected Opposition Deputy Leader Julie Bishop has warned that education would be "submerged" by the Rudd government following the portfolio's addition to incoming deputy prime minister Julia Gillard's responsibilities.

  The former education minister said she was surprised by prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd's decision to give Ms Gillard the education and industrial relations portfolios, given the attention each required.

  "I believe education is too important to be playing second string to another portfolio," she said yesterday. "I know how complex an area it is. It requires a great deal of attention. I would have expected the Labor Party -- given the emphasis they put on education -- to have a stand-alone ministry with a minister for education." ...

  Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
  
  
  
  
• Labor eyes expanded NT scheme [The Weekend Australian]
  
  New indigenous affairs minister Jenny Macklin plans to negotiate with the states to replicate parts of the Northern Territory intervention around the nation, vowing to do whatever it takes to improve Aboriginal lives.
  
  
  
  
• Op Ed: Stamp of authority [Paul Kelly, in The Weekend Australian]
  
  "... On Monday and Tuesday, Gillard, after reviewing her briefs, settled on the idea of a portfolio that combined workplace relations and education. It would unite much of Rudd's productivity and participation agenda. Gillard proposed and Rudd agreed.

  "She is deputy PM, minister for education, minister for employment and workplace relations and minister for social inclusion. Let's be clear; this is one minister doing two jobs. It testifies to Gillard's authority and ambition. Making such a department function effectively will be a huge task.

  "Gillard plans to move very fast on industrial relations. She comes to office with drafting instructions for the bill to create the transitionary system. She believes that as the political heat drains from IR, her priorities can shift more to the long-run education revolution enshrined by Rudd. So Rudd is investing much in Gillard. Education and IR are both hot political issues with demanding constituencies, the former involving school, technical and university education bodies, and the latter various union, employer and business groups.

  "Gillard becomes the chief instrument (after Rudd) of the education revolution. This was not anticipated. She will bring her own values and outlook to this task, and the education sector awaits with a mix of anxiety and opportunity. Gillard becomes the most powerful deputy PM for a generation..."
  
  Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
  
  
  

• Op Ed: Brace for a steep re-learning curve [Mark Pesce, in The Sunday Age]
  
  Kevin Rudd's education revolution will take more than laptops in high schools
  
  "Earlier this year, a secondary school teacher from Adelaide told me about his physics class. "I was lecturing about current topics in physics," he said, "when one of my students corrected me." One of the theories he quoted had been recently disproved by an experiment, the results of which were reported in Wikipedia. The student, with one ear to the lecture and one eye on the universal web encyclopedia, helpfully provided the update. "How can I stay ahead of the kids?" he wondered. It's a fair question, and goes to the heart of the incoming Rudd Government's proposal to bring computers to secondary school students.

  "If we simply drop laptops into the schools and hope it all works out, we're in for a big disappointment. At present, the computer has a small role in the secondary school curriculum, which was designed long before personal computers, the internet or high-speed broadband. The classroom exists entirely outside the hyperactive media sphere that teenagers today inhabit every other moment they're awake. (An average 15-year-old girl sends 100 text messages a day.) While this guarantees that the classroom is a calm and steady space for instruction, it also means that the wealth of human knowledge, now instantaneously available almost everywhere, has been locked outside. The classroom is now seen by students as increasingly irrelevant to the real world. But the laptops are coming anyway — that's a core Rudd promise.

  "Although much of the talk in the first days will be about costings and support and maintenance and reliability, that's not the real issue here. Those are all fixable problems. The bigger problems are the lack of teacher training and the fundamental mismatch between a 20th-century curriculum and its associated pedagogy, and 21st-century learning. Teachers are overworked, underpaid, time-poor and overcommitted. They may have enormous influence over the minds of their students, but they have little control over the curriculum.

  "Although they do get some rather limited professional development time, only a minority of them are as adept in computing as their students. Most teachers are digital immigrants, struggling to croak out a few words, while their students are fluent natives, rabbiting on in a language most teachers only haltingly understand. Dropping computers into that mix precariously flips the balance of power from teachers to students, unless educators are given the resources and the opportunity to re-educate themselves. That's an additional cost that must be factored into the budgets, and it will take time — you can't retrain all teachers overnight. Even that is not enough.

  "The teachers work from a mandated curriculum that, with very few exceptions, doesn't even entertain the idea of computers and the internet.

  "The curriculum must be redrawn, so that computers are integrated into it, becoming a potent tool alongside the textbook and the chalkboard. We are miles away from that. There are some intriguing experiments going on: teachers asking students to write an article for Wikipedia, an assignment that marries research skills, knowledge skills, composition skills and technical skills. There's a lot that is possible in this vein, but curriculum designers have to accept the computer as a powerful, flexible, ubiquitous tool that can be integrated into the curriculum's DNA. This is now possible because of the Government's plan, but there are hard yards and long months between where we are now and where we'll need to go. The students are ready for this revolution. The teachers and education departments are not. This initiative seems to raise more questions than answers, and that, I believe, is Mr Rudd's intent. He wants to connect the classroom to the world beyond and laptops are his trojan horse. Once they're in the door, there's no choice but for a curriculum rethink and for teachers to re-train. That can only result in a real education revolution."

