Hot Topics

Weapons suspensions on rise at schools

February 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment

MORE than 80 suspensions for violence with weapons or “objects” are handed out every week in Queensland state schools. As the State Government vowed to crack down on student violence and bullying yesterday, figures obtained by The Courier-Mail highlighted the extent of the problem. The figures, released by the Education Department, show more than 10,000 suspensions were handed out to state school students for “physical misconduct involving an object” over the past three financial years. More than two students were expelled every school week last financial year for the violation,... [Read the full story]

In The News - Australia

Schoolkids’ new identity numbers to be linked to My School program

February 24, 2010 · Leave a Comment

GIVING every school child in Australia an identity number will allow a seamless tracking of their academic progress, federal Education Minister Julia Gillard said. The “student identifier” will be annexed to the My School program which publishes the performance of individual schools on the internet. “If we have a way of tracking, then we can, obviously, have better measures of how schools are going,” Ms Gillard told ABC Radio today. The number would allow the literacy and numeracy performance of individual students to be monitored during their school life, especially as... [Read the full story]

In The News - International

$5.1 million safeguard for international student course fees

February 23, 2010 · Leave a Comment

The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, today announced funding of $5.1 million to further strengthen Australia’s international education industry. The funding will be made available to top up the Education Services for Overseas Students Assurance Fund (ESOS Assurance Fund) if required. The ESOS Assurance Fund is the cornerstone of Australia’s international student consumer protection framework which safeguards the course fees of international students. The fund was established in 2000 with a $1 million start amount provided by the Government. As at 31 January 2010, the ESOS Assurance Fund... [Read the full story]

Govt Press Releases

Labor is being coy about support for private schools

February 17, 2010 · Leave a Comment

IN POLITICS, timing is everything. In the lead-up to the 2007 federal election, Kevin Rudd and his education spokesman Stephen Smith endorsed the Howard government’s non-government school funding model and promised, if elected, that no Catholic or independent school would be financially worse off. But now, with a federal election due before the end of the year and the Rudd Government ahead in the polls, Education Minister Julia Gillard refuses to repeat the promise and to guarantee proper funding to non-government schools. Twice in the past six months, on being asked whether non-government... [Read the full story]

In The News - Australia

Schoolkids’ new identity numbers to be linked to My School program

Chinese is language of choice for West Aussies

There is growing support for the Chinese language Mandarin to be taught in WA schools. The What matters to the West survey found that European languages such as French and Italian seem to be out of favour. Almost half the survey’s respondents thought Mandarin should be taught in schools, followed by more than a fifth who said students should learn... [Read more of this review]

SA Premier Mike Rann promises 155 more specialist teachers

A RE-ELECTED Rann Government would recruit and train up to 155 specialist maths and science teachers to work in South Australian high schools. Under the six-year $9.44 million Teach SA program, up to 40 maths and science graduates and career professionals will receive financial support and a guaranteed job at the end of their studies to undertake a... [Read more of this review]

More Posts From In The News - Australia