Rudd's 'Education Revolution'

By

Sally Edsall

The Rudd Government has announced several contentious plans for education.

In recent weeks we have learned more about what Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Federal Education Minster Julia Gillard mean when they talk about their "Education Revolution".

Rudd delivered a speech on August 27 at the National Press Club, in which he outlined several measures. These include:

• Funding agreements with the states that rely on league tables to measure comparative data across "like schools" as Rudd calls them. Under questioning, the Prime Minister gave an example of comparing schools in Canberra and Brisbane: "So if you move to a new town, whether it's Canberra, or whether it's the southern suburbs of Brissie where I come from, you can quickly access comparative data. That's what we're talking about..."
• This data would be used to judge whether schools are succeeding or failing, with those deemed to be failing at risk of having principals and teachers forcibly removed, and schools closed.
• An assertion that "it's time to move beyond outdated divisions between Commonwealth and state responsibilities and between public and private provision". The Government has already set up a program encouraging sharing of facilities between public and private schools.
• A scheme which would bring "talented graduates" into the classroom, without teaching qualifications, for a limited time. This would give them "a taste of teaching."
• In addition, legislation has been introduced into Parliament to set in place a trial which forces schools to report directly to Centrelink if a student is not regularly attending school. Families with an habitual truant would lose welfare payments. No mention has been made of how such families would survive, or what measures will be taken to similarly punish non-welfare recipient families with truanting school-aged children.

Sally Edsall is Relieving Editor.

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