My comment relates to an “embedded” normative private student population based on the likelihood that private students are distributed over a normal distribution curve, yet have the best teachers. A better situation is to have the best teachers available for the gifted and special needs children at the extremes of a larger general population in special purpose public schools. Rancid, I agree with you. Have the best resources available where the need is greatest.

Sorry, I was not clearer.

PART I

MAN FRIDAY SYNDROME

Enjay, about eight years back, I was told the very same thing by a senior TAFE educator. Primers and guided tours through the last three years of examinations and handholding generally give advantage were the task is to learn something and repeat it against an established standard - competency based learning. However, where understanding and self reliance are involved, the prepies can become a little lost: Herein, Higher Education is something of a challange to ex-private school students, when greater levels of autonomy are required.

HOWEVER,

GOOD NEWS FOR PREPIES

The good news for private school graduates is that with today's commercialisation of university education, entry requirements have eased considerably encouraging those responsible for the governance of education to lessen standards, so to enable students to pass. Increasingly, learning is just walking through the textbooks in class, because students don't read their chapters before class, to facilitate classroom discussion. Thus,undergraduate education is starting to become just High School Mark II, rather than commencing a journey by taking the first steps on the stones of true scholarship. Actually, that is not fair: High School students tend to be more disciplined with regards to preparation.

LOOK OUT FOR PART TWO

PART TWO:

OFFSHORE PROVIDERS

With university - offshore provider partnerships, the situation is essentially out of control with regards to governance of education. The offshore providers often target students failing to matriculate into local universities. Log-on to the ICAC's Website to see a blow-for-blow description of consequences: Here, look for the University of Newcastle / Wira transcripts. Also, look at Auston International and Informatics under the Google "News" engine and please remember to sort by date.

Minister Nelson and the Australian Vice Chancellors Committee (AVCC) were forewarned about similar happenings and while, it was happening. Nonetheless, both demonstrated the characteristics of the three wise monkeys. But, in fact, their response in ignoring repeated warnings and goings-on was not wise, but irrational.

Who audits universities? Answer: The Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA). Who pays for the AUQA? Answer: the Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee. Who participates in these audits? Answer: Sometimes, retired Vice Chancellors. Simply put, it's a closed conclave.

How often are universities audited? Answer, every five years. What was the response to the suggestion that in addition there also be one wildcard (ad hoc) audit each year, to keep all on their toes between scheduled periods? Answer: No reply.

EDUCATION SENATORS

Would readers of this Forum, please provide feedback on the suggestion that Educators, Student Unions and interested & concerned parents run three or four Commonwealth Senate Candidates at the next election or by-election.

Please think about the above. Discuss amongst your friends and come back to this Forum, unless the sponsoring universities block comment.

If Minister Nelson and the AVCC cannot handle our education system. We must have concerned people with review power in the Senate

Relatedly, the media need to hasten deep invetigative journalism into offshore providers to establish why so often Australian universities deal with offshore private providers, when the local universities usually do not. Journalists go to it!

enaj,while those who do get to uni in public system do it largely on their own ability,there are many others in that public system who have grossly under achieved because they have needed pressure on them to find their latent abilities.There is no one size fits all,but really bright children will achieve no matter what the environment.They don't necessarily need the dedication of teachers.Real teaching ability inspires ordinary students to achieve beyond their potential,and that is not a bad thing.These days ,it doesn't often happen in the public system.There isn't the same dedication because teaching is no longer valued as it once was,like nursing and many other professions, we have lost our sense of values and perspective.

Dear Arjay,
If what you say is true (and I suspect there are just as many rotten teachers in private schools as there are in public), what should we do about it? Give up on the public school system? Allow it to become a system of last resort for the most disadvantaged? What will be the long term consequences of that, for all of us, I wonder. Yet this is the radical path our Fed Govt seems to be advocating. It is an absolute tribute to the dedicated teachers in public schools, and there are such teachers in all of them, that their students continue to do well under very difficult circumstances.
Of course true equality will only exist when the most ordinary kids do as well in public schools as it is argued they do in private, but by removing resources from such schools and pouring them into already highly resourced private schools, by talking about schools for profit, rather than schools for all our kids, we are, in fact, guaranteeing the opposite. And blaming the only people and institutions (our public schools and public school teachers) who are still battling to do something about it.

Nicely put, enaj.

As I said in an earlier post, arjay, "I look forward to your numbers Arjay, but I promise not to hold my breath."

If you recall, you committed to supply some corroboration to your assertion that "[i]f all the private schools both Catholic and religious others were closed tomorrow,our Govt would have to increase taxes immensely".

The polite response, the honest response, the admirable response, would be for you to retract your statement as being simply a propaganda line that you unwittingly passed on to us, and to apologize for doing so.

But I guess I shouldn't hold my breath for that either, eh, arjay?