Glenn Savage writes in The Conversation (24.5.16) about the details of the federal Coalition’s education policy platform, and the implications for the nation’s schools.
‘As the election campaign heats up, it is almost impossible to get an accurate reading on the Coalition’s agenda for Australian schools.
‘The recent release of its “Quality Schools, Quality Outcomes” policy is yet another curious twist in a series of contradictory policy positions that have emerged since education minister Simon Birmingham replaced Christopher Pyne in September last year.
‘Since then the government has floated everything from a radical retreat from federal involvement in schooling, through to its current position of increasing federal funding for schools and putting new conditions on what states and territories can do with the money.
‘These mixed messages are not only confusing, but also raise deeper questions about whether the Coalition has a firm position on schooling, or whether it is simply floating ideas on the seas of political opportunism.’