The information in the Weekly Wrap is aggregated from other news sources to provide you with news that is relevant to the education sector across Australia and worldwide. Each paragraph is a summary of the subject matter covered in the particular news article. The information does not necessarily reflect the views of CompliSpace.
The Australian Financial Review reports that parents are being more influenced by children and their grandparents in choosing a private school. Children and grandparents are increasingly influential in relation to parents choosing a private school, a new survey has found, but considerations such as first-rate buildings, quality teachers, high levels of discipline and academic results are still the most important considerations. With parents increasingly drifting away from the public school sector, the survey by National Australia Bank looked in detail at what they most valued in a private school and what influences were most likely to drive their final choice. The survey found the top reason private schools were chosen over public schools was the quality of facilities. The Australian Bureau of Statistics last week revealed that of the 4 million students enrolled in 9500 schools in 2021, 620,780 were in independent schools, an 11.4 per cent increase since 2017.
According to an article in The Conversation, the authors’ recent study showed NAPLAN scores of children who attended private schools were no different to those in public schools, after accounting for socioeconomic background. They assert these findings are in line with other research, both in Australia and internationally, which shows family background is related both to the likelihood of attending a private school and to academic achievement. While there may appear to be differences in the academic achievement of students in private schools, they state these tend to disappear once socioeconomic background is taken into account. Their analysis of 68 education systems participating in the 2018 Programme for International Assessment (PISA) tests showed attendance at private schools was not consistently related to higher test performance. The authors state that students attending private schools may have access to other non-academic benefits, such as more opportunities for extracurricular activities. But in terms of academic advantage, the authors contend from their research and other studies that explored similar questions, there is little evidence to show independent schools offer any, with children likely to do equally well in any school sector.
The Age reports that high-achieving students are avoiding a career in teaching because of its low status but would be more likely to choose the career if the top pay was lifted to $130,000 a year, a Federal Government review into teacher education has found. The final report of Quality Initial Teacher Education Review found Australian teachers are among the best paid in the world, but that salary growth is flat by global standards. Teacher pay in Australia tops out at about 10 years, well below the average in other advanced economies. A survey commissioned by the review found lifting top pay by $30,000 to $130,000 would make young high achievers 13 percentage points more likely to choose teaching as a career, above other incentives such as scholarships and guaranteed ongoing employment in a nearby school. A higher top pay rate was also the biggest motivator for mid-career professionals. The review was commissioned by the Education Minister to improve teacher quality. It recommended the Commonwealth wield its financial power to force schools to teach phonics and dictate which university education faculties would be allowed to take the most teaching students.
According to an article in The Educator, a new partnership will collaborate on professional learning programs to expand postgraduate opportunities for teachers looking to become future independent school leaders. The Memorandum of Understand (MOU), between Western Sydney University and the Association of Independent Schools NSW (AISNSW) comes as the state battles an increasingly widespread shortage of key education staff, particularly in rural and remote areas. AISNSW Chief Executive Dr Geoff Newcombe said central to the MOU is the University’s recognition of prior learning (RPL) for teaching experience and graduates of AISNSW’s professional learning offerings, including its highly regarded National Flagship Program. Dr Newcombe said AISNSW will also work with the University on the design of university courses which develop the skills of educators and assist them to advance their careers as future-focused school leaders.
According to an article in The Educator, the Federal Government recently released its final report into the Quality Initial Teacher Education Review, which was commissioned last year by the then Federal Education Minister, Alan Tudge. The ‘Next Steps’ review focused on how Australian schools can better attract and retain high-quality teachers while also preparing teaching graduates for the classroom. According to the review panel’s findings, ITE completion rates range from 73 per cent at some institutions to just 34 per cent at others. The number of people completing teaching courses overall has dropped 12 percentage points in the last decade and only 52 per cent of students complete their teaching degree. However, there is hope that the government’s Next Steps review will help turn this around by building on reforms from the previous Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG) review. The Expert Panel has made 17 recommendations across three key areas: attracting high-quality, diverse candidates into initial teacher education; ensuring their preparation is evidence-based and practical; and supporting early years teachers.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the chief executive of an Indigenous education venture founded by Noel Pearson has temporarily stepped down as the organisation announced an external inquiry into staff concerns about her alleged behaviour. It follows The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s investigation that reported claims from current and former employees of Good to Great Schools Australia (GGSA) that chief executive Bernardine Denigan regularly bullied and humiliated staff in the workplace, leading to alarming levels of turnover and compromising its operations. More than 45 current and former employees of GGSA, which receives millions of taxpayer dollars each year, have now made those allegations. A statement from the board of GGSA on Thursday said it had “engaged an external expert to undertake an inquiry. All staff members will be given the opportunity to participate and raise any matters of concern”.
According to an article in The Educator, while the growing reliance of educational institutions on technology has helped to build resilience, it has also created new challenges including heightened exposure to a number of serious cyber threats. Education remains a prime target for hackers and one of the least protected industries against malicious actors. Last July, the Australian education sector saw an increase of 17 per cent in the number of cybersecurity breaches compared to the first half of 2020. In 2020, Education Services Australia (ESA) launched the Safer Technologies 4 Schools (ST4S) program as a national initiative that assesses the safety of online education products and services. ST4S was established in collaboration with all Australian state, territory, Catholic and Independent school sectors to develop a nationally consistent security and privacy control framework to help schools reduce risks when choosing digital products and services.
