Coalition schools policies in detail
SALLY EDSALL comments on the Howard Government's schools policies.
Schools funding
Federation comment:The unfair funding policies contained within the Government's States Grants legislation have been reported on extensively in the past. Private schools will continue to receive an increasing allocation of funds. As this continues into the future, public schools will receive an ever-diminishing share of federal government funding.
Plain English student report cards for parents
- The Coalition's policy says: "Some report cards rate a student's level of achievement as 'almost achieving' or 'working towards' or 'developing'. These do not provide the information that parents need."
- From 2005, school report cards will be written in 'plain English' showing each child's achievement against national standards and ranking the student against their peer group at their school.
- A return to the grades of 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D' and 'E' (or their equivalent).
- National numeracy and literacy tests will have to be reported to parents against national standards.
Federation comment: When reporting against criterion-referenced outcomes statements in NSW, it is common for students to be described as having achieved the standard, working towards or developing the necessary skills and understandings. It will be interesting to see how the return of norm-referenced ranking schemes sit with modern curriculum, assessment and reporting expectations. In the wake of the Eltis Review on reporting and assessment, will schools be expected to provide reports in two separate modes?
National testing and standards
Information available to parents about a school's performance
- All schools will be required to publish school performance information so as to assess schools "and to have specific information against which to hold schools accountable." The precise requirements will be specified in regulations, but they will include the public release of the following information for each school:
*teacher qualifications and proportion participating in ongoing professional development;
*percentage of students achieving national benchmarks in literacy and numeracy and their comparisons on the previous year;
*average year 12 results and percentage of year 12 completions;
*school leaver destinations;
*staff and student retention and absentee rates; and
*aggregate measures of student improvement beyond normal expectations (ie value-added measures of school performance).
Federation comment: This is an area where the Coalition has pledged it will fight unions. (see "Howard Government declares war on teacher unions")
More power to school principals over teacher appointments
- Coalition policy says: "Of particular importance is the power over staffing. The argument for this is clear: no board or head of any organisation -- be it business, non-profit or government enterprise -- can guarantee the quality of their service without some control over who they employ. A school is no different."
- "The Coalition is determined to ensure that principal autonomy is prioritised."
- Requirement for funding that school principals have at least a veto power over staff appointments at their school.
- State governments and school authorities will be required to commit to providing principals with strengthened autonomy over, and responsibility for, education programs, budgets and other aspects of the school's operations.
Federation comment: Schools are viewed as no different to businesses. It remains to be seen how much resistance the Federal Government will meet from the NSW Government.
Infrastructure funding
- An additional $1 billion for buildings and grounds, of which $700 million will go to public schools.
- The funds will be provided directly to schools to support capital projects school communities have identified.
- School parent communities, in conjunction with their school principal, are to apply directly for funding rather than through state education departments.
- Projects that will be funded include classroom improvements, library resources, computer facilities, air conditioning and heating, outdoor shade structures, playing fields, sporting infrastructure, play equipment, floor coverings, security measures and amenity refurbishments.
Federation comment: Additional infrastructure funds are welcome. It remains to be seen how this will work in practice with school parent bodies competing against each other. The Federal Government criticises state bureaucracies, but will use its own bureaucracy to administer infrastructure funding. Priorities will have to be determined somehow and may overlap with state department priorities, possibly duplicating effort and causing confusion.
Greater consistency in schooling across Australia
- A common school starting age to be implemented by 2010.
- Common testing standards in Mathematics, Science, English, Civics and Information Technology will be introduced to assess differences in standards between states to achieve greater consistency across the states.
- Work being undertaken by state and territory education systems towards greater consistency in curriculum outcomes to be implemented by 2007.
- A national system to enable the transmission of student information when students move from one state or territory to another.
- Begin to work towards implementing an Australian Certificate of Education as the key Year 12 certificate that is transferable and recognisable anywhere in the country and internationally recognised.
Federation comment: Federation supports a common school starting age of 5 by April 30 of the kindergarten year.
The Curriculum work is already underway. The testing regime is consistent with policies outlined above. Curriculum remains a matter for state authorities, however.
It is hard to believe that the NSW Government will let go of its commitment to the Higher School Certificate.
