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Recent headlines . . .
The Centres for Excellence
NSW – In a bid to improve teaching quality, 50 high performing schools in New South Wales will be turned into 'Centres of Excellence', linking them to education faculties in universities and to around 200 schools in remote areas.
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The pressure is on for Education Foundation
TAS – The Auditor-General has been handed over the Education Foundation's books after questions have been raised over how the $250,000 Government grant, given to set up the foundation, has been spent.
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Industrial Relations Commission orders strikes to stop
QLD – The Queensland government has tried to stop the public school pay-dispute strikes by returning it to the IRC. Education Minister Geoff Wilson believes 'it'll only be resolved by the independent umpire ruling on the pay increase.'
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Increasing the numbers of school psychologists
TAS – The Tasmanian Government will be giving schools more access to school psychology services by increasing the number of school psychologists by ten per cent.
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No hard data on building progress
NATIONAL – State governments have refused to give any hard data on the building progress on what was supposed to be ‘biggest school modernisation program in national history’. First and second rounds of funding were meant to be underway by ‘June-July’; however there are strong signs that the program is ‘way behind schedule’.
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Swine flu impacts foreign student numbers
NSW - Southern Cross University in northern New South Wales says that swine flu, rather than the violent attacks on international students, has quelled overseas interest in the university's courses.
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Melbourne University to axe 220 jobs
VIC – The University of Melbourne has planned to cut 220 academic and administrative jobs to 'plug a $30 million funding gap'.
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School zones no longer obscured
NSW – School zone signs will be upgraded across the state after a study has found that only one in ten is meeting the current standard.
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Opinion . . .
The unethical operators
NATIONAL – Tony Pollock, chief executive of IDP Education, looks at why the Australian education sector’s success is failing, and what is to be done about educations ‘dodgy operators’.
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Fixated with league tables
NSW - Greg Melleuish, associate professor of history at the University of Wollongong in NSW, looks at league tables, concluding that the Liberals need to be 'thinking more about the needs of individuals and less in terms of the collectivist jargon of the bureaucrats'.
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Good news . . .
Elite athletes lift aspirations
WA – Some of Australia’s top athletes are taking part in the ‘Athletes as Role Models’ program at Nyangatjatjara College at Imanpa.
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International
Landmark education bill to be introduced
INDIA – The Indian Government is planning to introduce a legislation which will guarantee universal, compulsory and free education for all children aged between six and fourteen.
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The Race to the Top
USA – US President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have announced a new federally subsidized school grant competition for all US states, called ‘The Race to the Top’. The competition will award more than US $5.6 billion in grants, based on states' ability to demonstrate educational reform strategies.
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ACEL Noticeboard
Supporting Pregnant Teens & Young Parents Symposium
On the 4th and 5th of August there is a unique networking opportunity for state and federal government departments (education, health, communities, child safety, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander policy, women’s policy) as well as community agencies and organisations, youth programs, and schools conducting support programs for pregnant and parenting students to participate in workshops and discussions about:
- The experiences of diverse groups of pregnant & parenting teenagers
- Sharing models of support
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Highlighting what’s working well
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Identifying gaps in service delivery
More information and registration details can be found at:
http://www.awe.asn.au/
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