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Australian Education Issues

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NAPLAN testing and My School: Rudd’s free market education agenda

May 24, 2010

Teachers, parents, students—and all those concerned about the fate of public education—are invited to attend public meetings being convened by the Socialist Equality Party to discuss the Rudd Labor government’s historic assault on public education.

In January this year, Labor launched its My School web site. The web site ranks schools nationally, based on their performance in standardised literacy and numeracy tests (known as NAPLAN). The purpose of My School is not to provide “transparency and information for mums and dads”, as the Labor government claims. Its real aim is to unleash a divisive struggle between schools.

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New Zealand universities move to cut admissions

May 23, 2010

Thousands of would-be students will be turned away next semester, after announcements this month that at least four of New Zealand’s eight universities will drastically restrict admissions. Victoria University of Wellington (VUW), the University of Auckland, the University of Otago and Auckland University of Technology (AUT) have confirmed that they will let in far fewer domestic undergraduates than last year, while Waikato University and Massey University are reportedly considering similar measures.

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An exchange on NAPLAN and the role of Socialist Alliance

May 19, 2010

On May 8, the World Socialist Web Site received an angry email from a supporter of the pseudo-left Socialist Alliance group, attacking an article that appeared on the WSWS under the headline “Australian teacher unions call off NAPLAN boycott”.

Socialist Alliance supporter LW was incensed by the WSWS report, firing off the following response: “Socialist Alliance does not support Naplan [sic]. Check out the badge boards. See Check [sic] the petitions we crclate [sic]. We will be there on Tuesday at the Demo. The badges say Naplan [sic] Sucks. Your lies about Sooialist [sic] Alliance suck too!”

LW’s email reveals extreme sensitivity over the Socialist Equality Party’s exposure of the trade unions and the ex-radical organisations that support them.

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Australian teacher unions call off NAPLAN boycott

May 6, 2010

The Australian Education Union (AEU) and its state affiliates, including the New South Wales Teachers Federation (NSWTF), yesterday called off a national boycott of standardised literacy and numeracy tests known as NAPLAN that was to be imposed next week. The unions’ capitulation before the Labor government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd underscores their direct complicity in the accelerating assault on public education.

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SEP (Australia) public meeting resolution

May 5, 2010

The following resolution was passed unanimously at SEP public meetings in Melbourne and Sydney on May 4 and 5, respectively. We urge teachers, parents and students to organise meetings to pass this resolution and contact the SEP to discuss how to take forward the fight to defend public education.

1. This public meeting convened by the Socialist Equality Party calls for a national boycott of NAPLAN tests on May 11, 12, 13 by parents, teachers and students. The boycott outlined by the Australian Education Union and the New South Wales Teachers Federation is a boycott in name only. To take forward a struggle in defence of public education, teachers must reject outright the AEU and the Rudd government’s entire “education revolution”, including NAPLAN high-stakes testing and the My School ranking system.

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SEP public meetings oppose Australian government’s assault on public education

May 5, 2010

Concerned teachers, parents, students, and working people participated in public meetings in Melbourne and Sydney this week called by the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) to discuss the Rudd government’s assault on public education through its My School web site that ranks schools based on their students’ performance in standardised literacy and numeracy tests, known as NAPLAN (National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy).

The meetings, held at Parramatta in Sydney last night and Dandenong in Melbourne on Tuesday, unanimously passed a resolution calling for the establishment of rank and file committees of teachers and parents in every school or district to plan a political and industrial campaign, independent of the trade unions, to oppose the government’s entire “education revolution”, including NAPLAN and My School.

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NAPLAN testing and My School: Rudd’s free market education agenda

April 22, 2010

Teachers, parents, students—and all those concerned about the fate of public education—are invited to attend a public meeting being convened by the Socialist Equality Party to discuss the Rudd Labor government’s historic assault on public education.

In January this year, Labor launched its My School web site. The web site ranks schools nationally, based on their performance in standardised literacy and numeracy tests (known as NAPLAN). The purpose of My School is not to provide “transparency and information for mums and dads”, as the Labor government claims. Its real aim is to unleash a divisive struggle between schools.

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Australia: Academics’ union makes key concessions at University of Western Sydney

April 20, 2010

Less than four months after University of Western Sydney (UWS) academics, including non-union members, voted by 66 percent in a postal ballot to reject an enterprise agreement, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has negotiated a revised deal that delivers most of the key measures sought by management.

After December’s vote, NTEU national secretary Grahame McCulloch intervened to take charge of the negotiations and is leading the union’s efforts to push through the agreement via a new postal ballot.

If approved, the deal will set a benchmark for other universities across Australia where managements are demanding far-reaching concessions in new three-year agreements. The UWS draft dovetails with the federal Labor government’s restructuring of tertiary education, based on a new market-driven funding model that forces universities to compete for students.

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Australian teachers’ union makes empty threat to boycott NAPLAN testing

April 13, 2010

The Australian Education Union (AEU) national executive on Monday voted to impose a moratorium on the federal government’s National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) exams scheduled for May 11-13. The ban, however, is a hollow threat. The union has already made clear that it accepts the entire framework of Labor’s pro-market education reforms, including the compulsory student tests that are used to rank schools.

Less than an hour later, education minister and deputy prime minister Julia Gillard responded by again declaring that she would call on parents to help administer the NAPLAN tests if teachers proceeded with the national boycott. Gillard also warned that teachers who refuse to supervise the exams face heavy fines under state industrial laws.

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Australia: Students boycott farcical NUS “Day of Action”

April 2, 2010

The National Union of Students (NUS), the umbrella organisation for student unions across Australia, held a “National Day of Action” on March 31, ostensibly over the high cost of rental housing and the lack of adequate financial support for students.

Few political actions in recent memory have been as unserious and badly organised as this one. The protests were only announced a week in advance and were hardly promoted. The venues in New South Wales and South Australia were not even publicly advertised on the NUS or student union websites. Apart from a dozen or so NUS office holders, barely 30 students took part in the “rally” in Sydney and even fewer participated in a protest in Melbourne. At regional campuses like the University of Newcastle, nothing took place at all.

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University of New South Wales (UNSW) ISSE
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