Is it good for Australian society if schools compete for students on the basis of academic performance and standardised exams? asks James Farrell. Will parents actually be more informed, or just more obsessed with test scores?
Life / Society / Education
Work hard for permanent residency? Why bother?
An anonymous reader lets exposes the second-rate hospitality training given to international students hoping to gain permanent residency in Australia.
Melbourne Muddle: elite students turning away from law in droves
Elite students are turning away from the once-prestigious Melbourne University law school in droves, shunning the Melbourne Model in favour of not only long-time rival Monash, but also RMIT and Deakin University.
Illegal: SMH breaks school league table ban
The Sydney Morning Herald says it’s breaching NSW state law today and risking a $55,000 fine by publishing this article comparing the test results of three Sydney high schools, challenging what it says is an “absurd” ban on giving parents information about the schools childrens’ schools. Subversive or sensationalism?
Late-night missive fuels fight over faculty finances at Melbourne
The former dean of arts at The University of Melbourne, Professor Stuart Macintyre, has launched an extraordinary attack on his predecessor, Professor Mark Considine, accusing him of deliberately misrepresenting the state of the faculty’s finances, writes Andrew Crook.
Sexual consent, Sydney University and me
The current and former students of Sydney Uni’s St Paul’s College responsible for a “pro-rape” Facebook page deserve to be named and shamed; but don’t blame St Paul’s for the actions of a few.
How university colleges foster a culture of rape
News that students living at Sydney Uni’s all-male St Paul’s College set up a “pro-rape” Facebook page doesn’t come as a shock to former college residents like Mary Gardiner — “rape culture” is endemic within the hallowed institutions.
University of Melbourne spinning themselves a lie on VCA
Management and spin doctors are in denial over the unpopular changes to the Victorian College of the Arts, writes Scott Dawkins.
Melbourne Uni Arts faculty anger at Dean’s re-appointment
Arts faculty staff at The University of Melbourne are in active revolt this morning after the man blamed for implementing widespread sackings and cost-cutting was re-appointed for a five year term as Dean.
Ill will across Melbourne uni claims another victim
The stoush between staff and senior management at the University of Melbourne has claimed its second victim after the chief architect of the university’s controversial internal restructuring process announced her decision to stand aside.
leaked Was Melbourne Model stoush behind the Law dean’s departure?
A damning series of internal documents obtained by Crikey reveals widespread anger from within Melbourne Uni’s law faculty over changes that would have seen professional staff sacked and replaced with senior bureaucrats.
Kids who watched Baby Einstein fail to discover E=mc2
So your kid watched Baby Einstein but still ended up as a tantrum throwing brat? After being threatened with a class-action lawsuit disputing their educational benefits, Disney has admitted defeat and is offering full refunds for Baby Einstein DVDs.
IPA: What’s wrong with a few Golden Arches in schools?
Australians should welcome the sponsorship of companies like McDonald’s for education programs in our cash-starved schools, says the Institute of Public Affairs’ Carolyn Popp. No-one’s forcing Big Macs down kids’ throats.
Not letting the facts get in the way of wagging school
Last week an Oz opinion piece discussed governments’ abandoning schools in the Northern Territory. But, if you want to know whether teachers miss schooling, you go to the source and ask.
The first country to give every child a computer: Uruguay?
For all Our Kevin’s posturing about an “education revolution”, Australia has been well and truly beaten to the punch on equipping kids for the digital era: Uruguay has become the first country to provide a laptop for every child in a public primary school.
University reform: yes — but what is it for?
Australian universities have completely lost their vocational or operational autonomy, and will continue to be wagged by the dog of economic and other concerns tangential to their traditional aims, says Matthew Sharpe.
Indian students are standing up for their rights
Indian students in Australia are standing up for their rights, arguing they have been exploited by the education industry, which is happy to take their money but has shown little interest in their welfare. Geoff Maslen reports.
Why smart men should find a well-educated woman
We’re always hanging on for the next big breakthrough in health: a cure for cancer, diabetes, schizophrenia… But the next big breakthrough has already come, says Melissa Sweet: it’s education.
Indian students and Immigration: a case of too many cooks …
In the second of a three-part series, Geoff Maslen looks at immigration law and the stampede for visas by foreign students. What happens now to students who thought that would qualify for residency?
Has the great Indian student bubble burst?
Speculation that the flood of Indian students into Australian education institutions (not to mention the $2 billion they bring to the economy each year) is about to dry up has generated alarm in political and educational circles, writes Geoff Maslen.
How McDonald’s got its ads into public schools — and the government is lovin’ it
Almost half of NSW’s secondary school students are now learning maths from a computer program created by McDonald’s, where tutoring is preceded by ads for the fast food empire. And the government has given it the thumbs up.
Split in the professional education and research landscape
Fritz Blacksmith looks at a public differences in the professional education and research sector. Are school league tables the way to go?
Birmingham: Let them eat (and slaughter) lamb
The school children of Lydd Primary School in Romney Marsh, England, should be applauded for defending their right to slaughter class pet Marcus the Lamb for meat, says John Birmingham. Now that’s an education revolution.
Studying constellations and archaeological digs: stories of a homeschool parent
People who homeschool their children aren’t “all conservative Christians who hate the government and wear denim jumpers”. Andrew O’Hehir dispels some homeschool myths.
Why it’s easier to pick a school in the UK than Oz
Tony Taylor asked his third year education students to assess which school system was the more transparent and helpful: Australia’s or the UK’s. Their answer was unanimous — and lends support to Julia Gillard’s proposals.