The Age reports that the number of Victorian teachers being investigated for potential misconduct or incompetence has grown six-fold after the profession’s watchdog was overhauled to help prevent those who pose a risk to children’s safety working in schools. The Victorian Institute of Teaching’s annual report shows its conduct, competence and fitness to teach investigations grew to more than 1055 in June 2021 – up from about 150 cases in 2017. The watchdog attributed the increase to “growing community awareness and empowerment” in the aftermath of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and Victoria’s Betrayal of Trust inquiry, as well as new rules requiring it to investigate all teachers with a criminal history. These investigations led to 42 teachers having conditions imposed on their registration and 20 teachers losing the right to teach in the year to June 2021. The Independent Education Union said some teachers were being subject to lengthy investigations for “trivial or vexatious complaints” such as not selecting a student for a sporting team. The Victorian Institute of Teaching said conduct matters were triaged based on risk to the safety and wellbeing of children.
The Age reports that state school principals fear they will have to cancel school camps or hike their cost to parents to pay for an agreement struck by the education union and the Andrews Government to give teachers more time in lieu. School staff will receive time in lieu for every extra hour they spend working on camps, excursions, and information nights as part of the latest agreement for government school staff. The landmark provision was celebrated when the in-principle deal was struck this month because it is the first time Victorian school staff have won time in lieu for extra hours worked on extracurricular activities. But several state school principals have said that Victoria’s chronically underfunded public school system lacks the resources to pay for it. Honouring the provision could also penalise students, who would spend more time being taught by casual relief teachers instead of their regular teachers, one principal said. If the draft agreement is approved, school staff will begin to receive time in lieu for every hour worked on camp from next year. Time in lieu for other out-of-hours activities would commence once the agreement is signed.
According to an article in The Herald Sun, Victorian teachers are gearing up to strike for the first time in almost a decade to demand a pay rise and better working conditions. Teaching staff are set to protest outside Parliament on Friday afternoon to call for a pay rise above inflation and an increase in superannuation of 16.5 per cent. They will demand the proposed Victorian Government Schools Agreement be amended to reduce the number of face-to-face teaching hours to 18 hours and smaller class sizes. Teacher and protest organiser Lucy Honan said the Victorian government’s current two per cent pay rise was “insulting” in the wake of an 11.8 per cent pay increase last year. The industrial action will be the first time the education sector has organised mass action since 2013 when tens of thousands of teaching staff rallied at Melbourne Park, forcing hundreds of schools to close. About 30,000 teachers are believed to have walked off the job in support of that industrial action.
The West Australian reports that WA’s Catholic school system is splintering, with some of its top-tier colleges breaking away from the State-based organisation because of a governance dispute. Attadale girls’ school Santa Maria College, which has more than 1200 pupils, and Churchlands-based Newman College, with more than 1700 students, are among several schools to break ties with Catholic Education WA. They have been joined by Mercedes College, a girls’ school in Perth’s CBD, and Hills school St Brigid’s College in Lesmurdie. The schools will instead be governed by their religious orders, Mercy Education Limited and Marist Schools Australia. It’s understood other order-based schools are also considering breaking away, including Edmund Rice Education Association schools Trinity College, Aquinas College, CBC Fremantle and Edmund Rice College in Bindoon. The West Australian understands one of the sticking points included CEWA’s insistence that it should control principal appointments rather than a school’s religious order. Insiders say schools were also concerned about CEWA’s decision to suddenly phase in a new funding allocation model several years earlier than expected.
The Guardian reports that wealthy undergraduates in England will be better off while women, disadvantaged students and those from the north and Midlands are most likely to be worse off under proposed changes to student finance, according to the government’s own analysis. After the official announcement of an overhaul of how graduates in England will repay tuition fee and maintenance loans in the future, ministers also urged universities to make “efficiencies” to cope with the reduced income they faced from a prolonged freeze on tuition fees. The changes would result in students who enrol in 2023-24 having to make repayments for 40 years rather than 30 under the student loan system that has been in place since 2012. The government is to commit an extra £900m to education over three years. But the Russell Group of research universities said inflation meant the extra grant would not be enough to compensate for the cost of such courses. The Department for Education also published a controversial consultation to restrict numbers on certain courses, and set minimum criteria for school leavers to qualify for student loans, such as requiring at least a grade 4 in GCSE maths and English.
The Guardian reports that Japanese women have outperformed men in medical school entrance exams for the first time since universities admitted they had deliberately failed female applicants to inflate the number of male doctors. According to new government data, 13.6 per cent of female candidates passed exams at 81 medical schools last spring, compared with 13.51 per cent of men. It is the first time that women have fared better than their male counterparts since the education ministry started keeping records in 2013. Japan’s academic world was shaken in 2018 by revelations that several medical schools had deliberately marked down female candidates, triggering accusations of institutional sexism and demands for greater transparency. Ten of the country’s most prestigious schools admitted that they had systematically discriminated against women to ensure a sufficient number of men were admitted. The schools said they had deliberately failed female candidates due to concerns that women were more likely to quit their medical careers to start families amid a nationwide shortage of doctors.