THE DYING days of January always mean one thing- back to
school. Around the state, gleaming black shoes shuffle around train stations
and neatly pressed pants settle onto bus seats.
But there is little fresh and exciting about our education
system. Indeed its cracks and tears give us much to think about, especially the
cash-strapped public system, which has begun fraying at the edges.
Today’s Sun-Herald reports on several significant trends
facing our education system. Armed police are being invited into high schools
to advise principals, teachers and students on issues relating to schoolyard
violence; public institutions, mainly primary schools, are being forced to turn
away students, partially as a result of implementing a new, smaller class size
policy; and a new report commissioned, though not necessarily endorsed, by the
NSW Board of Studies is highly critical of the state’s maths syllabus.
Individually, each of these issues is important;
collectively they signal the size of the task faced by our educators.
No longer is it just the content of the syllabus and the
style of teaching that educators must consider.
Instead they must scrutinise the physical environments in
which children learn and the practical realities that they face, such as
racism.
Meanwhile, new socio-political issues confronting the
outside world are taking centre stage in our schools. Consider security and
terrorism, for starters.
Schools must be places where children are shielded from
harmful outside influences, yet provided with supportive open-minded environments
where they can lean about the world. Even that basic principle seems high and
mighty given that many classrooms still do not have proper cooling systems.
One of the few moves to reach out to strugglers in any
meaningful way has come from the private sector. The Sun-Herald reported last
year that Sydney’s St Andrew’s Cathedral School
planned to set up an Aboriginal only campus in Redfern. Now, sadly, those plans
are in jeopardy due to opposition from the Redfern community.
The private school had hoped to open the campus for the new
school year, with individual children sponsored World Vision-style.
But after fiery community meetings, City of Sydney council has extended the development
consultation period, delaying the school’s opening. Already 10 of the 13
submissions received have opposed the plan.
What a sad indictment on our community when even the most
well-intentioned are thwarted in their attempt to give everyone what they deserve
-a decent education that will allow them to grow into valued members of
society.
Perhaps it’s time we all went back to school. We might just
learn some valuable lessons about mixing well with others.
Responsibility for election comment in this issue is taken
by Simon Dulhunty, 201 Sussex
Street, Sydney,
2000.