Amid the grandstanding by the federal government about a national curriculum for schools IEU Federal Secretary makes the point that “the IEU has long supported educational reform in curriculum that is based upon research, that ensures educational validity and integrity and very importantly that supports teacher professional judgement”
“For more than a decade the Independent Education Union and its membership have engaged in dialogue with other stakeholders about a national curriculum” said IEU Federal Secretary Lynne Rolley.
“For more than a decade, the IEU and its members have contributed expertise and skills into developing a national curriculum” she said.
“But for a decade the Howard government has failed to advance the educational interests of this country through an agreed and consultative approach to a national curriculum.”
“At the end of the day, this federal government has failed our children” said Ms Rolley.
“The IEU welcomes the comments from the policy director of the Business Council of Australia calling for greater emphasis on the teaching of employability skills such as problem solving, communication and teamwork” said Ms Rolley.
“Prior to 1996, there was a national focus and positive debate happening between all stakeholders, including government, industry and unions about the role of education in strengthening the skills base of the nation and the competencies which students needed to take from their school education. This arose from the seminal reports by Finn and Mayer.” said Ms Rolley.
“This constructive conversation has been lost under this government and we are being dragged back to the fifties.”
“The IEU 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.”
“Even in the current debate the federal government has shown that it is more interested in political point scoring than in advancing educational outcomes for students” said Ms Rolley.
“The IEU has long supported educational reform in curriculum that is based upon research, that ensures educational validity and integrity and very importantly that supports teacher professional judgement. The IEU 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,” she said.
“Disappointingly the current federal government has provided no leadership in these terms”
[Attached: IEU Policy on ‘A National Curriculum’]
Downloadable files
National Curriculum – IEU Policy Statement
Contact details
Lynne Rolley
Federal Secretary
Ph: 03 9254 1830
Fax: 03 9254 1830
ieu@ieu.org.au