Aisv commends Minister gillard - right priorities for evidence based quality teaching

The Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV) has welcomed today’s speech by the Acting Prime Minister, the Hon Julia Gillard MP regarding the Rudd Government’s priorities for education reform.

Parents and schools across Australia will welcome the Acting Prime Minister’s commitment to evidence based reform in Australian schools.

The educational attainment of students must be at the heart of everything schools do.

We welcome the Deputy Prime Minister’s commitment to increase the availability of information for parents. We also welcome the Deputy Prime Minister’s declaration that the best way to help a child from a disadvantaged background is to improve teacher quality and practice.

The National Partnership program currently being designed to address educational disadvantage must take account of the need to deliver better outcomes in the classroom by rewarding good teachers and good teaching and helping all teachers to improve.

We would welcome an end to the prejudice that the Deputy Prime Minister identified that means parents prepared to make great sacrifices for the benefit of their children’s education are penalised by reduced government support.

In Victoria half of all independent schools have a majority of students from high needs backgrounds according to socioeconomic measures. Despite this, students at independent schools, on average, get less than half of the funding given to government school students. This is a $5,000 per year gap per student or $600 million per year withheld from independent school students.

We welcome the Deputy Prime Minister’s commitment to address unequal educational outcomes. The deplorable state of funding for disabled students in independent schools would also be a good place to start.

Disabled students in independent schools desperately need additional resources to achieve their full potential. On average a disabled child at an independent school receives less than any disabled student at a government school.

The Acting Prime Minister has made some bold statements to progress educational reform in Australia. We hope that this can also address the needs for additional support for disabled students and support working families making sacrifices for their kid’s education.

 

 

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