14 February 2007

”In the Parliament yesterday the Prime Minister again washed his hands of any responsibility about the current serious teacher shortages in the curriculum areas of maths and sciences,”said Lynne Rolley, Secretary of the Independent Education Union.

“These are subjects which are critical for our young people if Australia is going to have the creative and competitive edge in the twenty-first century” she said.

“The Prime Minister acknowledged the link between education and national productivity improvement but then cast his net of blame for teacher shortages to the States and the education unions,” she said.

“In so doing, he continued the argument so eloquently put by his Minister, Julie Bishop in the parliament on the 8th of February”, said Ms Rolley

“What did the Minister say to the Parliament and the people of Australia about the critical lack of qualified teachers in senior chemistry, physics and maths”.

BISHOP: It has nothing to do with us.

After ten years in government, it is not a good enough answer for schools, teachers and students and for business and the community. Our trading partners are pouring enormous resources into school and tertiary education. We will be left behind if this government cannot work positively with state governments to ensure there are sufficient numbers of qualified teachers in these vital curriculum areas,” said Ms Rolley.

“The 9 governments of this country are entrusted to properly run education in this country”, she said “and this requires responsible leadership and a cooperative approach from the national government”, she said.

“Teachers and the community are encouraged by the positive and forward looking education policies announced so far by the ALP”.

“Their policy on early childhood education recognises the importance of those developmental years. Resources have been committed to these early years and research shows that these are important for the solid grounding needed for life long education”.

“The ALP’s commitment to resourcing education at this level is an investement in the future”, said Ms Rolley. “It is responsible and positive and goes beyond the current “innocent bystander’ approach of the federal government.

Contact details

Lynne Rolley
Federal Secretary
Ph: 03 9254 1830
Fax: 03 9254 1835
ieu@ieu.org.au