Education  Accord is an opportunity

The state government’s proposal for an Education Accord for the development of education over the next 30 years, and the summit scheduled for 25 September, provide an excellent opportunity for the QTU and its members to argue for improvements around a range of professional, organisational and resource issues.

The Education Accord idea arises from the prominence of education as an issue in the Queensland Plan consultations and its eminence as the first of the plan’s foundation areas. Each Member of Parliament has been asked to select a principal, a teacher and a parent to attend the summit, and a number have already been running round-tables in their electorates for the stakeholders.

The QTU and other organisations have also been invited to participate in the summit, which is to be organised around seven key questions.

• How do we ensure that all young Queenslanders have access to an affordable, high-quality education, regardless of their circumstances? In particular, how do we ensure young people in rural and remote locations have access to world-class educational opportunities that build on the strengths and potential of our regions?
• With competing demands on available resources, how do we ensure the school system and schools have the agility, flexibility and autonomy to keep improving in the changing environment over the next 30 years?
• What qualities do we – as parents, educators, business leaders and community members – expect young Queenslanders will gain from their school education?
• How do we ensure that schools equip students with the skills, knowledge, aptitudes and values they need to strengthen our economy and participate in a globalised 21st century world?
• How do we assure and improve the quality of teaching and learning in our schools? How do we attract, retain and develop the very best teachers and school leaders?
• How do we support young Queenslanders in making a successful transition from home or early childhood education and care to school, and from school to further education, training and employment?
• How can we develop greater engagement and partnerships between schools and their communities (including parents and carers, other education and training providers, local government and community organisations, businesses and industry)?

A preliminary question, however, might be to consider the goals of schooling. All too often debates about education are reduced to a goal of preparation for employment, neglecting other goals of education for personal growth of the individual and the development of community and active citizenship.

The Melbourne declaration was the last joint statement of the Commonwealth and each of the states and territories concerning the goals of schooling. However it is not clear whether that declaration remains the position of the Queensland Government.

The QTU is encouraging members to participate in local round-tables concerning the Education Accord and to seek the opportunity to participate in the summit on 25 September. Members around the state can have some influence by contributing to the online questionnaire, which can be accessed through the department’s website. The aim is to develop the 30 year vision for the future of education in the state, just as the Queensland Plan itself is supposed to be a 30 year vision for the state overall. That is a worthy objective, and the Accord, if achieved, will be a valuable document. There remains, however, a sense of urgency about some immediate objectives. As Ken Boston said in addressing the QTU Education Leaders Conference about the Gonski funding reforms in May this year, the eight-year-old student in our schools today will only ever be an eight-year-old once. It is imperative that we give them the best opportunity that we can possibly give them now.

Graham Moloney
General Secretary

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 119 No 6, 22 August 2014, p11