Education must be on the 2020 agenda

A SUMMIT aimed at creating the sort of Australia we want in 2020 is an idea it's hard not to like. What could be wrong with a government seeking opinions from a wide range of eminent people? Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's declaration that he couldn't care less about the participants' politics is admirable and refreshing, and the whole concept signals an unusual humility on the part of a leader. Here's hoping the participants come up with some really exciting ideas.

Yet it is also important to remain a bit wary, because we've been here before. Bob Hawke did something similar when he was prime minister and his much touted "consensus" style of governing often led to an avoidance of the tough and the unpopular. Seeking opinions is one thing, using them as an excuse either to avoid difficult policy decisions or as something to blame when such decisions go wrong is quite another.

Whatever happens at the summit, it must not be allowed to degenerate into a gigantic arse-covering exercise. Nor should summits, reviews, reports, inquiries or even royal commissions become substitutes for action. Researching and talking about the major issues that we face as we embark on the 21st century is both important and necessary, but that's part of the problem. From looking at the Government's list of topics to be covered, it seems the summit may already be squibbing it.

The summit framework consists of a series of questions to be put to panels of 100 people under 10 topic areas. The nominated topics are economy, health, infrastructure, sustainability, rural futures, working families, indigenous affairs, the arts, open government and the world. All issues that matter, all valuable, all worth thrashing out, but isn't there at least one missing?

There's a children's game called Hot Potato that involves throwing a ball from person to person as quickly as you can so you don't get caught holding it when the music stops. It seems like the hot potato in Australian political circles at the moment is education. How else do you explain a summit of 1000 people talking about future directions for Australia where the future of our education system is to be almost completely ignored?

Where do we create the future, if not in our schools?

Now you could argue that education has been included and, no doubt, that is exactly what the Federal Government will do. However, it only pops up in the form of a single question under the heading of "economy": "How do we attract quality teachers for our children?"

One answer springs to mind immediately. We could begin by treating our schools and the policies that govern them as if they actually matter. Why would our best and brightest wish to enter a profession that, according to our Government, isn't even up there with the top 10 most important areas facing Australia?

Burying the only education question under "the economy" says a lot in itself about what this Government thinks teachers actually do in schools turn out ideal little worker bees, one presumes.

What is even more worrying is how education has become the policy that dare not speak its name. One reason may be that education policy threatens to go from a red-hot to a white-hot potato at any moment. The Federal Government is sitting on a malodorous little report commissioned by the Howard government on the increasingly discredited socio-economic status (SES) funding scheme for private schools.

Little spurts of information have leaked out about the findings of that report and what they have indicated has been damning that around half of all private schools now receive far more public money than they are entitled to under the formula. Yet the Rudd Government's only responses are to promise to maintain the Howard government's funding policies until 2012 and to continue suppressing the report.

It knows that once it is released, all manner of trouble will follow. Education triggers the emotions like almost no other topic. When we debate how we invest in it, how we fund our schools, how we make sure we develop all our available talent no matter into what stratum of society they are born, we stir up strong prejudices. Religious belief, parenting styles, social class and morality all raise their ugly and troublesome heads. But surely that is all the more reason we should be talking about the issue. Putting our fingers in our collective ears and singing "la, la, la" very loudly whenever anyone dares to mention the word is not going to make the potato go away or get any cooler.

One day very soon the growing inequality of our education system and the unsustainable and inefficient way we fund it will blow up in our faces, particularly if even our shiny new Government is too afraid to canvass the topic during its honeymoon.

What use is a summit on the future if it studiously avoids the really hard topics? Surely by ignoring the institutions that do more to form our future than any other, the 2020 summit has already demonstrably failed.

Jane Caro is co-author (with Chris Bonnor) of The Stupid Country: How Australia is Dismantling Public Education.

News facts

Not long ago, a mountain in Guangxi border regiment offensive and defensive exercises in the northern hinterland of an unfamiliar Bay began its geographical quietly. Fortunately, exercise space, a resident of the village has got near the demarcation of the first use of an artillery firing positions, since they produce fruit to sell to. Upon enquiry, the villagers not only to the time and place of exercise generally understanding, but also to exercise and the number of participating subjects can guess a Bajiubuchishi.

Where does the information come from? Exercise in the end how many hidden safety problems? Immediately, the regiment has sent a working group investigated thoroughly, so that if a proprietor of the party committee members shocked: Since the majority of the company did not separate the soldiers stationed Service, each out to the troops and to conduct training exercises, the soldiers will all come to the store to buy resident instant noodles, beverages, mosquito coils and other supplies. Seeing the soldiers hastily expression, we can guess the recent drill action. Resident vendors have this as a rare opportunity, and do everything possible to follow the moves. In addition, shoppers can also, according to store personnel and procurement volume, the content of the training to speculate strength

To investigate and understand the situation, the party committees from the leading members of Reflection: training ground is a battlefield. Although the text of these computers, leaks, such as the drill ground red flags were fluttering obviously been leakage of radical, but some seemingly insignificant hidden leakage phenomenon, a time bomb hidden in the likely side. To this end, they carried out in the armed forces in a wide range of enhanced security awareness, adherence to military secrets as the theme of the education campaign, the exercise of political discipline, not 10 and exercise during the hidden image and leak prevention Code to the officers and soldiers, to ensure that we should not say absolutely not, absolutely should not be a place not. At the same time, and ordered separate logistical help the company as soon as possible to set up the garrison soldiers Service, the officers and men of daily necessities for low-cost protection, an appropriate team to subsidies for small vendors no longer fight the officers and men of idea. (Zhou Dian Chen Wang of this reporter)

Ethics on the matter - Zhou Meng

Hidden leakage phenomenon, when anti-!

During the First World War, Germany has a staff observed through the telescope of the military positions often a Beishimao, that there must be at the home of a senior command post to the correct inference, and focus their firepower will be destroyed at one stroke . The real examples remind us: secret defense has a profiling and the hidden at the profiling secret, we must resolutely defending; for hidden secret, we must not be complacent. Only moments to examine the criteria used combat battlefield environment beginnings, prevention, eradication of hidden leaked soil, we can really prevent future unnecessary sacrifices on the battlefield.

Additional information :

From www.theage.com.au:
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