Future of Schooling in Australia.

The members and stakeholders of the Central Ranges LLEN were represented today at the Future of Schools in Australia Conference.

Today, the Premier of Victoria, The Hon. John Brumby, launched the Federalist Paper No 2, The Future of Schooling in Australia. This is a report by the council for Australian Federation. Professor Peter Dawkins is the Chair of the review committee.

Following the release of the report on The Future of Schooling in Australia in April this year, there has been extensive discussion of its contents, especially the commitment by the States and Territories to work together on the development of core national curriculum standards in Maths, Science and English, and the idea that the time is ripe to renew and refresh the 1999 Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling.

Ministers for Education, senior officials from State and Territory education departments and the Catholic and Independent education sectors, business and selected education stakeholders were invited to hear a range of Australian and international speakers at this one-day event, discussing the future of schooling in Australia.

During his speech to launch the report, The Premier indicated his interest in looking for further ways to link schools and their communities, with such things as shared community facilities, also indicating that key infrastructure initiatives, combined with improvement in teaching and learning outcomes, were central to the future prosperity of not only Victorians, but all Australians.

The Premier remarked that a series of public-private partnerships have proven beneficial to securing future infrastructure needs for the state [such as the new Royal Children's Hospital]. Mr. Brumby indicated that he was interested to what degree such arrangements may benefit schools and their communities in the future. The Premier outlined that he had asked Treasurer Lenders and Minister Pike to report on such possibilities by the end of this year.

Full details of the report and conference can be found at:

  www.education.vic.gov.au/futureofschooling

Update: 26th Sept.

The Editor-at-Large of The Australian Newspaper, Paul Kelly, attended the conference yesterday and has published an opinion piece in The Australian newspaper.

Labor plan is modest progress on education

The Age Newspaper also reports:

State looks to school partnerships

 

[Central Ranges LLEN News]
9:19:35 AM