- Education -

Proposals for structural changes to Queensland's education system have received positive reactions, but appear to leave many gaps [See About Education Reform from 6/3/02]

The State government is to overhaul the education system in response to employer complaints that it does not prepare students for work. Government research found that the state's apprenticeship and traineeship system was inefficient, badly focused and subject to rorting by private employment providers. Employers are worried about a lack of literacy and numeracy, and believe that the training system is crippled by red-tape. (Franklin M. and McKinnon M 'Job training failure leads to shake-up',  Courier Mail,  14/1/02)

However:  Given the politically driven deskilling of Queensland's Public Service (see Towards a Professional Public Service) the 'government research' on which such an overhaul would be based must at the very least be suspect.  And the widespread allegations of unfair allocation of training contracts to in-house (TAFE) service providers also need to be considered in relation to any 'research' conclusions.

Queensland schools students are performing above international standards in reading, maths and sciences according to an OECD test conducted in 32 countries - though they lag behind students in other states (Nolan J. 'Education standards hit a high', Courier Mail, 5/12/01) [see also Education (Queensland's Challenge)]

A new plan to raise the standards of state education over the next 10 years has been announced 'Nolan J. 'Schools given an ambitious 2010 vision', Courier Mail, 27/11/01)