Realigning the VET system

21/07/2015 by
Jay Weatherill

21 July 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… With the the Prime Minister and the Premiers and First Ministers  gathering in Sydney for a retreat on reform options for Australia's fractitious, if not fractured, Federation, all the chatter is round increasing the rate of the GST from 10% to 15%,  either to "compensate" the states/territories for whacking cuts in Commonwealth grants in future years, which has a dark logic to it,  or to make way for income tax cuts, which doesn't seem to have too much logic to it all.  But there are other proposals on the table.  SA Premier Jay Weatherill, in a speech to the National Press Club, has proposed, among other things, a realignment of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: COAG, Commonwealth-State relations, Higher education policy, Schools, TAFE, The Scan, universities, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , ,

Free public education: Gonski reforms are all but dead

28/06/2015 by
Gonski post

The Age     |     26 June 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Free public education has existed for more than a century in Australia, and Abbott and Pyne know they cannot change that. So what are they really planning?   If the Australian public ever needed proof that school funding is a mess or that the Gonski reforms are all but dead, we now have it. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Free public education has existed for more than a century in Australia, and Abbott and Pyne know they cannot change that. So what are they really planning? If the Australian public ever needed proof that school funding is a mess or that the Gonski reforms are all but dead, we now … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Commonwealth policies, Education policy, Schools, The Scan Tagged With: ,

Labor pledges $1.2 billion to make Victoria the “education state”

26/10/2014 by
Andrews

Victorian Labor      |       26 October 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Victorian Labor has kicked off its campaign for the state election on29 November with the promise of a $1.2 billion dollar package to upgrade schools and the TAFE  Government school upgrades and refurbishments would cost $510 million, $120 million would be provided for Catholic and independent schools and  $50 million would be spent on upgrading kindergartens across the state. Labor would also provide millions of dollars to help struggling families with uniforms and shoes.   Labor also proposes a network of technical schools around the state , with 10 centres to be set up with a $125 million fund.  The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education policy, Government, Schools, TAFE, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

On the unbearable lightness of being Kevin

29/12/2013 by

29 December 2013 There's a view abroad in some quarters - you can guess  which -  that improving the performance of our schools, seemingly falling against international benchmarks, is not about injecting more money but about something called “values”.  In an opinion piece earlier this year, the Grattan Institute’s Ben Jensen seemed to agree with the tag line reading “raising teachers’ classroom skills is far more important than raising money”.  But what’s the key to raising teachers’ classroom skills?  Jensen concluded that it requires ….teachers having mentors, getting proper feedback about their work, being required to do research on education in collaboration with other … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Commonwealth policies, Grattan Institute, Schools, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

2013: the year that was in education

23/12/2013 by
SCHOOL STOCK

The Conversation     |    23 December 2013For most education watchers, this year has rushed by in a policy blur. So much so that we thought we had better launch our very own shiny Education section just to help you keep on top of things.The launch of the Education section – an area close to our hearts – meant we could finally give education issues pride of place.And what a time to do it – yes, this year was the year of Gonski. And whether it was a conski or goneski, this one word – derived from businessman David Gonski’s review into schools funding – went from symbolising a policy vision to becoming a political football in a few short months.In amongst some spectacular political … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ALP policies, Coalition policies, Commonwealth policies, Government, Higher education policy, Schools, Society, TAFE, universities, University budgets Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Latest PISA results ‘cause for concern’

04/12/2013 by
PISA Infographic

ACER News    |     3 December 2013   Australian mathematics and reading achievement in decline    |     Significant gaps in student achievement by gender, Indigenous status, location and wealth  A report released  by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) reveals the mathematics and reading skills of Australian 15-year-olds have slipped backwards over the past decade.  Releasing the report, PISA 2012: How Australia measures up, ACER’s Director of Educational Monitoring and Research, Dr Sue Thomson said, Despite still performing above the OECD average, Australia’s backwards slide in achievement shows that there is some cause for concern. The 2012 Programme for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: acer, Schools, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

PISA infographic

04/12/2013 by
PISA Infographic

… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Schools Tagged With: , , , , ,
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