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.

AUSTRALIA

COVID-recovery budget needs to invest in public education, says union

The Age reports that the Australian Education Union has called on the Federal Government to invest heavily in public schools, preschools and TAFE in its coronavirus recovery budget. In a pre-budget submission to Treasury, the union said a funding boost to public education would have ongoing economic benefits but would also support future generations and address social inequality. The union's recommendations include lifting the 20 per cent cap on Commonwealth contributions to public schools and funding, implementing a program of capital works including maintenance projects and building new schools, restoring funding cut from TAFE and guaranteeing funds for preschool for three and four-year-olds. As the coronavirus recession hits, enrolments in state and Catholic schools are tipped to boom. “Once JobKeeper [wage subsidy] and school discounts dry up, this will most likely lead to a number of parents not pursuing high-fee private primary schools,” education consultant Paul O’Shannassy said.

Cairns set to get new Catholic high school on James Cook University campus

The ABC News reports that plans for the first new high school to be built in Cairns in years have been unveiled. Construction of the Newman Catholic College at James Cook University's Smithfield campus is due to start at the end of the year, ahead of a planned 2022 opening. It will be the first Catholic school to be built on a university precinct in the country. The State Government has announced $15 million in funding for the school, which will be built over four levels and will include an indoor sports court, five design technology classrooms and four science lab classrooms. Cairns Catholic Education Services executive director Bill Dixon said there had already been an enormous amount of interest in the school. The Newman Catholic College will offer Year 7 in 2022, with a new year level to follow in each successive year, meaning the first Year 12 cohort would begin in 2027.

Push for NAPLAN to be expanded into new test for all students

The Brisbane Times reports that NAPLAN could be replaced by a new, broader test that also includes science, technology and a greater focus on critical and creative thinking. The new test would be called ANSA and would replace NAPLAN in 2022, under a recommended reform being pushed by Victoria, NSW, Queensland and the ACT. The three states and territory have formed a breakaway group that has argued that the standardised national testing regime is no longer fit for the purpose of assessing students' literacy and numeracy progress. But Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan and the Australian Education Union have already rejected the need for a new test. Mr Tehan has called for NAPLAN to be preserved, while the teachers' union said the changes did not go far enough. The review was conducted by Emeritus Professor Barry McGaw, Emeritus Professor Bill Louden and Professor Claire Wyatt-Smith, and considered standardised assessment practices around the world, the uses of NAPLAN data and the content and delivery of the assessment itself.

Children and young people articulate their greatest challenges arising from COVID-19

The Sector reports that a recent conference on children’s rights has ended with a statement delivered by children and young people in attendance, in which they identified the five greatest challenges facing children and young people in Australia in 2020. The Child and Youth Statement, facilitated by World Vision Australia, listed COVID-19, climate change, Indigenous children’s rights, citizenship and mental health as the most urgent challenges facing our next generation, calling for “smart partnership” with adults and policy makers to help resolve the challenges. As well as identifying the issues, the statement presents the perspectives of children and young people on the challenges they face, and what they would like to see change. The statement calls for governments to ensure measures put in place to control the pandemic are child-friendly, as well as seeking to classify child protection and social workers as essential services, and to provide resources to respond to the needs of children and young people during and after COVID-19.

Veteran principal says more prep students may need to repeat next year

The Age reports that one of Victoria’s most experienced primary school principals says many prep students would be better off repeating their foundation year next year to avoid falling behind permanently from months of lost classroom learning. Kevin Mackay, who has been principal at Dandenong North Primary School for about 35 years, estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic had cost his students about half a year of essential development in literacy, numeracy and oral language. Prep students in Melbourne’s lockdown zones have missed at least 12 weeks of classroom learning in terms two and three. Education Minister James Merlino told a Parliamentary hearing into the State Government’s response to COVID-19 last week that he is considering a program of small group tutoring sessions in term four and next year to help students catch up. Schools would be directed to use their equity funding to employ tutors in the roles. A spokesperson for the Department of Education and Training said it did not expect an increase in the number of prep students repeating in 2021.

Queensland rejects pleas to ease interstate border restrictions for interstate boarding students

The ABC News reports that the Isolated Children's Parents' Association says it is devastated the Queensland Government will not ease restrictions for interstate boarding school students. The Association met the Chief Health Officer, Jeanette Young, last week to ask for students outside the “border bubble” to be allowed to go home for the upcoming school holidays, without having to quarantine on their return to Queensland. The Association's Queensland President, Tammie Irons, said Dr Young refused their request due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission in New South Wales. Dr Young said she had granted exemptions to allow students outside of the border zone to quarantine at school when they return to Queensland. "Because the boarding schools have excellent COVID-safe plans, that we've worked through, I've given them the exemption that they can do that quarantine in the boarding school," she said. But Ms Irons said it would not work for all schools. The ICPA has also raised the issue with the Federal Government.

Maximum school suspension to be cut to 10 days under discipline plan

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the maximum school suspension would be cut from 20 to 10 days, and students from kindergarten to year 2 could only be sent home for serious physical violence under proposed changes to discipline policy for NSW public schools. Principals would be given more discretion over suspensions and would have a new team of behaviour experts to help them. A draft behaviour strategy by the NSW Department of Education is the first major review of school discipline policies in 14 years, and comes amid increasing concern that vulnerable students, particularly those with disabilities, are over-represented in suspension statistics. In 2018, there were 1252 suspensions of 626 kindergarten children, including 150 long suspensions of up to 20 days for violence or persistent, serious misbehaviour. Under the draft guidelines, released for feedback last week, students from kindergarten to year 2 could not be suspended for anything but serious violence and for no longer than five days.

