POLITICIANS can't help themselves when they tinker and tamper with our education system.
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Since 2000 there have been six major changes from both federal and state education ministers. More than half have failed, or failed to survive a change of minister.
They should leave it alone. Our system is not so broke as to require a revolution and a new monument with each change of minister or government.
From 2000, former education minister Paula Wriedt introduced Essential Learnings, which changed the entire curriculum from kindergarten to year 10.
During the Howard government Brendan Nelson created a revolution in vocational training, involving 24 expensive Australian Technical Colleges across Australia.
In 2008, Labor absorbed the colleges back into the system.
David Bartlett's Tasmania Tomorrow post secondary revolution, after he dumped Essential Learnings, involved new jargon and institutions such as academies and polytechnics as a replacement for TAFE.
Even libraries mysteriously needed a useless name change to "LINCs".
Julia Gillard changed the funding model to a six-year system proposed by David Gonski.
New minister Christopher Pyne is reviewing Julia Gillard's curriculum model while winding back Gonski funding to a four-year regime.
Former Tasmanian education minister Nick McKim revived school closures and tried to strengthen school zoning as a way of herding students between schools. He abolished Tasmania Tomorrow and revived TAFE.
How can teachers, parents and, most importantly, students cope with this carousel of academic whims, ministerial monuments and failed curriculum experiments?
The number one challenge facing Australian students is not performance or academic affordability, but education ministers.
The one bright spot is the current federal intention to fund more independence for schools.
This thought bubble from Mr Pyne has no foreseeable merit other than a slim hope that it will take political tampering out of the equation.