Real education revolution
Helen Hughes; 6/5/08
Marion Scrymgour, the Northern Territory Minister for Education, is to be congratulated for taking responsibility for the crisis in Northern Territory indigenous education by directing her Department of Education, Employment and Training to post national literacy and numeracy test results on its website. All Australian children will be sitting years 3, 5, 7, and 9 literacy and numeracy tests from May 13 to 16. In the past most children in remote areas did not sit these tests because their teachers knew that they could not pass them. In May, all children will be required to sit the tests. By insisting that the numbers of children enrolled, the numbers who sit the tests and their pass rates are posted on the internet, Scrymgour is leading Australia. This school-by-school information will provide essential data for school reform, and will enable Kevin Rudd to give his promised report about the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous students on the first day that parliament sits in 2009.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23650446-5013172,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Education