[Greens-Media] Firth must reject inferior National Curriculum

[John Kaye]

Firth must reject inferior National Curriculum
 
Media release: 13 September 2010
 
NSW Education Minister Verity Firth must  protect school students in this state from the draft National Curriculum which the Board of Studies says will be a big step backwards, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye. ('New curriculum slammed by studies board' SMH 13 September, p. 2, http://bit.ly/smh100913)
 
Dr Kaye said: "NSW's long tradition of developing and implementing high quality curricula will be squandered if Education Minister Verity Firth ignores the warnings coming from the Board of Studies, the science and history teachers associations and professional educators across the state.
 
"The relatively minor benefits of uniformity across states and territories will be swamped by the loss of flexibility and the content crowding of the national documents.
 
"Ms Firth should not let NSW schools be put into a straight jacket where literature is downgraded, science is stripped of meaning and one-size-fits-all solutions leave some students bored and others struggling.
 
"The National Curriculum was then Education Minister Julia Gillard's hobby horse. 
 
"The rushed timetable was more about political expediency than the best interests of schools and students.
 
"NSW has much to lose from a curriculum that is vastly inferior to the state's existing documents.
 
"Parents, teachers and the students will be looking to Verity Firth to stand up to her colleagues in Canberra and call for this version of the curriculum to be scrapped.
 
"With implementation scheduled to begin next year, too much is at stake to allow politics to dictate what students are taught," Dr Kaye said. 
 
For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455 
 
 
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John Kaye
Greens member of the NSW Parliament
phone: (02) 9230 2668
fax: (02) 9230 2586
mobile: 0407 195 455
email: john.kaye at parliament.nsw.gov.au
web: www.johnkaye.org.au
 
mail: Parliament House, Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000