28 January 2012

More News Test fails to raise skills

THE gap between our best and worst students is widening and our top academic performers are slipping by world standards, the Government has conceded.

The official Naplan 2011 report concludes there has only been a "small number of improvements" in literacy and numeracy since national testing was introduced four years ago.

While almost 94 per cent of students are hitting minimum benchmarks for the fundamentals of learning, Federal Education Minister Peter Garrett admitted some of the results were concerning.

"Our best-performing students are not doing as well as they were 10 years ago, while the gap between the top and bottom students has increased," said Mr Garrett, who released the report yesterday. "This is not acceptable in a country as wealthy and well-resourced as Australia.

"Our neighbours in the Asian region have raced ahead of us. We need to provide the highest quality education to all our children. This includes understanding why our results are not as good as they could be."

The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy 2011 report had mixed results for Victoria, showing its rural pupils were bucking the national trend of dominance by city students, performing "exceptionally well".

In every other state, rural students trailed their city counterparts in reading, writing and numeracy.

However, Victoria still has one of the worst Naplan participation rates, despite efforts to force students to sit the tests. The report, which covers tests sat annually by students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, also showed parents' jobs and education level were key indicators of performance at school.

More than 98 per cent of grade three students with "professional" parents hit minimum standards in reading, for example, compared to less than 88 per cent of those whose mums or dads were unemployed. Naplan testing has been dogged by controversy since it was introduced in 2008.

Some schools are accused of encouraging less-talented students to stay at home on test days to boost results.

The next round of tests will be on May 15-17.

Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne said: "Despite the billions spent by the Gillard Government, there has not been any tangible improvements in the only area that really matters - educating young people".

heraldsun.com.au 24 Jan 2012

The 'deliberate' politics is to dumb down the children of the canon fodder.

Various methods are discreetly used to achieve this.

Education is kept from the masses, and substituted for the focus on sport and blue collar jobs.

Even of there are students that show high academic potential, the government's schooling system assures they are opressed.


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