Lyndsay Connors (Pearls and Irritations, 14 November 2024) takes issue with my argument that the Commonwealth should get out or be pushed out of schooling. The argument for a Commonwealth exit is this: – By just about every indicator Australian schooling has been on the slide for at least 20 years, despite the Rudd/Gillard governments’ Continue reading »
education
As you may have noticed, the Government has announced changes to student loans and debts, subject (eyeroll) to their re-election. Tick; even the Greens are taking credit. But, and here’s the but, they do little about how the current system, and I am moderating my language for publication, screws over students by burdening them with Continue reading »
Hysteria around Labour's VAT on private schools and inheritance tax on farms are not the existential threats they've been made out to be in the press
The changes to Tertiary Education funding announced by the Prime Minister last weekend, mostly benefit former students. Arguably there are other higher priorities to restore the funding of higher education and remove anomalies in the fees charged. Last week started badly for Albanese with allegations about his Qantas upgrades, which he took too long to Continue reading »
Private schools have seized on an opportunity provided by an Amendment Bill before the Parliament to attempt to lock-in billions in Commonwealth over-funding for years to come. In a submission to a Senate inquiry on the Bill, Independent Schools Australia (ISA) has proposed that the current cap on Commonwealth funding be replaced by a floor. Continue reading »
The prestigious university is resisting demands for fair treatment from casualised staff, despite its vast wealth
In a speech at the Australian Education International (AEI) conference, Education Minister Jason Clare is reported to have told the audience that student caps will help with “the government’s ambitions to get immigration levels back to pre-pandemic levels, including international student numbers”. The latest Treasury forecast of net migration in 2024-25 at 260,000, to the Continue reading »
Gaza has been flattened by Israeli attacks. Ninety per cent of schools have been damaged, or destroyed. Two thirds of schools, 285 of them, have been completely destroyed. All universities have been destroyed. The United Nations has called Israel’s deliberate targeting of Gaza’s education infrastructure, scholasticide. Sam Rose, Senior Deputy Director of UNRWA says, “Israel Continue reading »
It’s ranking season again, and universities are once more fixated on their positions in global league tables. These rankings, such as those from Times Higher Education and QS World University Rankings, often shape decisions for students and funders alike. While an institution’s rise in the rankings can be celebrated as a success, a drop can Continue reading »
International Student activists succeeded in passing anti-transport discrimination motions at Transport Minister Jo Haylen’s Summer Hill Branch. Continue reading »