A better approach to teaching boys
- A further $19.4 million towards a new initiative -- Success for Boys. This will build on the current Boys Education Lighthouse initiative and will provide grants of $10,000 to implement proven initiatives to improve the education of boys -- especially in role modelling, literacy and information and communications technology.
- Will reintroduce legislation to amend the Sex Discrimination Act to allow education authorities to offer male only teacher scholarships.
- Will invest $1 million to provide 500 scholarships to men training to become primary school teachers in 2004-05.
Federation comment: A wide cross-section of the community opposed the amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act. The legislation did not pass the Senate. This will change with Coalition control of the Senate.
Developing the teacher workforce
- Have established the National Institute of Quality Teaching and School Leadership and provided it with $10 million of initial funding.
- Will invest a further $139 million into teacher professional development activities over the four years beginning July 2005, assuming a positive review of the Quality Teacher Program.
- Will quarantine university teacher education courses from any HECS increases (but allow HECS to be lowered) in order to make teaching more attractive relative to other courses.
- Work with universities and the National Institute of Quality Teaching and School Leadership to develop mechanisms to encourage people who may be mid-career and who have broad work experience to join the teaching profession.
Federation comment: It would be more useful if there were expanded training places at university and an exemption from HECS.
The National Institute's role is entirely unclear, as is any relationship it may have with the NSW Institute of Teachers. There is no teacher union representation on the Board.
Compulsory PE in every school
- Will require, from 2005, that all students in the compulsory years of schooling will be required to undertake at least two hours of physical education each week. This is subject to "commonsense exemptions" to allow for children unable to undertake any form of physical activity.
- $90 million over four years to establish an after-school physical activity program for primary school aged children (5 to 12 years)
- A $15 million grant program to help schools, families and children put into practice messages about healthy eating
- $11 million for an information campaign to raise the awareness of the vital role healthy eating and physical activity play in the well being of Australia's children and to provide practical advice for parents and children.
Federation comment: NSW students currently undertake more than two hours of PE and sport per week.
Accelerating Indigenous education outcomes
- Investing further resources into targeted Indigenous education initiatives.
- $2.1 billion over the next four years for Indigenous education. The Coalition claims this a 20.5 per cent increase over the current four year period.
- Coalition claims it will:
*Redirect funding to the programs that have been clearly demonstrated to work;
*Provide greater weighting of resources towards Indigenous students at greatest disadvantage -- those in remote areas; and
*Ensure enhanced accountability by the states and territories to improve mainstream service provision for Indigenous students.
- The policy says: "A very good example of an innovative program that is aligned with the Coalition's schooling agenda is the Yachad Accelerated Learning Project. This innovative programme is modelled on successful Israeli programmes and has a specific emphasis on assisting those children in the bottom 25 per cent of the class to achieve the national benchmark standards in literacy and numeracy. The Coalition has committed $3.7 million to support this initiative."
Federation comment: Funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education is welcome. There is a lack of detail about how it is to be spent. More information is required about specific proposals.
Creating safer schools
- Will require that the National Safe Schools Framework, which outlines principles that schools should be following to ensure they have comprehensive protocols for providing a safe learning environment, and for handling incidents involving bullying, violence or any form of child abuse, be implemented in all schools by 2006.
- Funding already allocated is $4.5 million to support the implementation of the framework, including $3 million for teacher professional development and $1 million to showcase best practices approaches to dealing with school bullying.
Federation comment: Anti-bullying programs are welcome. The funding available is tiny for a national program focussing on professional development.
And whatever happened to the Reading Vouchers Scheme?
Federation comment:Federation members will be aware that the previously announced Reading Vouchers Tuition scheme was abandoned by the Federal Government prior to the election. There is no mention of it in the Coalition's education policies. A message on the Department of Education, Science and Training's Tutorial Credit Initiative website states:
"We are continuing the activities associated with the Initiative. Following the election further information regarding the appointment of brokers and the timing for the implementation of the Initiative will be available once the Minister has had an opportunity to consider these matters."
All the Liberal policies can be found on Internet at www.liberal.org.au/default.cfm?action=2004_policy.
Sally Edsall is the relieving Editor.
Conservative vote - radical agenda
Howard Government declares war on teacher unions
Get active to oppose war on TAFE system
For further information
October 2004 contents
|
Subscribe
