Cut red tape, put teachers in charge

DESPITE the additional billions of dollars invested in schools over the past 20 to 30 years, results, as measured by international literacy and numeracy tests, have gone backwards. Employers complain young people can’t do mental calculations, read difficult material or write a proper sentence.

One reason results have gone backwards is because teachers are told, instead of teaching essential knowledge in subjects like history, English and mathematics, it’s more important students master skills like being creative, working in teams and “lifelong learning”.

Ignored is the research proving to achieve the best results you need both knowledge and skills. Before you can be creative in English, for example, you need to master grammar, spelling, punctuation and know how to analyse sentence structure. Memorisation and rote-learning are also crucial.

Teachers are also told, instead of being in control of the classroom, they should be “guides by the side” for students who are “digital natives” with “self-agency” to control their own learning.

No wonder we have some of the most disruptive classrooms of the OECD countries.

A second reason standards are going backwards is because the school curriculum is overcrowded, dumbed down, politically correct and woke.

As a result of the crowded curriculum and a reporting system where teachers have to spend weeks writing pages of useless descriptive reports, the third reason schools underperform is because teachers are drowning in red tape.

What’s to be done? Like charter schools in America and free schools in England, Australian schools need the autonomy to manage themselves and reflect the needs and aspirations of their communities.

We also need to have school vouchers where the money follows the child to whatever school, government or nongovernment, parents choose. Dr Kevin Donnelly taught in secondary schools for 18 years.