EDUKATION REVIEW

It’s interesting how an overabundance of issues suddenly surface when HSC results are released. It’s as if some public relations firm just released a product and now we’re supposed to review and reflect on its workings. From policy issues to the very significance of education today, such matters are only sparked by the release of the HSC. So at the end of the day, it looks like the media only builds up its strength by single media events like the HSC.

In that last seminar with Wendy Bacon, Jon questioned the effectiveness of press releases and whether public relations firms should (or even carry a duty) to render these more attractive so-that the media catches the news breeze. At first instance, I think it is dangerous to think that the media stands idle until some embellished press release crops up and acts like a RedBull to get the media back on their feet. As we already established, the media does have a superior duty to hold our public institutions accountable, which essentially entails a process of actively digging up information.

But there is some truth to the matter. In the past week, most issues dealing with education have been linked to the HSC. And this isn’t sheer coincidence, but a media pattern. If it takes an event, like the release of the HSC, to force the media to look at certain issues, then the media isn’t as active as idealistically thought of. The same can also be said of the Cronulla affair – it took a riot to spark an array of race issues.

So here are just a few of the issues that took over the education agenda in the past week.

Prologue
In an opinion piece in the Herald (“Education is more than ever the key to jobs”), Adele Horin had this to say:

It is politically correct, I know, to debunk the fuss over a single credential. There are many paths to happiness, someone will say. But really, you cannot blame parents for being swept up in a moral panic over education. More than ever, education and formal skills dictate how people fare in the new economy. To the credentialled go the spoils.

Chapter I
The magazine show Today Tonight unusually went hard news this evening with a story on financially-capable students being able to enter university, despite not reaching the official UAI. Education Minister Brendan Nelson and his Labor Opposition, Jenny Macklin battled it out. A science degree at Monash which usually requires a 97 mark in the HSC could be lowered down to a sheer 85 if students can pay (upfront) $16,000 in tuition per annum. I’ve always wondered how Nelson could logically argue his case for such a policy, but apparently it’s possible. He argues that if foreign students enter universities on such basis, why shouldn’t Australian students. I can’t seem to locate a transcript of the programme and only found a forum directed at parents.

Chapter II
The Australian tackled the same issue (first), but embarked from an entirely different angle to the extent of blaming universities and overshadowing Nelson’s involvement (“Failing students buy way into uni”). All of a sudden, Nelson seemed refined, even heroic, and universities and their respective Vice-Chancellors were the cartoon villains. The front-page feature had this to say:

Students are gaining entry to university despite failing Year 12, prompting a warning from federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson that academic standards are “unacceptably low”.

Dr Nelson yesterday urged vice-chancellors to review their entry standards after warning that some students “shouldn’t be at university”.

Only later does it indicate that Nelson, in fact, forces universities to lower their entry requirements to fill every place. Despite the screaming headline, hardly any attention is given to the logistics of the issue – a policy devoted to well-off students (or rather parents) buying a place and future at some university, which automatically keeps off the hands of poorer students.

Chapter III
Here the SMH digs deeper. An editorial last Friday took on an odd issue on the day HSC results were released that essentially deals with freedom of information (“HSC disclosure the best results: secrecy is poor policy”). It humbly attacked the Board of Studies for their secrecy surrounding information on HSC results. As of the moment, the only information made public is that of high achievers, presenting a “narrow criteria on which to judge school performance and quality” and effectively review Australia’s education system. Although it claims that full disclosure will drive better results for students and parents, ultimately it’s journalists who need such information to hold those who run the education system accountable. This, yet again, spells out the struggle between journalists and freedom FROM information and that newsroom principle of enclosure over disclosure.

Chapter IV
Today, the Herald furthered its desire for a freer approach to information by the Board of Studies, this time dealing with FOI requests by students (“Students battle to learn HSC raw marks”). Students launched requests to get hold of their HSC raw marks. I actually remember reading this story on some student back in March or so trying to get some info on how his exam was assessed. That didn’t go well and the issue has not been re-appraised until now.