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Recent headlines . . .
Private college allegations
NATIONAL - There are now new allegations
of corruption at private college operators, just one week
after Education Minister Julia Gillard visited India to
help restore faith in the international student sector.
Read
newspaper report
Gillard slams NSW data rules
NSW - Education Minister Julia Gillard
has said a ban in NSW on the publication of school league
tables is 'stupid and ridiculous'. Ms Gillard has also said
that NSW parents would be the least informed in Australia
for comparing data on the performance of schools.
Read
newspaper report
Coalition attacks stimulus spending
NATIONAL - Manager of opposition business
in the house, Chris Pyne, has criticised the Rudd government's
school stimulus package saying there has been 'an extraordinary
amount of waste and mismanagement'.
Read
newspaper report
Funding inequality?
VIC - The 'Herald Sun' has reported on
the differences in the distribution of school stimulus funding
between schools.
Read
newspaper report
School accused of discrimination
SA - Pulteney Grammar School is participating
in a hearing in the South Australia's Equal Opportunity
Tribunal, after two parents accused the school of discriminating
against boys. The private school allegedly offered financial
incentives for female students after it became co-educational.
Read
newspaper report
NT literacy plan criticised
NT - Academic researchers are concerned
that the NT Government's plan to improve literacy by teaching
schools in English for the first four hours of the day,
in communities where English is not a first language, will
fail, and harm the survival of indigenous languages and
culture.
Read
newspaper report
Teacher bullying allegations
QLD - A teacher from a south-eastern
Queensland state school is suing the state education department
after she suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of working
with an alleged 'abusive, volatile and manipulative' superior.
Read
newspaper report
Free programs for NSW students
NSW - Laptops distributed to NSW Year
9 students will feature 16 freeware and open-source applications,
such as Google Earth.
Read
newspaper report
Opinion . . .
Old school, new agenda
NSW - Heath Gilmore writes on the changes
being made at Australia's oldest university, the University
of Sydney.
Read
newspaper report
Good news . . .
Spanish extravaganza
QLD - Spanish language teaching workshops
and appearances by leading expert in Spanish as a second
language, Virgilio Borobio, are some of the highlights teachers
interested in the Spanish language can look forward to this
month.
Read
newspaper report
International
'Socialist agenda' speech met with criticism
USA - President Barack Obama's 'back-to-school'
speech has been met with negative feedback from conservative
parents, with many schools refusing to show students the
televised speech.
Read
newspaper report
Back-to-school speech
USA - Read a transcript of President Barack Obama's controversial
speech here.
Read
newspaper report
ACEL Noticeboard
How can corporate Australia support our schools?
Business Class: How Can Corporate Australia Support Our Schools? is to be held at Melbourne’s iconic NGV International on October 20 and will feature a panel of leading figures from some of the most influential and respected organisations operating in the Australian education landscape today.
The panel put in place by Spheres of Influence to debate the issue of how corporate Australia can support our schools features:
Prof. Brian J Caldwell, Managing Director, Educational Transformations; Adam Smith, CEO, Foundation for Young Australians; Dr Steve Holden, Managing Editor, Teacher Magazine; Jenny Lewis, CEO, Australian Council of Educational Leaders, and Rupert Macgregor, Executive Director, Australian Council of State School Organisations.
‘The aim is to disseminate the major issues on the subject of corporate Australia’s involvement in education and create some tangible outcomes to help shape the future of a subject that is gaining an increasing amount of attention and has a significant bearing on the future education of Australia’s children and young people,’ said Patrizia Torelli, Managing Director, Spheres of Influence International.
The event comes at a time when the answer to the question of corporate Australia’s role in supporting our schools is yet to be answered by Government. Speaking recently on the
topic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education The Hon Julia Gillard MP said: ‘Clearly, we [The Rudd Government] believe the engagement of corporate Australia with schools has to be on the basis of making a genuine difference, not on the basis of product promotion [...]. But I do believe that corporate Australia can play a role in supporting our schools.’
It is critical that in the next few months the education sector takes steps to develop a concerted viewpoint on how corporate Australia can support our schools and Business Class provides a significant opportunity to foster dialogue on the subject.
Spheres of Influence aims to produce tangible outcomes with which to move forward and ensure Australia is a world leader in the responsible and mutually beneficial engagement of the corporate world with schools.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting: http://www.sofiibusinessclass.eventbrite.com/
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