Nurture our teachers to advance Australia

SPECULATION has begun!

Who will be the next Mayor of Toowoomba? Do most of us give a damn anyway? What are the characteristics that we would wish to see in a successful candidate? Why does it matter anyway? How many of us even know the name of the present Mayor or whether it is a he, she or it? Even if we do know the name, what difference does it make to our lives?

It’s Paul Antonio .... I think!! And I think he is a good Mayor! Such thinking brings into focus a major issue as far as I can tell. How important should personal likes and dislikes be when the time comes to vote on particular issues? We can never avoid holding personal views about this or that.

The real challenge is to know when we should be honest enough to “shut our minds” to what we might personally believe and start thinking that there will be times when “the majority” has “got it right” and they deserve our (reluctant) support! Team decisions rather than individual prejudices ....... It takes a lot of courage to admit that others might know better than us, so “shut your mouth” and listen to what others are saying ....

This is just as true when the time comes to support corporate decisions, family unity or meeting outcomes. Thankfully, we live at a time and in a place where “constructive individuality” is allowed, no matter how weird or inconvenient that might sometimes be. We can move forwards thanks to our support of other people’s virtues as well as our own.

Thank Heavens, everybody does not have to agree with everything we say or do. Mind you, it can sometimes be easier if they do; but it is not always a necessity!

The important thing, for example, is not the name of who will be the next mayor of Toowoomba, male/ or female, but vital that the person is fully aware of the town’s key importance in such areas as public and private education.

Thinking of USQ, for example, I am aware of the range of people from many different backgrounds and ages who obtain or upgrade their qualifications.

It is now more than 15 years since I left the uni. I still miss it, admire it and cherish my time spent there, in particularly as Vice-Chancellor.

This country is blessed to have strong commitment and achievement in higher education and USQ is a key asset in that regard.

I hope I don’t kid myself in thinking that its work under my Vice-Chancellorship helped establish that capability.

Australia needs a massively strong university sector. It needs world class unis like Sydney, Melbourne and the ACU and, I venture to suggest, places like USQ where students of many different backgrounds and traditions can develop themselves and their careers.

I see few signs that the funding of tertiary education will grow in the foreseeable future, but the need remains as great as it ever was.

Leaving aside the glaring need to provide our industries with technically and socially skilled staff, we have to provide young employees who are alert, enthusiastic and intellectually challenged.

We need employees who not only see the problems but also are equipped to provide the solutions!

Any appropriately educated workforce is a part of that solution. The teachers in our schools and colleges are in many ways the most important asset to our way of life.

We need them to be proud of what they can do when properly recognised and properly rewarded. There is nothing more important to our nation’s future than the development and nurturing of its teachers.

They are a mixed bunch of optimists and the disillusioned and they usually need our support when it comes to making time for homework etc...