13 April 2007
The Federal Council meeting of the Independent Education Union of Australia in Brisbane today set out clear principles needed to progress major issues facing Australian education.
The Federal Secretary Lynne Rolley said that it has been disappointing in the extreme to witness not only the neglect of education by the current federal government over the last decade but the divisive way in which it has treated the issue.
“The Independent Education Union and its membership is committed to quality education for all Australian students, underpinned by a strong public education system and a respectful and inclusive dialogue between all stakeholders” said IEU Federal Secretary Lynne Rolley.
“Unfortunately, Australia has not been well served by the current federal government and the significant achievements of Australian students on international assessments has been ignored by the federal government in favour of political stunts” she said.
The IEUA Federal Council noted that it was opportune for the union to restate its principles in relation to key matters such as professional pay for teachers, school funding and a nationally consistent curriculum given the concurrent meeting of MCEETYA in Darwin.
The following resolutions were carried by the Council:
Professional Pay for Teachers
That the IEUA Federal Council rejects the proposal by the Federal Government to introduce performance-based pay for teachers. Council notes the methods for assessing merit as outlined by Minister Julie Bishop and considers these to be educationally unsound and industrially unfair.
Further, Council condemns the threat to make funding conditional on accepting the government’s “merit proposals”.
In light of this, Council calls on the Federal ALP to:
1. clarify its intentions regarding the issue of teachers’ pay and rewards for quality teaching, and
2. reject outright Minister Bishop’s performance pay approach.
Further, the Union commits to:
1. continue to campaign against divisive performance pay approaches, and
2. continue to promote professional pay agreements that are fair, transparent and consistent across schools, in consultation with teachers, and that justly reward teachers in their work.
School Funding
That Council reaffirms its commitment to school funding regimens that acknowledges the realities of Australian schools and provides the way forward for a more equitable, less divisive framework of schooling.
The Independent Education Union of Australia considers that public funding policies which underpin both government and non-government schools and systems, and which facilitate access by citizens to a variety of schooling traditions, should embody principles of equity and be focused on the common good.
Accordingly, choice of schooling should be funded within a framework as follows:
nationally consistent curriculum, certification and assessment schemes
the operation of a broad regulatory scheme which is transparent and operates comparably across all schools
a resource standard that is fully funded in public schools to deliver the goals of schooling to all students
funding allocative mechanisms for non-government schools which distinguish genuinely on the basis of need with reference to the resource standard
appropriate planning mechanisms which set benchmarks for school provision.
The IEUA believes that the federal government has a central leadership role and responsibility in planning and ensuring that both government and non-government school authorities have the capacity and the resources to provide educational resources of the highest quality and that rigorous accountability and reporting mechanisms are in place.
National Curriculum
That the Independent Education Union of Australia supports work to achieve greater national consistency and comparability in curriculum, assessment, reporting and certification and in other areas of educational policy which contribute to ongoing improvements in learning outcomes.
However, the Independent Education Union of Australia believes that this should not lead to national standardisation or uniformity of teaching approaches and subject curricula or a loss of quality teaching and learning conditions.
The Independent Education Union of Australia believes that further development of national curriculum should reflect
the broad range of needs and interests of society including parents and employers
the professional knowledge of teachers and should model the cooperative and collaborative approach which characterizes the way teachers and students work in Australian schools today.
The Independent Education Union of Australia supports debate around such reform when that debate is undertaken in a timely way, following broad consultation with key stakeholders in order to build and achieve consensus.
Contact details
Lynne Rolley
Federal Secretary
Ph: 03 9254 1830
Fax: 03 9254 1835
ieu@ieu.org.au