Howard's Teacher Scholarships an Insult

[John Kaye]

Howard's Teacher Scholarships an Insult

Media Comments: 04 May 04

Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said "Under the Howard Government, we have the 
extraordinary situation where women are paid bonuses if they stay at home 
and be mums, while men are paid bonuses if they teach boys in private 
schools.

"We need to remain incredibly vigilant to ensure we don't return to the 
social norms of the 1950s under Howard's agenda.

  "The answer to entice men into the profession is not by throwing $2000 
their way.  It's to ensure that teachers are paid appropriately in the 
first place.

"The Howard Government is insulting women and implying that women haven't 
done their jobs when it comes to the education of boys.

"It's no coincidence that in those industries where workers are 
predominately female, such as nursing and teaching, the pay is less than 
those industries that are traditionally male, such as law and engineering.

"Women have fought for a long time to get equal pay for equal work, yet 
average women's weekly earnings is still only 66% to men's.  What's needed 
here is pay equity for women and pay rises in areas that traditionally 
attract more women to them, such as nursing and teaching.

Greens NSW Senate candidate Dr John Kaye said:

"The Sex Discrimination Act prohibits male-only scholarships for very good 
reasons. The Howard Government is embarked on legislative change that 
insults women teachers and that ignores the history of discrimination 
against female workers in this country.

"Not only would these changes be unfair to young women seeking to be 
teachers, but they would also send very dangerous messages about gender 
roles to children in schools.

"For two decades we have attempted to correct the bias against women in the 
workplace. Now the Howard government wants to discriminate against young 
women entering the teaching profession. Education Minister Brendan Nelson 
is devaluing the credibility of female teachers," Dr Kaye said

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455; Cate Faehrmann 0412 207 043



-------------------------
Support your List Server:
DOMAIN NAMES: http://altnews.com.au/register/
HOSTING: http://altnews.com.au/sales/
PHONE: low cost calls at http://us.altnews.com.au/1cell/
-------------------------
Hosted by Alternative News Network, Cairns, tropical north Queensland, Australia
-------------------------