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| Bulletin - September 2007 |
FEDERAL NEWS
FEDERAL NEWSOver 2,300 new places to boost university entryThe Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop, announced more than 2,300 new Commonwealth-supported places to help meet demand for higher education next year. "Places have been allocated to areas of skills need and student demand, including 560 places for the training of engineers, 390 for science professionals, 395 for nurses, 375 for teachers and 210 for other health professionals," Minister Bishop said. "Other areas to benefit from the new places are accounting, social work, foreign languages, and higher education pathways for Indigenous students as well as South Australia's first veterinary science school at the University of Adelaide. The majority of the new places have been provided to public universities, with private higher education providers receiving 260 places in the national priority areas of nursing and teaching." The Australian Government is providing new engineering places as part of the Skills for the Future package and other places as part of the Our Universities: Backing Australia's Future package. The majority of these places will commence in 2008. "These new places are in addition to the more than 4,600 new places the Government allocated in 2006. Around 50,000 new university places are being funded by the Australian Government by 2011," Minister Bishop said. "The number of eligible students missing out on a place is at historically low levels, with a record 92% of home-state Year 12 eligible applicants receiving an offer this year, up from 90% last year, which was the best result in more than two decades." For further information see www.dest.gov.au 2007 Australian Student Vocational PrizeThe Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop MP, and the Minister for Vocational and Further Education, the Hon Andrew Robb AO MP, jointly announced the 442 outstanding winners of the 2007 Australian Vocational Student Prize. This annual prize recognises that vocational pathways are valuable and rewarding for young people, and is awarded to students who have demonstrated outstanding skills, ability and commitment in undertaking an Australian School-based Apprenticeship or Vocational Education and Training in Schools Programme. Winners receive a certificate and prize of $2,000 in recognition of their achievements. The Australian Vocational Student Prize is an important complement to the Government's $143 million Career Advice Australia initiative, which is assisting young people, aged 13 to 19 years through a national system of career development and transition support. For more information see www.dest.gov.au/schools/avsp. Labor promises ready-for-school programLabor has joined the Brotherhood of St Laurence in targeting a $32.5 million program to get disadvantaged children ready for school. Announcing the continued roll-out of his ''education revolution'' at Jerrabomberra Primary School, Labor Leader Kevin Rudd said Labor would work with the charity group to support up to 8000 children aged between three and five as they prepared to enter kindergarten. The two-year program would provide tutors to visit parents at home and provide mentoring, tutoring assistance and support, as well as books and learning materials to encourage young children into school. Labour would target 50 disadvantaged communities, employing tutors to work with more than 3000 families and up to 8000 children. Mr Rudd acknowledged the work of the Brotherhood of St Laurence in setting up the Home Interaction Program. "The Brotherhood" has enormous experience around the country on this. "If you can help parents prepare their kids for school, particularly in these areas of literacy and numeracy and other learning-based skills, you make their entry into the school system, the formal school system that much better," Mr Rudd said. "We think this is a positive step forward to make sure that each one or these little ones gets the best possible start in life before they enter the school system and as they enter it, so that they can become productive members of our community." The program is based on similar early intervention programs in Canada, The United States, Germany and Israel. "So we're borrowing from international experience and also use the experience of the Brotherhood of St Laurence," Mr Rudd said. The Brotherhood's executive director, Tony Nicholson, said the program had been demonstrated to be remarkably effective over the past 10 years where it had been run across eight Australian communities. " "The children that undertake the Home Interaction Program, when they enter primary school, they show that they are well ahead, at least the equivalent and often well ahead, of their peers ... in the first year of primary school," Mr Nicholson said. He called on the Coalition to pledge similar pre-election support. "We want to ensure that the outcome of the next election doesn't determine the outcome of the welfare of these young children." (Author - Emma Macdonald, Education Reporter) States must increase school funding: AAP 27 AugustFederal Education Minister Julie Bishop says the states must increase education funding to ensure Australia does not fall behind other developed countries. A discussion paper released by the Business Council of Australia says more than 300,000 young Australians are unemployed or working part-time because the school system has failed them. The council says Australia's school system is at risk of falling behind other developed nations and calls for all levels of government to boost spending as part of a broader overhaul of the education system. But Ms Bishop said the federal government was already working hard to improve national standards and had boosted literacy and numeracy, and pushed for innovative pay structures for teachers. She said state governments should follow suit. "If the state governments matched our rate of funding increase, then there would be an extra $2 billion in