  Mark Pesce is an honorary associate in the digital cultures program at the University of Sydney,

  From The Sunday Age at link
  
  
  

• Op Ed: The winning game [Shaun Carney, in The Saturday Age]
  
  "The very idea of a Labor leader setting his MPs homework in the form of school visits or homeless shelters, which is what Rudd did this week, would have been met with derision at any other time in the party's history... [Rudd] has structured his ministries so that there is potentially another factory of ideas and administration that can challenge the Treasury view... Consider: Gillard has education from early childhood development all the way up to trade training and universities, employment and workplace relations..."
  
  Full story in The Age at link
  
  
  

• Letter to the Editor [The Sydney Morning Herald]
  
  
  • A real revolution in education

    "Is there even one politician on either side of politics who sends their children to a comprehensive public high school?

    "I wonder if Therese Rein's Canberra fact-finding mission ("Last lunch at the Lodge a subdued but light affair", November 29) includes the possibility of a public school education for their son.

    "Imagine the boost that would give "working families" and the promised education revolution. Almost as good as a room full of computers, I'd say."

    Robin Barker, Queens Park

Other Education News

• The Sunday Times
  
  
  • WA teachers face sack for not paying $70 fees (page 5)
    by Paul Lampathakis
    
    "About 600 WA school teachers face losing their jobs this week for not paying a $70 registration fee.
    
    "The teachers' professional board – the WA College of Teaching – will decide on Wednesday if and when it will deregister the non-payers.

    "It said of 1500 teachers who had not paid, 600 were still at work.

    "Even if none of the 600 was struck off, WA would still be short of 52 teachers.

    "Education Minister Mark McGowan said: "I would urge WACOT not to take any steps that would exacerbate the current teacher shortage problem.''

    "The Sunday Times has learnt the Government is considering stripping the board of its responsibilities, except for police checks.

    "Mr McGowan refused to comment on the claim, but ministry sources said: "The Government is very unimpressed with WACOT's lack of capacity to manage issues and that has caused the Government to lose confidence in it.

    "Issues such as the previous threatened deregistration of teachers, without an election having been held, the fact that they appear to be (opposing) government plans for education assistants to become teachers, and the lack of confidence of the work force. We rarely meet teachers who support WACOT.'' [emphasis added]

    "The teachers are refusing to pay the $70 because WACOT appointed board members without a teacher ballot, as it is required to do.

    "WACOT is running an election, which will close on December 10.

    "But the results will come after WACOT rules on the fees.

    "WACOT director Suzanne Parry said schools would decide if deregistered teachers should be sacked, but they would not be allowed to teach.

    "Confidence ... can be built when there's an assurance that all teachers are registered, all teachers have had their qualifications checked and that they have all had their criminal history check completed,'' she said.

    "She said WACOT also mentored teachers and "hiving off'' its functions and scrapping registrations – when other states had them – would harm the profession.

    "Opposition education spokesman Peter Collier said WACOT could build goodwill with teachers by waiting for the election results before ruling on the fees."

    From The Sunday Times at link [Readers' Comments at that same link: 23 as of 10 pm Sunday]
    
    
    • Sample reader comments
      
      Minister McGowan conveniently forgets to mention that the threat of deregistration of teachers would not have happened if his political colleagues had not caused the cancellation of the first Board election in October last year. Much of the dissatisfaction with WACOT stems from bad advice given to WACOT about how to run the election. This advice contradicted what the college had put in place and eventually caused the election to be cancelled. I do not agree with some of WACOT's actions, but they are only partly to blame for its current predicament.
      Posted by: marko vojkovic
      
      The fact that WACOT wants to act before the elected Board is installed is an insult to all teachers who have had to put up with WACOT's incompetence since it was formed. instead of "lifing the profile of teachers" as it is chartered to do, it has been a laughing stock throughout the education world. Why does a country the size of Australia need 6 State and a Territory teacher registration authorities? California has 16 million more people than Australia and they have one body. France has more than twice as many people as Australia and they have one body.
      Posted by: Patrick F. Whalen
      
      "Confidence ... can be built when there's an assurance that all teachers are registered, all teachers have had their qualifications checked and that they have all had their criminal history check completed,'' WACOT Director Dr Suzanne Parry said." I think Dr Parry is being rather disingenuous. All of those teachers HAVE been registered, had their qualifications checked and had their criminal history check completed and approved! They simply refuse to pay the $70 tax until the long, long overdue election of teacher representatives has been COMPLETED.
      Posted by: Steve Kessell
      
      The gov't hasn't got the balls to sack these teachers, because the new school year would start 20,000 teachers short. No daily babysitting service for parents.
      Posted by: matt
      
      can someone who supports WACOT please comment because it seems that the media and even people on these forums are against WACOT.
      Posted by: Joshi
      
