Ed Affair

It seems that when there is a slow news week in education, the rise in school fees - especially in private school fees - always guarantees some noise in the media. An article by SMH (31/12/05) called “School fees lock in the smartest”, reported that some private schools are asking parents to

“pay huge, non-refundable enrolment fees more than a year in advance, in a move critics say is aimed at keeping the smartest students away from selective public schools.”

With the number of year 6 students sitting for the selective high school exams increasing and becoming more competitive, private schools are resorting to this method in an effort to lock in the more academically-gifted students that have private schools as their alternative choice. This in turn reflects well on the school when these students perform well in state-wide exams such as the HSC.

As well as asking for high enrolment fees, annual fees have also risen at Sydney’s top private schools with Shore passing the $20,000 a year mark and The King’s School and Sydney Grammar close behind. The schools cite building repairs and salary costs of additional teachers to reduce class sizes as the main reasons for the increase.

The age old debate between religion and science has been played out again in a Pennsylvanian courtroom over whether or not ‘intelligent design’ theory should be taught in the science curriculum. For those not aware, it is stated in the United States constitution that there is to be a separation of church and state - which means that religion is not allowed to be taught in any state schools. The judge, John E. Jones III ruled that intelligent design pushes a religious motive in its teachings that life must have been designed by an intelligent source as opposed to Darwin’s theory of evolution. While Judge Jones acknowledged that there were gaps in Darwin’s theory

“However, the fact that a scientific theory cannot yet render an explanation on every point should not be used as a pretext to thrust an untestable alternative hypothesis grounded in religion into the science classroom or to misrepresent well-established scientific propositions.”

And therefore should not be taught in Pennsylvanian state schools as part of the science curriculum.

It was interesting to note how many newspapers picked up this story and a list of some of those that did are listed below. A few papers just reported on the ruling, while others added related articles as a local response to the decision.

New York Times

The Australian

Daily Herald Utah

Washington Post

Washington Post opinion

The Guardian

The Independent UK

The Times (brief article)

Globe and Mail Canada

Daily Telegraph

Gulf News (UAE)

An article in the Sydney Morning Herald today reported that the attendance of children in years 5-8 fell from 95% in year 6 to 85% in year 8. The reason for this is that the transition from primary school to high school is a difficult period which is not made easier with the number of core subjects and few electives that students are required to complete. The article stated that

schools had to be “tailored to the needs of individual students” rather than being part of an amorphous “large system of schools”.

This point is interesting especially considering the amount of funding currently going to public schools at the moment, I find it hard to believe that a school will have the resources to tailor education to an individual’s needs. While it is acknowledged that some students have learning difficulties, having compulsory traditional subjects is necessary in the early years of education so as to give students an idea of how such information is applied in everyday life. This is especially indicative in the many reports about literacy levels - has anybody noticed that correct grammar and spelling has gradually gotten worse in adults?

The SMH was the only paper to run with this story today, the others are still concentrating on the Sydney riots. It is interesting to note that they seem to have taken heed of criticism with regard to the role of the media in how they are presenting the conflict.

Remember back in school when everybody was talking about somebody the only way that gossip was spread was via hand-written notes passed back and forth and whispered comments made with our hands covering our mouths? Well, in the digital age and the increased use of blogs, this conduct has now transpired to the internet which has a far greater reach and consequently led to more traumatic experiences for the victim.

Cyber-bullying has become a new way for bullies to torment their targets with schools seemingly helpless in trying to stop personal abuse, name-calling, insults and sexually explicit comments on student blogs as reports in the UK and US have found. Even child celebrities cannot escape this, as Daniel Radcliffe, star of the Harry Potter films discovered when a mock profile of him was posted on a blog and fellow students made the following comments:

“friends: none” and “[the] media’s sucking **** **** and you still deny u like punk and wear tartan trousers. When u coming back anyway?? suppose u dont need education when ur as rich as u r”.

One entry from Ranelagh Church of England school in Bracknell, Berkshire, last week read: “Thought I would repeat how much everyone hates you and that my lifetime wish is for you to [be partly] sliced into pieces.”

Although it is possible to block users from a blog to prevent re-offenders, the damage is usually done once the target reads the comments. A blog host has refused to take down names from their site after a request by British schools claiming that this type of bullying is safer because it’s not taking place in the real world.