Bracks Watch

Bracks Government Hypocrisy On Schools

Kevin Donnelly author of Why Our Schools Are Failing has exposed the hypocritical double standard of the State government when it comes to selective schools - a double standard which essentially allows Bracks government Education Minister Lynne Kosky to announce the creation of an "elite sports academy" at Maribyrnong, which will have the use of a $17.5 million swimming pool at the same time as only recently having withdrawn funding for the State's gifted students program:

The contradiction, of course, is that while it is now OK to have a secondary school specialising in sport, where students compete for entry and where the curriculum is tailored to meet students' unique demands, the State Government has failed to extend the policy to the academic side of the curriculum.

Competition and excellence in sport is acceptable; unfortunately, the same incentive for academically able students is sadly lacking. Over the past 12 months, not only has Kosky withdrawn funding from the Government's gifted students program, she has also refused permission for schools outside the program to become involved. - Give Academic Excellence A Sporting Chance

All over Australia, ALP governments spout the rhetoric of a fair go for everyone, yet under Victoria's Bracks government, the only place academically gifted kids can get a fair go is in the private school system. The Bracks government and the AEU conspire to maintain a cookie cutter approach where bureacrats draw lines on maps to decide which kids will be forced to go to which school. Parents who want real choices about what kind of education their children receive are being forced to either shell out for private schooling or risk the academic talent of their children going untapped in a government system restricted by unions and bureacrats.

If Victorian tax payers are going to pay almost $8.4 billion a year for our State education and training system, the least they can expect is the ability to choose which kind of school is best for their child, as opposed to being told that because a bureacrat drew a couple of lines on a map, their child has to attend school X. Every school has a different culture, different emphasis and different strengths - and parents deserve to be able to choose which government school will be best for their child.

posted by JP @ 3:05 PM