      I have been a member of WACOT since my first day as a teacher. They have done nothing for me other than add 'red tape' to the already painful process of registering as a teacher, and take $70 a year from me. I am yet to meet another teacher who thinks differently.
      Posted by: Phil
      
      Deregistering WACOT is the best thing that could possibly happen. It is a farce, has been since the day it started. It was not a private organisation as other professionals have. It has done nothing but make teachers look like a bunch of whingers over not paying $70. Money is not the issue. WACOT does nothing to aide teachers but everything to devalue us. We already work unbelievably long hours and yet they want more. Get rid of WACOT and soon....
      Posted by: K Butler
      
      I am one of those 600 teachers who haven't paid as yet. I will pay the fee right on the deadline of dec 5th. Even though they have finally got off their bums and had elections, I still don't like WACO (sorry WACOT) and hope it will be scrapped in the near future. None of my colleagues like it and you'd be hard pressed to find a teacher who does. Nevertheless, I will pay because I actually like my job and don't what to be sacked. This labor government has stuffed up education in this state with its persistence of OBE and the introduction of this useless organisation that employs more office workers when they should be in the classroom teaching. The federal election result showed the incompetence of this state government and the sooner they go the better. Let's have a look at our education ministers so far - carpenter, the JOURNALIST was ruthless and useless, ravlich the teacher of two years who worked her way to the top faster than a speeding bullet was even more useless, and now McGowan is starting to show his true colours. Bring on a non-labor government. Peter Collier seems to have some sense.
      Posted by: George
      
      WACOT is a joke. The 'Board' has done absolutely nothing to raise the status of teachers and the $70 that teachers have had to pay has been wasted on providing glossy lightweight brochures that are full of fluff and not much else. Their organisation is atrocious, they havent even been able to send out notifications etc without getting them in incorrectly addressed envelopes, they don't seem to be able to make correct databases etc etc. They are just another bureaucracy which teachers now have to fund. They have even taken on 'research' - which was never what a teachers' registration board was supposed to do. Mr Magowan, please 'sack' WACOT and set up a teachers' registration board - which is all that was needed in the first place. Teachers don't need this expensive white elephant around their necks.
      Posted by: Susan
      
      It sounds like Wacot is running the education in WA not the Government, this is wrong, the Government should take responsibility away from Wacot and control education it self, thats why we have an education minister.
      Posted by: michael fairweather
      
      WACOT has served no function except transferring the costs of checking qualifications and police clearances from the employing authority to individual teachers - and then to keep charging year after year. A useless body that needs to be buried. It already stinks to high heaven.
      Posted by: John
      
      While not a fan of WACOT, one of the main purpose of WACOT is to maintain and defend the integrity of the teaching profession and the qualifications required to become a teacher. This was its mandate from the government. Now it seems the government wants to water down the entry requirements for new teachers (ie 2 year degrees) it sinks the boot into WACOT for actually trying to do its job. WACOT has served its purpose, it always was setup to be a whipping boy to deflect the government's inability to manage education in this state.
      Posted by: Rod
      
      When is the WA public going to start asking "where has all the wealth gone?". We are in the middle of an unprecedented boom and our education, health and law and order systems are at an unprecedented rock bottom. The lack of education leadership and vision from this government is appalling. They have presided over one disaster after another and sworn in one education minister after another to match. OBE, Courses of Study, sex offenders, WACOT, teacher shortages, demoralised and disenfranchised work force, whats next?
      Posted by: Rod
      
      Why do teachers have to continue to pay a fee year after year, after all they must obviously have their qualifications etc checked the first year they start. To me it is just another bureaurocracy set up by the incompetent Carpenter government and typical of the old days of unions no join, no job, I had to endure.
      Posted by: OG
      
      
      
  • Boy knows how to sue (page 9)
    

    "A student who can barely read or write is suing the Victorian Education Department for $300, 000 - for failing to teach him properly.

    "Beau Abela, 14, claims he will never get an apprenticeship because he lacks basic life skills such as reading a menu and counting money.

    "The student from Diamond Creek, north-east of Melbourne, claims he should not have been allowed to progress to secondary school. Experts have assessed his literacy an numeracy skills at five years behind his peers.

    "His father, Peter Abela, said the court action was not motivated by money, but by frustration at the way the system appeared to be letting children down."
    
    From The Sunday Times
    
    
    

  • Bizarre school no-sex letters (page 18)
    by Paul Lampathakis
    
    "Girls at a private school are being forced to write letters to their yet-to-be born children discouraging them from having sex before marriage.
    
    "But outraged parents say they pay Methodist Ladies' College in Claremont top dollar for a balanced education, not for bizarre, outdated "religious dogma'' to scare their daughters off sex.

    "The WA AIDS Council and parents said a "fire and brimstone'' approach deprived teens of balanced information that helped them make informed decisions about sex, which could lead to problems such as unwanted pregnancies and sexual diseases.

    "(The Year 11 students) aren't being allowed to have any other perspective when they write this `Letter to my future child','' one angry dad, who didn't want to be named, told The Sunday Times.
    
    "We discourage our kids from being promiscuous, but we're outraged that the school could use s