Education Policy

Reading through Pirate policy on education i’m reminded of the vast chasm between it and the current government’s (and opposition) education policy. An extra $4.6 billion to Catholic and private schools is scandalous, in my opinion, especially when we know, from study after study, that private school kids do worse at uni than public school graduates. https://theconversation.com/state-school-kids-do-better-at-uni-29155
We should not be subsidising private schools!

On a related topic regarding education policy, it might be prudent to consider the ATAR process for university entrances. What essentially happens is that schools, private schools especially, teach to a test, the final ATAR score, because they need a high rate of students entering uni for marketing purposes. Teaching to a test has questionable utility from the perspective of education philosophy. A better model would be to untether university enrolments from the ATAR score. Perhaps introduce alternative methods for determining suitability for new enrolments. Schools ought have the option of dropping out of the ATAR system without compromising their student’s chances of enrolling at Uni.

Just my opinion, obviously, but this announcement by the government is so wrong headed and wasteful my jaw has hit the floor. Fucking crazy.

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There was a time when each university had its own entrance process. An exam, maybe, or an interview, or both. Without a national standardised exam, schools would have had to foster generalised writing and thinking skills for maximum flexibility. Which is of course what you need in life.

Abolishing ATAR would be one of those policies that sounds loony on first glance but which might draw some people to look deeper at the issue and consider their own biases. Some of the other policies have that end in mind too.

As for the funding bill-- crikey. I think in the coming months we’re going to learn just how much bullshit Turnbull was actually holding in check. He is going to look better the longer this government lasts.

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