Gonski model was corrupted, but Labor and Coalition are both to blame

The Gonski report was designed to clean up Australia’s opaque and complex system of school funding and address significant inequalities by establishing a new needs-based funding model, but then messy politics got in the way at the point of implementation. Glenn C. Savage (University of Melbourne) Steven Lewis (The University of Queensland) argue that the result was a perversion of the Gonski ideal – an inconsistent patchwork of approaches across the nation that protected the vested interests of non-government schools.

Can we remain a functioning democracy without a strong public education system?

David Zyngier (Monash University) writes in The Conversation that the opposition’s “school funding reform” announcement has, in fact, merely maintained the status quo. Over the past decade, the performance of Australian students in international assessments has declined at all levels of achievement compared to international benchmarks. At the same time we have witnessed a massive shift in federal and state funds to the private sector of schooling.

A focus on private investment means universities can’t fulfil their public role

Margaret Thornton (Australian National University) writes in The Conversation that the decline in government investment in higher education and the ever-increasing reliance on fees and other sources of income has made universities more like private for-profit corporations.

As institutions of higher learning that receive government funding, universities are obligated to fulfil a public role.

The slide of academic standards in Australia

Gigi Foster (University of NSW) writes in The Conversation that in truly world-class universities, the bureaucracy plays second fiddle to the academics who produce the service that the university sells. By contrast, in many universities in Australia, arguably the tail is wagging the dog. This reinforces a focus on bureaucracy and revenue, rather than academic standards. No intervention will provide an overnight fix, but there are some remedies to contemplate.

Where to now on university reform?

Andrew Gunn (Australia and New Zealand School of Government) surveys the current state of higher education policy in The Conversation and points to four key things the new minister should do.

Australia’s VET system needs fundamental change

Damian Oliver and Serena Yu (University of Technology Sydney) write in The Conversation that maintaining community confidence in the value of VET qualifications is essential for a functioning labour market, but the system is in need of fundamental reform.

Key policy challenges facing new Ministers in the Turnbull Cabinet

Writing in The Conversation, a panel of leading academics outlines the key policy challenges facing new Ministers in the Turnbull Cabinet.

Should the federal government take over vocational training?

Peter Noonan (Victoria University) argues in The Conversation that there is little to be gained in just transferring VET funding to the Commonwealth under current policy settings. New policies are required so that VET and higher education work more effectively together, and to make sure that VET most effectively contributes to the Commonwealth’s economic and labour market objectives.

Higher education changes: the case in favour

A few weeks ago I republished an excellent article on the Government's poorly conceived and executed higher education "reforms" from Stephen Parker. His was a cogent and spirited attack on "ideology in search of a problem". The justifications of the reforms by the government amount to little more than confused rhetoric, attempting to "spin" away the mean-spirited dogma.

John Quiggin has also provided a spirited and cogent attack on the "reforms".

In contrast, Ian Young (Vice Chancellor at ANU) attempted to fill the intellectual void with a flawed attempt in support of the reforms in front of the National Press Club a month or so ago.

Now Glyn Davis (Vice Chancellor at Melbourne University) has made an attempt to justify the elite universities' support for the reforms - it seems it is all simply a desperate attempt to shore up funding in the face of the continuing erosion of Commonwealth funding. Well, at least he's honest! Nevertheless, he makes some useful points.

Higher education changes a ‘fraud on the electorate’

This is an excellent article on the Government's poorly conceived and executed higher education "reforms" from Stephen Parker, Vice Chancellor at the University of Canberra, and one of the only University leaders to speak out against the proposals.