First, unlike some commentators, who ridiculed the Prime Minister’s Kokoda Track walk with the Papua New Guinea PM, I congratulate Albo on this initiative. It’s not only fitting that an Australian PM spends two days on the Track, as Albo did last week, but also combining it with a walk and talk with his PNG counterpart is great for our relationship – and it’s certainly something Chinese Communist Party Chairman Xi would never do!
Whilst I’m congratulating Labor luminaries, belated congratulations to local education minister Yvette Berry, who has for several months now been the ACT’s longest-serving education minister (beating me for that honour). Yvette has had the job since late 2016.
Speaking of education, of concern in recent years has been the decrease in basic literacy and numeracy skills. In 2000, the ACT was right up there with the best in the world. Now, our literacy standards are behind Kazakhstan. It seems it’s not so much the money allocated, but the methodology used to teach students these basic skills. I’m pleased to see phonics reintroduced in our Catholic schools and the subsequent improvement in basic literacy skills of students. We need to see more of this.
I am also concerned to hear of our schools being used as social laboratories, with students being indoctrinated in fashionable but false leftist ideas and being encouraged to lose faith in this imperfect but great country. Whilst the universities now seem to contain many unthinking zealots who debase free speech traditions, I’m genuinely uncertain as to how our schools are going.
The right-wing media such as Sky News make it sound like the end of the world, and the ABC and the other leftist print and TV media push their anti-Australian leftist views.
From what my grandchildren tell me, all this may be a bit overblown. Whatever the reality is, however, our school children need to be given the basic three R’s skills (reading, writing, arithmetic). They need to be taught the sciences and an unbiased history of our country and the world. They need to be able to think for themselves, not just parrot any particular slogan without thinking. (For example, “from the river to the sea”.)
I’d be interested in what readers who have children at school think. What improvements need to occur in schools? Do you think our children are being indoctrinated, and if so, how do you think that should be changed? Is the curriculum too crowded?
If you wish to comment, please write to the Editor (email [email protected]) with your views, either as a Letter to the Editor to be published, or as a letter not to be published but stating your points of view. I’ll attempt to summarize the main points for a future article.
I’m keen to see basic skills standards lifted, but also (if it’s necessary) to see our students imbued with a sense of patriotism and pride in Australia and an ability for critical thinking which will assist them in overcoming the various challenges we face as a nation in the future.
