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"We don’t need ERO [Education Review Office] to have more externally driven compliance ... We want comprehensive strategies that provide real resourcing to communities, to enable principals to continue to deliver high quality education."
Mr Ford's comments are in this 4 July New Zealand Herald story.
Norman LaRocque moves to Asian Development Bank Norman LaRocque, the Education Forum policy adviser for the past seven years, has moved to a position with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Manila, Philippines, based role will see Mr LaRocque working as an education specialist with the Southeast Asia Department of the bank. The ADB is an international development finance institution. Its main instruments are loans, technical assistance, grants and advice. Last year it distributed nearly US$11 billion of loans, grants and technical assistance, with loans the bulk of this at more than US$10 billion. The ADB website is at www.adb.org/.
Boost skills by giving industry 'more say' over funding decisions More say for industry on skill development funding and more skill development funding in proportion to other tertiary spending are two strategies to lessen skills shortages, argues the Industry Training Federation (ITF). The ideas come from the ITF's recently released election statement list of recommendations to all parties. The statement and factsheets are at the ITF website.
Low-skilled job pay rates drop, skilled rates climb A survey of pay rates on the jobs section of website TradeMe shows falls for low-skill jobs and above-inflation increases for skilled positions, the New Zealand Press Association has reported. The NZPA story is at this web page.
Secondary school teacher shortages are approaching crisis level, Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) president Robin Duff says. Mr Duff said secondary schools faced an ageing workforce, a lack of qualified job applicants and a growing resignation rate, according to an New Zealand Press Association article published by the National Business Review. A PPTA survey found 22 percent of schools had advertised vacancies they could not fill and 3 percent had vacancies permanently filled by untrained and unqualified appointees. The results of the survey, conducted in term one, backed up a primary education teacher union online survey last month, which found primary and intermediate schools also faced staff shortages. The article is at this web page.
Half the teachers applying for jobs in New Zealand secondary schools are trained overseas, the Sunday Star Times reports. The Post Primary Teachers' Association has released figures showing that 49.3 percent of teachers applying for jobs in secondary schools in the first three months of the 2008 school year were trained overseas, and 43 percent of schools hired at least one overseas teacher. The Sunday Star Times story is at this web page.
Parties' ECE policies analysed Research organisation CHILDforum has analysed the early childhood education (ECE) policy of the main political parties and put it online. The report, which will be updated as information becomes available until the election, is at this web page.
UK plan for university links with primary schools British universities may be asked to partner primary schools to encourage children as young as five to set their sights on university, the Guardian reports. A report by the National Council for Educational Excellence recommended the move because of concerns that by the time pupils were in their teens many had already rejected the idea of going to university. A multimillion-pound programme to encourage university applications from bright teenagers at state schools appeared to have had little effect on pupils, it said. The Guardian article is at this web page.
Free university sector and let fees rise, argue British peers Universities must be freed from state control, become less reliant on public funding and students' tuition fees should be raised, according to the British peers. Pushing for greater autonomy for universities, the peers argued, in a debate in the House of Lords, that less political interference in the running of institutions would improve education, Times Higher Education reported. Several peers, among them Lord Patten, the chancellor of the University of Oxford, said the £3,500 cap on student tuition fees would have to be raised or abolished, and funding sources for teaching diversified through endowment income. The Times Higher Education is at this web page.
French university first to raise private funding The University of Auvergne has become the first university in France to create a foundation to raise money from non-government sources, Web in France magazine reports. The French minister of education, Valérie Pécresse, has applauded the move. Under reforms introduced by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, state-run universities can receive donations from private and corporate organisations for the first time. They were also freer to make their own rules about issues such as raising tuition fees, and would have more autonomy to decide upon budgets and staff. Further information is at this web page.
OECD recommends policies to improve education results Greater accountability, financial incentives, effective leadership, more focused teacher training and flexibility in schools and universities are key to improving education outcomes in Germany, says the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Further information is in this OECD PDF document.
Indian government readies PPP model for secondary education The government of India is looking at setting up 6,000 model schools with 2,500 to be set up through public-private partnership (PPP), the Economic Times of India reports. Private firms would allowed to be take part. Currently, only trusts and societies in not-for-profit activities are permitted. Further information is at this web page.
India most privatised country for education India is the most privatised country in the world for education, with nearly 55 percent of urban children attending private schools, a report on web-based Rediff News reveals. Rediff News reported the success of private schools in India to better teaching, despite lower salaries for teachers, who earn less than a fifth of their public school counterparts. Incentives for children to attend public schools, such as better classrooms, free lunches and free enrolment, were not working. Further information is at this web page.
Test scores on rise since No Child Left Behind Act (2002) Student achievement in mathematics and reading in the United States has risen on state tests since the introduction of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, Education Week reports. NCLB seeks to increase accountability for student performance in public schools through initiatives such as standardised testing. Further information is at this web page.
Regulatory context for private education considered More private secondary and tertiary education could bring benefits to governments, including "increased access, more innovation, greater equity and increased efficiency in delivery", analysts John Fielden and Norman LaRocque argue. In an Education Working Paper published by the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank, they say that private education could be fostered by a policy and regulatory framework that encouraged and promoted the sector. The full report is online as a PDF document.
Report looks at ways to reward teachers for performance Ways to reward teachers in the United States for taking on difficult jobs, having special skills (such as a maths degree) or improving results are examined in a new report. The School Finance Redesign Project report is at this web page.
Private universities on increase in United States A string of private, non-profit universities has opened in Southern Nevada in the last 10 years, the Las Vegas Sun reports. The region's growing population had recently drawn private start-ups, with new campuses of Regis, National, Touro and the University of Southern Nevada now enrolling more than 2,500 students between them. The private schools were introducing new programmes in subjects demanded by industry, such as pharmacy, where there was a high demand for trained professionals. The Las Vegas Sun article is at this web page.
US universities best resourced United States public universities and colleges have significantly more resources for teaching and research than their counterparts in Australia, Canada, and Britain, according to a new report by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. The report is online as a PDF document.
EMO schools do better than others Philadelphia students at private education management organisation schools improved at a faster rate than their district-managed counterparts, according to a recent assessment report released by the School District of Philadelphia. Further information is at this web page.
World's 'most independent' university in Saudi Arabia A £5 billion university being set up from scratch in Saudi Arabia will be the "most independent in the world", The Times Higher Education Supplement reports. The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology has done deals recently with world-leading universities, including Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College London, Harvard and Stanford, who have helped set up a curriculum and select faculty. The university has been chartered by the Saudi King to be financially and administratively independent. The Times Higher Education Supplement story is at this web page. |
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