Parents want advice from teachers on how to raise their children, inquiry to hear

The Brisbane Times reports that changes in parent expectations, a technological revolution and big jumps in the number of students with complex needs have completely altered the nature of teaching over the past 15 years. Few professions have experienced as much political interference as teaching, leading to constant change and increasing layers of administration as teachers and principals are also asked to act as data collectors, business managers and social workers, the NSW Teachers Federation would tell its own inquiry on Monday. The last hearing into teacher workload and conditions was in 2003, before the Industrial Relations Commission. With the IRC no longer hearing such cases, the Federation enlisted former West Australia Premier Geoff Gallop to run another independent inquiry. The Federation would be the first to give evidence on Monday, before Mr Gallop and fellow panellists former IRC judge Tricia Kavanagh and the former head of the NSW Institute of Teachers, Patrick Lee.

Victorian government to review laws stopping sexual assault survivors sharing their story

SBS News reports that the Victorian government has announced a review of laws preventing sexual assault survivors from speaking publicly about their experience, hours after a campaign to have them repealed was launched. Changes to the State's Judicial Proceedings Reports Act introduced in February made it an offence for sexual assault survivors to publish their stories under their real identities in cases where proceedings were pending or a conviction had been recorded, unless they obtained a court order. Survivor advocates say the laws, which carry fines and potential gaol time if broken, effectively silence victims and prevent them from carrying out advocacy work. Journalist and sexual assault survivor Nina Funnell launched the #LetUsSpeak campaign last week, calling for the laws to be amended to allow survivors to waive their right to anonymity if they choose to share their story publicly. Similar laws in Tasmania and the Northern Territory were scrapped earlier this year following a separate #LetHerSpeak campaign.

Record payout for victim of teacher who abused dozens of children

The Age reports that the victim of a teacher jailed for abusing dozens of children over the course of 31 years has won a record $1.5 million court-ordered payout from the Victorian Education Department. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 10 years old when he was abused by teacher Vincent Henry Reynolds on six occasions when he was at Myrtleford Primary School in the mid-1980s. Last Wednesday, Supreme Court judge Jacinta Forbes awarded the man $1,552,725, which included general damages, medical expenses, loss of past and future earning capacity and superannuation entitlements. The payout could pave the way for more than 20 other victims who have yet to settle with the Department, as well as spur possible other victims who have not yet come forward to disclose their abuse. Reynolds' decades-long repeated abuse of boys occurred at more than a dozen schools, starting in the 1960s. The Education Department became aware of his behaviour in the early 1980s while he was teaching in Victoria’s northeast, but he returned to teach for more than a decade despite the allegations.

Victorian parents urged not to delay childhood vaccinations during the pandemic

SBS News reports that Victorian parents are being urged not to neglect child vaccinations, with the launch of a drive-through service to allay COVID-19 fears. In a survey of over 2,000 Australian parents, Royal Children's Hospital paediatrician Anthea Rhodes says one in five children under the age of five has had a routine vaccination delayed during the pandemic. "The main reason parents gave for delaying care was fear or concern about their child or themselves catching COVID-19 in a healthcare facility or service," Dr Rhodes said on Sunday. That figure has increased to almost two out of three families cancelling or delaying appointments to the RCH's immunisation service since June. In response, the Melbourne hospital has set up a new drive-through clinic so families can keep up to date with their children's immunisations outside of the hospital environment.

Why freedom of religion won’t likely trump public health interests with a future COVID-19 vaccine

According to an article in The Conversation, last week, three leading Australian religious figures wrote to Prime Minister Scott Morrison outlining ethical concerns they have with the potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed at Oxford University. The three Sydney archbishops are concerned the vaccine utilises a cell line derived from an aborted foetus. The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils also signalled its “profound concern” over the use of foetal tissue in vaccine development. Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right, provided for under the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. However, this freedom is not unlimited. Under article 18 of the UN covenant, these rights may be limited in the interests of public health. While the potential Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine may “raise serious issues of conscience” for some religious groups, the interests of public health are likely to outweigh any freedom of religion concerns. Despite this, the Government cannot force people to be vaccinated, only compel them to do so.

INTERNATIONAL

Auckland's St Cuthbert's College bans teachers' use of racial slur after parents protest (New Zealand)

The NZ Herald reports that Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon has told educators the onus is on schools and teachers to provide a safe environment for their students after another example of a teacher using the n-word in a lesson. The principal of private Auckland girls' school St Cuthbert's College has instructed staff "that the word is not to be spoken out loud again" after its use in a lesson prompted protests from some students and their families. The most recent incident came last month, when a teacher at St Cuthbert's was leading a classroom discussion about white supremacy and black separatism. The teacher quoted from African-American activist Malcolm X during the discussion and used the racial slur in full. In a letter to the school's board, a parent of one of the girls in the class said they were "horrified and offended" by the use of the word. The parent said “"We believe that it is entirely possible for a teacher to engage in meaningful dialogue about racism without using language that causes further harm to students."

Why the world urgently needs a global plan to get all children safely back to school (Global)

According to the World Education Blog, a month ago, Save the Children launched their Save Our Education campaign, highlighting the impact school closures are having on children around the world. Their estimates proposed that around 10 million children may never go back due to the economic consequences of the pandemic and rising child poverty. Their team in Uganda, for example, have reported a doubling of teenage pregnancies, increase in child labour and child marriage, as well as increased reports of violence against children in some of the areas where they work. 15 million children have been out of school in Uganda since the end of March, including 600,000 refugee children. Investing in education matters for protecting the lives of vulnerable children right now. Yet to date, the international community has not sufficiently recognised the huge learning crisis now exacerbated by the pandemic, and how important education is for the recovery. This has resulted in limited action and so far a shocking lack of investment in education.