Here is a speech I drafted for a talk I gave at Hobart College which was attended by over 50 students and staff. I ad-libbed a lot so this isn't exactly what I said...
Hi my name is Jenny Forward and I am the Socialist Alliance candidate for Franklin. I’ll start by letting you know that the Socialist Alliance opposes the Tas Tomorrow reforms . Today though I’d firstly I’d like to give you some background information to the SA, and then I’ll talk to you about the SA’s position on the Tasmania Tomorrow reforms before finishing off with a brief summary regarding the SA Youth Policy recently adopted at out Seventh National Conference in January of this year.
Background re the SA
The Socialist Alliance is an anti-capitalist party, which formed in 2001 Since then members of the Socialist Alliance have been active in campaigns on a wide range of issues, from student’s and workers' rights, global warming to civil liberties, from refugee and gay and lesbian rights to justice for Aboriginal Australia and international solidarity.
We believe that ordinary people themselves, by acting in the workplace, the community, and the street, can develop the power to create a just and environmentally sustainable alternative to profit-driven capitalism.
The Socialist Alliance stands candidates in elections at every level of government, but unlike other parties we don't see parliament as the main vehicle for social change. If elected, our candidates will take only an average worker's wage, donating the balance to struggles for a better society.
What is education for?
Education is about personal growth and development and about creating new and different futures as TS Eliot so concisely out it : “It is in fact a part of the function of education to help us escape, not from our own time -- for we are bound by that -- but from the intellectual and emotional limitations of our time.” The SA does not believe that Tas Tomorrow is anyway assisting the young people of Tasmania to escape these limitations but in fact Tas Tomorrow is limited young people.
The SA Position re Tas Tomorrow
The SA opposes the Tas Tomorrow reforms for many reasons. Whilst these reasons are significant what also is of importance is how we’ve reached our position! We have concluded that Tas Tomorrow is having a negative impact on improving the educational outcomes for post Gr 10 students by consulting those who best understand and know about the current and potential impact of the reforms: namely teachers, the teachers unions and students. Personal note: one of students I’ve consulted is my 17 yr old daughter Gr 12.
Why do we oppose Tas Tomorrow:
1. Inequalities in the community are further reinforced by imposing a choice over academic or vocational pathways at the end of grade 10. (this is way to early – nowadays people change careers on av. 7 times in their lifetime – I didn’t decide on my degree until I was 40!)
2. The autonomy of colleges has been threatened by the state-wide management structure. This means that many teachers, support and admin staff now feel that they don’t have the power to influence changes that will improve how the colleges respond to student’s needs. (systems respond better when those closest to have a say and power over what affects them)
3. The work of managers is being duplicated on shared Polytechnic/Academy campuses which results in less resources being available where they are most need which is on the ground – with the teachers and students
4. Students have had their options for study reduced because of the difficulties of organizing the time tables on a shared campus. (We need system that increases options not
5. On one campus, in the second year of implementation, the reforms caused the situation where students had no timetables and teachers had no classrooms on the first day of term. (my daughter has experienced this – many enrolled in Rosny to escape the problems – as she did)
Of course the SA agrees that much more must be done to improve the retention rates from Year 10 into years 11 and 12 which were some of the lowest in the country, we also have the poorest participation rate for 16- to 24-year-olds, and the large percentage of people in the workforce who are deemed to be illiterate. In practice however, the reforms appear to have been developed and introduced with insufficient consultation and are now being mismanaged.
It appears that Cost-cutting measures and privatization are the main goals of the new organizations:
• Why haven’t they employed qualified adult literacy coordinators as recommended by a recent study by Queensland University?
• Why is the Skills Institute tendering for external providers at the lowest price?
It appears that Tasmania Together is more interested in reducing education provision simply to the pressures of the market!
If anyone doubts that here - it is very interesting to note that on the news the only group that I saw speaking out publicly in favor of the Tas Tomorrow changes was the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry whose only interests are those of big business owners!!
So it’s quite obvious to many of us that the majority of teachers, the majority of teachers who are members of the AEU, the majority of students, the Greens, some independents including Andrew Wilkie and the Liberal Party are not happy with Tas Tomorrow – and the only ones who support this obvious failure are the ALP and business. I’m sorry but since when has business had the real interests of ordinary people at heart – let alone young people who are keen to develop their full potential through quality education! (we only have to look at how many overseas students have had their education ruined by dishonest business owners who are solely interested in making large amounts of profit regardless of the consequences for students who are already disadvantaged)
Since Bartlett has decided to make this an election issue instead of reviewing the mistakes that have been made throughout the Tas Tomorrow process then it’s important that we spread the word and speak to your friends, workmates and family and tell them not to vote Labor as this will mean a vote for the continuation of Tas Tomorrow.
We need to ensure that:
• the college system returns to be managed by the Ed Dept
• TAFE needs to be restored
• That adequate numbers of support staff are provided such as social workers and psychologists
• Adequate consultations then must be held to ensure that any reforms are truly democratic and not in interests of big business
How do we ensure these? Vote against them – sure that’s important but it’s not the only way. We need not just to vote to bring back TAFE but more importantly than this we need to continue to agitate, educate and organize (to quote old slogan from the 60’s) because this is the only way that we can achieve positive changes in society whether in the area of education or others! (one of my favorotie examples of the power of students was May 1968 in France)
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. Wiliam Butler Yeats
SO it’s not about in this case filling young peoples minds – which are labeled either Academic or Polytechnic it’s about giving them the opportunity to dabble in both as they so choose – about lighting the fire of passion in education in all areas until they have developed enough to discover what they are most interested in
OTHER RELATED POLICY INFO:
The SA Education Policy
We belive in a universal, free, quality secular education system – this is highlighted by opening paragraph of Ed policy of Seventh National Conference January 2-5, 2010:
“Education is a fundamental right for all people, yet the policies of successive governments has
been to turn education into a privilege; with wealth as the main entry qualification. At all levels, the public education system has been systematically dismantled, while private schools enjoy billions in taxpayer subsidies.”
The SA wants to make sure “that all young people have the same opportunities no matter what there families socio-economic background.” Therefore “the Socialist Alliance supports the reintroduction of free university education, This is because the Socialist Alliance believes that education is a right for all people. We oppose the fact that the private school sector now gets more federal funding than the entire public university sector. We believe that federal funding should go into providing free and quality public education from primary through to tertiary and vocational. We would also drop the current HECS debts.” AUSTRALIA CAN AFFORD FREE EDUCATION.
Lower the voting age to 16
“Many studies have shown that the youth actually have a stronger sense of social justice. There are also many decisions which are made based around youth issues without the input and views of the youth being represented or expressed. To make sure that youth views are expressed and addressed properly by parliamentarians the Socialist Alliance supports the lowering of the voting age to 16.”
