Steve Austin: Well earlier this year it was revealed that nearly three-quarters of state high school teachers weren’t adequately qualified to teach maths and science. The Australian Education Union report which revealed this was rejected by the State Education Minister Kate Jones but the Queensland Teachers Union at the time said they weren’t surprised. Well…
DetailsInterviewer: Minister, I really appreciate your time for us here at Seven. Can I ask you, how bad is the shortage of maths and science teachers? Simon Birmingham: Well, we know there are potentially hundreds of vacancies for maths and science teachers around the country, but many, many more who are underqualified in terms of…
DetailsZed Seselja: Welcome all, it’s great to have you all here at St Anthony’s in Wanniassa and can I thank Greg Walker, the principal, all the teachers and the staff and the wonderful students here at St. Anthony’s for hosting us. It’s great to have Minister Birmingham here visiting one of our wonderful schools here…
DetailsDavid Penberthy: Well the big education story this week was the release of the very depressing NAPLAN figures yesterday morning, where across the entire country there’d been no significant improvement across the board in the literacy standards of our kids, and in South Australia it was a particularly bleak result where improvement was only registered…
DetailsAdam Shand: Right, let’s talk about NAPLAN. The results are in, and there’s a plateauing of performance of students in the NAPLAN according to the results. The only one to buck the trend is Western Australia. When NAPLAN was on, okay, we had a number of calls from parents in Western Australia who said our…
DetailsCarrie Bickmore: Well, Senator Simon Birmingham is the Education Minister and he joins us now. Minister, as we’ve just heard, NAPLAN results are plateauing. We’re falling behind by international standards. Our education system just doesn’t seem to be in a good place at the moment. As Education Minister, that can’t be a great feeling? Simon…
DetailsBen Fordham: Now, NAPLAN. This year’s NAPLAN test results, well, are they a wake up call or what? The scores reveal that billions of dollars in extra funding to our schools have failed to deliver improvements in learning. Literacy and numeracy skills have flat-lined over the last three years, writing skills have gone backwards, spelling,…
DetailsRafael Epstein: Let’s speak first to Senator Simon Birmingham. He is part of Malcolm Turnbull’s Federal Government. He’s also the Minister for Education and Training. Senator, good afternoon. Simon Birmingham: G’day Raf, good to speak with you. Rafael Epstein: How good’s your handwriting? Simon Birmingham: [Laughs] My wife and staff would tell you that it’s…
DetailsIan Henschke: We’re going to talk to Simon Birmingham, Liberal Senator for South Australia and also Federal Education Minister, about the issue that $20 billion has been spent on education, and it has- many critics are saying without significant improvements. Simon Birmingham joins us now. Simon Birmingham: We’ve seen significant growth in funding to Australian…
DetailsMichael Brissenden: The numeracy and literacy skills of Australian school students have plateaued despite an increase in Federal Government funding. Results from the 2016 NAPLAN tests released today show a slight improvement in reading and numeracy and a decline in writing. The Government says schools and parents need to focus on evidence-based measures to lift…
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