education," Ms Bishop told ABC radio. "So I do call upon the states to match the Australian government's rate of funding increase for investing in education." But Labor's education spokesman Stephen Smith said the report confirmed the commonwealth had been under-investing in every level of education for far too long. "It underlines what Labor has been saying - making greater investments in education at every level is the single most important thing we can do for Australia's future prosperity and living standards." Investing in our Schools ProgrammeFollowing the overwhelming response to the Howard Government's $1.2 billion Investing in Our Schools Programme (IOSP), the Minister for Education, Science and Training the Hon Julie Bishop MP announced that the programme will be extended. "The fourth and final round of the current funding was announced today, with $140 million approved to State Government schools, which builds on the $656 million that has already been approved under the Programme," Minister Bishop said. "Through this highly successful initiative, announced during the 2004 election campaign, schools across Australia have received funding for small infrastructure projects such as shade cloth, air conditioning, new computer equipment, books, musical instruments and playground equipment." Minister Bishop said the success of this programme comes from the fact that school communities are able to identify their priorities and to apply directly for Federal Government funding. Details of the continued support for the Investing in Our Schools Programme will be announced in due course. STATE NEWSTutors find favour as students race to be the bestParents are paying for private tutors in growing numbers, according to a report that finds many regard tutoring as a way to complement their child's state school education.Business information analysts IBISWorld found a perceived lack of individual attention in the state school system was one of the main drivers of the shift, which has been gaining momentum in the past decade. Industry analyst Fiona Silke said Melbourne and Sydney were spearheading the growth, with the tutoring sector likely to continue to swell by an average of 7 per cent a year. Australia's tutoring industry was worth $900 million, she said. The IBISWorld report, released today, suggests that for many who send their children to a public school, tutoring is seen as an economical way to "top up" their child's education while avoiding private school fees. "Tutoring is seen as a cheaper option by parents who want to ensure that their children are getting the maximum benefit out of school," Ms Silke said. - Bridie Smith The Age 27 August For more information see www.theage.com.au/news/national Setting goals is the key to success, say VCE veteransPLANNING and balance were the keys to Ashray Gunjur's approach to the VCE final exams, a strategy that led him to become one of the state's top-performing students. "Failing to plan is planning to fail," says Ashray, who studied in 90-minute blocks during eight-hour shifts."I tried to set goals for the day. It sounds a bit contrived but I wrote up what I wanted to do like maybe seven hours of work and I would timetable that in." "For example, I would try to achieve pre-practice exams during the day and correct them." Ashray was one of four year 12 graduates at Glen Waverley Secondary College who achieved the perfect tertiary ranking of 99.95 last year. The four are now studying medicine at the University of Melbourne. As almost 80,000 VCE students prepare for end-of-year exams, Ashray recommends preparing a study timetable now as his most useful tip for getting the most out of the final weeks - Elisabeth Tarica The Age 10 September Read more at www.theage.com.au/news/education-news OTHER NEWSEducation Network Australia - Parenting IssuesThis is a really useful website for lots of information about parenting and families. Some of the issues on their site include :
For more information see http://url.edna.edu.au/dpeR. Join in a Nationwide Study "Aussie Have Your Say" - Emma Macdonald Education Reporter The Canberra Times 16/8/2007Aussies have a long and strong history of pride in our nation. We also often share values and beliefs that make us uniquely Australian in one of the most successful multicultural nations on Earth. In today's changing world we are more often asking ourselves:
In an attempt to help answer such questions the Centre for Educational Research; University of Western Sydney (through funding from the Australian Research Council) is conducting a nationwide study to find out what it means to be an Australian. "We want to find out what Australians think about what makes us Australian, the values we share, and the loyalties we cherish. This study is aimed at all Australians, from our youngsters to our elders, and of course to our many new and culturally diverse Australians. We are calling on Aussies from all walks of life to have their say by answering a survey" says Professor Rhonda Craven from the University of Western Sydney. "We all come from different backgrounds and we believe that all those collective personal experiences help to shape our identity as a nation. The study will explore whether our different cultural backgrounds, where we live, how we work and play, and our life experiences, help mould our ideas of what it means to be an Aussie and to what extent we identify with our nationality. We are hoping Aussies will have their say and tell us what they really think by logging onto our website". Australians are renowned for their generosity. We hope you will give us just 25 minutes of your time to complete this survey. Please note it is possible to save your survey in progress and complete at your convenience. It is also possible to download a hard copy of the survey from the website or if you would like a copy of the survey posted or emailed to you please contact: Lisa Car ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 02 9772 6661). For more information see www.aussiehaveyoursay.com |
