#ausvotes

Greens Education Policy

• Summary

  Essentially, the Greens are in favour of supporting the public school system as educational conduit for all, as opposed to and at the expense of, the private school system. They disapprove of MySchool.com and its pseudo league tables that pit schools against one another. The Greens advocate free education throughout a person’s lifetime at all stages of development, support Indigenous education, and encourage incentivised remuneration to bring about the best performance outcomes from teachers.

  
  

  More

  The Greens believe in high quality, lifelong education that is publicly controlled and publicly funded for all Australians, including Indigenous Australians. Inclusive of early childhood education, schools and tertiary education, this quality education should be available from the cradle to the grave. University education for Australian citizens, permanent residents and refugees should be free, with improved access to those in rural and remote areas. HECS & FEE-HELP debts should be forgiven and TAFE education should be totally free of charge.

  
  

  Alternatives for apprenticeships need to be increased foremost in rural and remote Australian areas. Courses that experience competition ought to have places allocated on merit not ability to pay. Distribution of funding between private and public education systems ought to be undertaken with equitable opportunities for all Australians in mind, but particularly as it is currently favouring the private system, ought to prioritise the public system. The present funding agreement of private schools must be terminated immediately, and a new agreement entered into that contemplates the private school’s resources and income, along with introducing obligations of accountability to government, and the adoption of public education policies such as those pertaining to admission & expulsion, hiring of staff, and community minded initiatives such as access for disadvantaged or special needs children. The development of new private schools cannot be entertained if the equity is to return and the public education system is to regain standards of excellence in infrastructure and delivery. Private Tertiary education such as Vocational Education & Training ought to be phased out if it can be effectively provided in the public system through the TAFE network.

  
  

  If appropriately resourced with core curricula outcomes, balanced education and social interaction with peers, parents ought to be able to home school their children.

  
  

  Not only should Australia’s education system compete with international standards of excellence in infrastructure and content, but every child ought to have access to 2 years pre-school education. Students from socioeconomically disadvantaged families and special needs children are to enjoy a higher teacher-student ratio.

  
  

  The Greens advocate the input of parents, teachers, academics and student unions to be used in the development of curricula and priorities therein. Indigenous Australians should be free to develop their own specialised educational opportunities to complement mainstream education to the end that retention rates to Year 12 match that of the broader community, and an increase of Indigenous student enrolments at university. The history and dynamics of our Indigenous people ought to be part of the school curriculum and within the training perspective of all teachers.

  
  

  Remuneration of teachers ought to recognise the profound role they play in society and one that attracts the very best teachers, encourages career development, and engenders the very best performance outcomes. To that end, teachers must have an appropriately funded and structured career path, and be allocated class sizes commensurate with a high standard of educational outcomes.

  
  

  The Greens support the prioritisation of public service through academia, scholarship and academic freedom to take priority over sectional, corporate and commercial interests, and the premise that educational unions remain as industrial representatives in the educational arena. In particular, materials in schools ought to be free of corporate influence. Full time students at tertiary institutions should be provided with a means tested living allowance enabling them to study instead of having to find work during the semester, and education curricula ought to be aligned with the needs of industry and delivered with a view to sustainable employment in the future.

  
  

  The Greens believe in quality information being imparted to parents and the abolishing of public school league tables and the ranking thereof. The over employment of casual teaching resources in TAFE and VET institutions should be restricted to an 80% fulltime staff minimum. Research in our academic institutions will ideally be supported with increased funding; research academics will be funded sufficiently to enable maintenance of a research career.