Posted: 8:00 am on 15th April 2012
Observing the contrasting school experiences of the panellists on last week’s episode of Insight, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Australian ideal of a ‘fair go’ for all was all self-deception and no self-realisation. While non-selective public schools are apparently under-resourced and blighted by underachievement, private schools and selective public schools seem to provide supportive and aspirational educational environments conducive to academic excellence. Perceptions aside, Australia actually remains…
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Posted: 8:00 am on 3rd April 2012
As a high school student, I had the chance to attend a government comprehensive school, an independent school, and a government selective school. In numerous heated discussions with peers and friends, I dogmatically defended the merits of selective schools, while they proclaimed the existence of a perceived inequity among comprehensive selective schools – not of funding but of ‘stealing’ the brightest students from both independent and comprehensive schools. Personally, I…
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Posted: 11:14 am on 27th March 2012
The long-awaited report of the federal government’s Review of Funding for Schooling was released on February 20, along with the government’s response. While the initial focus has been on the recommended $5 billion price tag, the report’s other proposals have more value. In this Meet the Researcher talk , Jennifer Buckingham discusses the Gonski report and the ensuing public reaction, and whether the Gonski review represents a step forward or…
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Posted: 8:00 am on 10th March 2012
Koori schools in Victoria are a prime example of how throwing money at a problem is ineffective. According to The Age, the Victorian government is wasting millions of dollars on schools with tiny enrolments, abysmal attendance rates, and poor academic performance. Initial findings of an independent review of the schools are due to be presented to the Victorian Department of Education on 26 March. However, it shouldn’t take a review…
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Posted: 8:00 am on 22nd February 2012
Julia Gillard and Peter Garrett’s refusal to countenance a $5 billion increase in annual expenditure on schools was the right response to the most unrealistic recommendation in the Gonski report released yesterday. For one thing, the figure of $5 billion seems to have been plucked out of thin air by the review committee. It is supposedly the extra money required to meet a new Schools Resource Standard and provide resource…
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