E&OE TRANSCRIPT

SUBJECTS: Australia Day in the National Curriculum, NAPLAN results

LEON BYNER:  Now, Australia Day is going to become a compulsory topic for all primary and secondary school students. The Education Minister is announcing that the significance of 26 January will become a non-negotiable part of history classes under the new national curriculum.

Let's talk to the minister, Peter Garrett. Peter, what aspect of Australia Day are we talking about, and good morning.

PETER GARRETT:  Oh, good morning, Leon. We're just talking about the day itself. In a national curriculum we've got a common learning entitlement for kids, wherever they live in Australia.

Ministers have agreed that we'll start to roll that curriculum out in the subjects of English, maths, science and history. In history we want every Australian student to learn about Australia Day – its history and its meaning – when the curriculum is rolled out. In the past it's been an optional extra. Now it will be a part of the national curriculum, mandatory to be taught in schools.

LEON BYNER:  Will the arrival at Sydney Cove – at the first settlement – be the point of discussion and its circumstances?

PETER GARRETT:  It will really be about the significance of the day, its place in Australian history, what it means to different groups of Australians. That includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

As with all other aspects of the curriculum, Leon, it's really also a question of the teacher and the school; what particular aspects of Australia Day they want to highlight.

LEON BYNER:  See, Peter, the reason I ask you that is because there are some, a minority, activists – and you would know this well – who would argue that that was an invasion day.

PETER GARRETT:  Yes, look, that's right. There was an incorrect article in the Herald Sun about this as well. Invasion day is not even mentioned in the national curriculum, Leon.

It may be that a teacher says to the students look, you might be aware that there are some people who think that it ought to be called invasion day because of these reasons or otherwise, and have that discussion. Kids start learning their history in Year 3, but they go on to learn about various aspects of Australian history, including other aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, through the course of their school career.

I think what's important about it is that up until now we actually haven’t had a guarantee that kids would actually learn about Australia Day, a day that we all celebrate, a day where we commemorate the country, where we reflect about the country. People treat it in all sorts of different ways, as you know. Now we know that Australian students will actually have Australia Day in the curriculum.

LEON BYNER:  When does all this start?

PETER GARRETT:  It starts at different times in different states. We've got an agreement to implement the curriculum by 2013.

LEON BYNER:  Why does that have to be? Why can't we say to everybody look, let's all start this together?

PETER GARRETT:  That was very much my intention as the Federal Minister, Leon, but some states – New South Wales in particular – have wanted to delay their implementation. South Australia, I think, has taken a very progressive role on it. We'll see maths and science taught in Government primary schools by the end of this year. We'll see independent schools using the English, maths and science curriculum this year, and also looking at history. Catholic schools will provide professional support for their teachers. Then they'll go on to implement in 2013.

So we're seeing states around the country, states like the ACT, where it's already being taught, getting it going. Look, the fact is that education systems in the states are still different to some extent. Their curriculum development has been different over time and they've got different circumstances in terms of rolling this out.

Ultimately, we expect every Australian kid to have this common learning entitlement. You know, about 80,000 kids move interstate every year. They ought to be able to learn the same national curriculum, agreed by the experts and the education ministers, wherever they go to school.

LEON BYNER: While I've got you there, boys' education is a big issue in Australia. In the year 2000 there was a massive inquiry and a lot of recommendations made, none of which have ever been put in. Do you have boys' education on your policy radar?

PETER GARRETT: Look, you're right, it is an important issue. It is on the policy radar of this Government, especially to the extent of trying to determine how we can get our boys to learn more effectively, especially through high school.

As you probably know, we've invested a lot in partnerships with the states on things like low SES schools on literacy and numeracy in particular, because unless kids can really read and write and they've got the basics under their belts, then they've got not much of a chance of doing well when they get out of school.

As well as that we're looking closely at issues around health and the resilience of kids when they come into our schools. Schools aren't like they were when you and I went to them, Leon, in one way.

LEON BYNER:  Tell me about it [laughs].

PETER GARRETT:  Well, you're still learning from a teacher, and that's the most important thing that happens in a school. There are a lot more influences and stimulations in a school environment. Of course, kids are online. They've got their hand –

LEON BYNER: And distractions, yes.

PETER GARRETT: And distractions, so it is a focus. But I've got to say that our boys and girls still do very well in schools. I released the national literacy and numeracy reporting earlier this week, the NAPLAN testing. We see 93 per cent of our kids are either at or above the national minimum levels in literacy and numeracy. Now, we can do better, and we want to, but Australian kids don't do too badly at school.

LEON BYNER:  Well, I just need to point out that in the year 2000 a nationwide House of Representatives inquiry into boys' education – and that's 12 years ago now – found boys lagging behind girls in literacy, numeracy and Year 12 exam results, and they were less likely to complete high school or go to uni. So I think we need to do something about that. Don't you?

PETER GARRETT:  Look, I think it's always going to be important for us to focus on how we can get boys to do better, and our students to do better as well.

There is such a lot happening in education, Leon, at our level. I mean we've got the national curriculum we're talking about now, we've got My School, in terms of transparency, more information for parents than ever before. We've got a series of national partnerships looking at the best ways we can lift performance in schools. That includes boys of course.

We've also got the funding review recommendation of Mr Gonski, that will be delivered to the Government early this year, looking about the way in which we can actually have the most effective, transparent and fair funding system operating for kids in schools, wherever they are.

We can see that, the two things that, for me, apart from the issue that you're raising, that I think are really critical, one is that we've still got a big distance between what I would describe as our very well-off kids and our less well-off kids and their educational attainment.

The second thing is, compared to our overseas equivalent nations, our top performing kids aren't doing as well as they used to, say, 10 years ago.

LEON BYNER: Well, isn't that interesting, because we've spent, over many years, an increase of funding of 250 per cent, but the results are 16 per cent down on what they used to be. So what that proves is – and the OECD said this years ago – that's not to say we shouldn't spend on education, not at all. But just by spending money and making lovely shiny buildings and other facilities, it doesn’t mean the kids have got a great teacher.

Peter, I thank you for coming on today. That's the Federal Minister for Education.

ENDS