Education Policy
17 September 2024
Both Labor and Liberal parties have now announced, as the major commitment, that they support the implementation of the recommendations of the Literacy and Numeracy Education Expert Panel, released in April 2024, and have promised to allocate significant funding, particularly for resources.
There is no doubt in my mind that the recommendations of the Expert Panel should be implemented but a much broader reform agenda is needed to reverse the current inequality of our educational system and to ensure a quality education for all students in the ACT.
Federal/ACT context
Crispin Hull reported in The Canberra Times on August 20, 2024, that in 2023 “state schools were getting just $11 billion of the total federal $29 billion spend and private (including Catholic) schools got the remaining $18 billion”. The ACT is impacted as much by this as it is by local systemic problems because federal funding contributes to a two-tiered educational landscape in the ACT, as it does elsewhere.
While federal funding may be outside the scope of an ACT education policy at the present time, I mention it here as an underlying structural problem and as an area where aspiration and discussion/lobbying is urgently required.
Given the Federal/ACT context I believe all effective educational policies in the ACT should sit under a powerful statement of educational equality. For example,
- We will strive for equitable educational experiences for all students in the ACT, committing to ending the unfair funding arrangements whereby private schools enjoy better environments and resources than those in the government system. Taxpayer funds should be directed to the government system which educates most students, including most students with a multicultural background, a disability, Indigenous students, and disadvantaged students. This is to create a cohesive society where the potential of all young people is valued as a personal and social asset.
- We are committed to affirming the value of teachers in the ACT public school system, so teachers can be effective and successful, and regain their professional self-esteem. Significant change at the system and school level is required to do this.
- We support the implementation of the recommendations of the Literacy and Numeracy Expert Panel.
Rationale
- Education policy has not been an election issue in ACT for a long time, if ever. Even with the long poor governance of the ACT Education Minister and Directorate, there is a listlessness about things ever changing. The same applies to the level of federal funding directed to the states for private schools. Many people believe it is unfair, but it has been going on for so long that it seems a permanent, unchangeable reality. There is an opportunity with an upcoming election to open a debate about what sort of society we want to live in. And with all the things that taxpayer funds could be spent on, is a funding anomaly like this justified in a secular society?
- Canberra is an ideal location to have this debate and a new, strong direction. We have the highest percentage of students in private schooling in Australia. If we look at voting on other issues such as a long preference for voting Labor, same-sex marriage and The Voice, Canberra people favour inclusivity and a democratic spirit. The percentage of students in private schooling here is discordant with other evidence of what Canberra people prefer. It may well reflect a fear that the government system is performing poorly overall, which it is, and parents are worried that their child will not receive an adequate education at a local public school. At least six reviews into the ACT education system in as many years have indicated that not all is well. The Expert Panel is the latest and builds on the earlier findings.
- A ‘big picture view’ of education policy and direction is required not only to motivate and recharge voters’ idealism but to avoid band-aid solutions and the resulting waste of money. The ACT ran a Literacy and Numeracy Field Officer program with over twenty primary school and five high school specially trained Field Officers in 2010-2016. The experiences of the Field Officers varied depending on the school, with some schools welcoming the support and many others finding that it did not work with their autonomous philosophy. (Professor Kaye Lowe of the University of Canberra did a review of the Field Officer Program during this period but I no longer have a copy of it and can’t find reference to it.) In any case and years later, any benefits were short lived. The philosophy of the ACT system/school needs to align with any reform agenda, for success to occur and to avoid the waste of millions more dollars.
- Better learning environments are not superficial things. They go to the heart of allowing students to develop their potential. Many government schools in Canberra no longer have a librarian or even a library. Some private schools employ coaches for debating, sport, and extension academic activities, or to help teachers by marking essays. They can afford to pay teachers more, and are thus less likely to have teacher shortages. Students in mouldy, rundown schools with broken furniture, struggling to attract staff, simply do not feel good about being there and neither do the staff. Some schools have the money to hire educational experts to present courses for staff development, others not. Some students have their lunch in shaded courtyards with good canteens, others stand in a concrete yard and there is no canteen. Typically, private schools have their own buses to transport students to outside opportunities, whereas this is rare in the government system. I am not suggesting that students need luxuries to receive a good education. The problem is we have a deeply inequitable system of haves and have-nots, which conditions children to accept that a deeply inequitable society is satisfactory. This partially explains the dissatisfaction and shortage of teachers. The government system is the largest employer, but these teachers find that working conditions make it difficult to do a good job. If teachers were treated as professionals, it would be a far more attractive form of employment. In my experience, working conditions, rather than salary, are why teachers want to leave.
- Private schools usually screen students when they enrol. They may ask to see the latest NAPLAN report or ask students to sit a test where they will need to get a C grade to enrol. Once enrolled, the student may not be a ‘good fit’ and may be asked to leave if their behaviour/performance is not up to expectations. These students are likely to enrol in a government school. The new school then must manage both the behaviour and the sense of failure in the student. Private schools are not doing the educational heavy lifting. They should not be funded to run boutique establishments.