Change seems to be coming thick and fast in the field of education in Australia. The popularity of the My School site has led to suggestions of a My Unversities site. The Consultation Portal for the National Curriculum site is now up [see box on right], providing opportunity for input on the draft documents in four curriculum areas. Speculation is in the air on the possibility of report cards on teachers [especially probationers] based on class performance, following the introduction of similar structures in New York. We must stress though, it is only speculation. There is also the idea of a National Student ID number which would follow students throughout their school life.

With the advent of these new measures, some of the previous high profile education areas have slipped more into the background, though it is doubtful that they will disappear

Two of those mentioned previously concerned International Students and the program - Building the Education Revolution.

With the first of these, several thoughts come to mind.

• The idea of having international students study in Australia is a good one for both international and Australian students and Australian society as a whole.
• International students have been studying in Australia for decades under either specific scholarships or plans, or because they felt the educational facilities available suited their particular needs and aspirations. The cost of living and study plus proximity to home countries may also have been a factor.
• In recent years, there has been an explosion in the numbers of international students with a greater emphasis on students from south and east Asia. Often they have not been attending universities but other colleges and training centres. In most cases they and their families have been paying for their studies as opposed to a scholarship or support base.
• With the large numbers now involved have come several problems. These include some dubious quality education and suppliers, some dubious migration agents, some hazards as shown by several recent attacks including one death and concerns about the primary reasons for some students opting to study here with the belief that a number are simply using this process as a basis for gaining residency.
• This is unfortunate as the vast majority are genuine. However, there will always be those who use the system to gain an unfair advantage.
• Two things have caused major concerns. One is a number of attacks on one particular ethnic group, including the death of one student. Does this say they were racially motivated as is claimed? At the moment, with ongoing investigations, there is no final answer and we cannot state yes or no until such time as the investigations are concluded. Is it possible ? This cannot be ruled out. Australia, like most countries has a small percentage of people who have racial or other agendas. What is certain is that the vast majority of Australians were and are appalled at what happened, have no desire to see it occur again and would be only too happy to see those who carried out these attacks dealt with appropriately by the legal system. Hopefully, this will be achieved in the very near future.
• There certainly seems to be a large decline in applications by students from certain areas.
• The second change is a re-structuring of the Skills List for the granting of residency under the Skilled Migrants Program. This has eliminated a number of the previous skill categories and is also planned to have regular changes to reflect the changing skill set seen as being essential for Australia’s continuing development. The impact of this on those who want to use the study system as a potential step toward residency is still to be felt. It will be interesting to find whether this change has a negative impact on numbers or not. It will certainly affect the types of education centres that will continue to operate if the study process was being used as a step to residency. It should also impact on migration agents who do not do their jobs properly.
• Only time and the application of due process will show whether problems have been solved and confidence restored; whether numbers regain their previous levels and the quality of the educational process and those who supply it are at the highest level possible; whether students come for the educational opportunities that are available or have just seen it as another option to attain residency and possible citizenship.
• Hopefully all the positives will be accentuated and achieved. In this way the students, Australia and the students’ home countries will all benefit from the process.

We will look at other topics in future updates.

Updates

• Minor additions and modifications to several pages.
• Major checking of selected pages - links, descriptors, dates, etc.. Addition of links.
• Google now appears to have completed spidering the new site. A few old links still display but re-directs will take you to the new pages.

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