...This article "Says it like it is"...I like it.!

Much to consider in this article.

Yep, spot-on, it really is a matter of mentality. Kick out the bureaucrats & put people in charge who can make a decision by themselves.

Shooting in all directions, perhaps some bullets will hit the target, others will inflict injury on innocent passers-by, but who cares so long as the target is hit as well?

How about noticing the elephant in the room?

The author rubbed against the elephant, nearly found him when he wrote:

"One sad reflection on what is going on in Australian schools is that children who study by distance education often achieve better academic results than children who physically attend school."

What's sad about it, other than for those who depend on the school-system for paying their bills? Obviously, most children do better by not going to school! Obviously the culprit is the school system itself and compulsory education.

Those children who want to learn will do so even if no schools were available - and those who don't want to learn never will, but when being forced to attend schools, it's only natural that they will keep disturbing, even bullying, the other children and teachers, making their studies more difficult.

While schools should remain available to those who are interested, they are not the most effective way to learn (they are, however, the most effective way to get the children indoctrinated in the ways the government want them to think).

Children should instead be given education vouchers, which they (or their parents) could use for any educational purposes: it could include books, recorded or interactive educational programs, private tutors, or schools of all sorts for those who still prefer that option.

One last thought: how about yourself being told that you must attend a certain institute every week-day, like it or not, that if you fail to do so, you and your parents could be punished, in fact, they could even be sent to prison. That's the only reason that made me go to school, waste my time there and been badly bullied - I just wanted to protect my parents from jail. Do children need to bear such heavy responsibility for the welfare of their parents?

I agree with almost everything you have said, Robina. You suggest direct, practical improvements (I would not say 'solutions') and have obviously given much analytical thought to the problems (sorry, 'issues').
Leaving aside the stupidity of the AEU, which should be honest and change its name from 'Australian Education Union' to 'Australian Teachers Union', education not being its real concern, and the assumption of the AEU and much of the commentariat that educational standards will miraculously improve if only we throw a few billion more dollars at the problem, the more fundamental and insoluble problem is cultural.
The reason why so many students from South and East Asia are the high-flyers in our education systems is that the Confucian philosophy with which their parents are imbued impels them to educational excellence. This is not the 'Australian way' unfortunately. This is not to suggest that the Confucian approach is perfect or even entirely appropriate to our culture. But, when it comes to results, it works. And a disproportionate percentage of our best professionals come from this culture.
All I am offering is a partial diagnosis, one which we should ponder, not a cure. Certainly, if we are to improve our education systems, we should sideline the AEU, leaving it to its proper role as a defender of wages and conditions.

Tonyo