Education programs across Australia |
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Commonwealth Government
Policies and guidelines
Adelaide Declaration on the National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First
Century
These goals, which were agreed upon by State, Territory and Commonwealth
Education Ministers at a meeting of the Ministerial Council of Education,
Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in Adelaide 1999, represent a
historic commitment to improving Australian schooling within a framework of
national collaboration. The goals provide a basis for investment in schooling to
enable young people to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex world.
The achievement of the national goals will assist young people to contribute
to Australia's social, cultural and economic development and to develop a
disposition towards learning throughout their lives so that they can exercise
their rights and responsibilities as citizens of Australia. Goal 3 which states
that schooling should be socially just is particularly relevant to countering
racism.
More information can be found at
www.curriculum.edu.au
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy
(NATSIEP)
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy (NATSIEP)
has twenty-one goals which have been summarised below into seven priorities for
action:
- to establish effective arrangements for the participation of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples in educational decision making
- to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
employed in education and training
- to ensure equitable access for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students to education and training services
- to ensure the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
students in education and training
- to promote, maintain and support the teaching of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander studies, cultures and languages to all Indigenous and
non-Indigenous students
- to provide community development training services including proficiency in
English literacy and numeracy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
adults.
More information can be found at
www.curriculum.edu.au
National Literacy and Numeracy Plan
All Education Ministers have agreed to a National Literacy and Numeracy Goal:
that students should have attained the skills of numeracy and English literacy;
such that, every student should be numerate, able to read, write, spell and
communicate at an appropriate level.
Ministers also agreed to deliver the National Goal by endorsing the National
Literacy and Numeracy Plan. The Plan will include:
- comprehensive assessment of all students as early as possible, to identify
those students at risk of not making adequate progress towards the national
numeracy and literacy goals
- intervening as early as possible to address the needs of students identified
as at risk
- development of national benchmarks in literacy and numeracy
- assessing students against national benchmarks
- progress towards national reporting by systems on student
achievement.
Ministers also agreed that States and Territories will
be required to provide appropriate professional development for teachers to
support the key elements of the National Plan.
National Benchmarks in literacy and numeracy were adopted by all Education
Ministers in an effort to improve the educational outcomes of all Australian
children. The purpose of the benchmarks is to:
- articulate nationally agreed minimum acceptable standards for literacy and
numeracy for a particular year level
- enable State and Territory reporting of aggregate student achievement data
against these common standards to the Australian community through the Annual
National Report on Schooling.
The document Literacy for All: the
Challenge for Australian Schools sets out the Commonwealth's literacy policies
for Australian schools, including details of the National Literacy and Numeracy
Plan.
More information can be found at
www.dest.gov.au
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