Education Minister Nick McKim has shown his true colours with the shocking revelation that Green Party propaganda against Ta Ann is being freely distributed in Tasmanian public high schools and colleges.
Year 7-12 High Schools essential to address unacceptably low Year 12 completion rates
Mr McKim might be happy with Tasmania having a year 12 or equivalent completion rate of 58 per cent – we’re not. The Government has also conveniently failed to acknowledge in its latest Tasmanian Skills Strategy report card that a staggeringly low 34 per cent of students complete year 12 within the expected two years [...]
Courses to be cut at Polytechnic due to Government indifference
An email to Polytechnic staff has revealed that the recent move to handover state jurisdiction of VET to the Commonwealth will result in less industry courses being offered – in an attempt to keep registration renewal and annual fees down. The Liberals warned Nick McKim last November of the potentially disastrous implications on Tasmanian vocational [...]
Gonski Report response
The Gonski report is welcome because it gets us talking about what schools and students require of us. It’s very poor indeed for Minister McKim to describe the Gonski report as “landmark” and “overdue” when he didn’t even know about it at estimates 2011 – one year after the review had commenced and his Department had made a submission!
What teachers need most is certainty
While recognition of our top teachers and more opportunities to up-skill is a positive development, what Tasmanian teachers (and students) need most is certainty and investment in our schools. Let’s not forget Mr McKim has an agenda to blindly close schools to fix his budget black hole and he has taken a slash-and-burn approach to [...]
