Industrial Action

Next wednesday is a half day strike for those of us in the education union.  Has anybody been keeping abreast of the Victorian governments new education plan?  The academic results of Victorian students have not been up to par lately.  Some reasons I can think of is that, since the latest update of VELS (victorian education learning standards) teachers have so much curriculum checks points to meet, that they can not have time to adequately cover the important areas of literacy and numeracy in depth because of the red tape that has to be met.  The curriculum is so packed that the days are a constant jumping game from one topic to the next, severely limiting extended discussion and reflection on key learning areas.  Reports have to cover each learning requirement (in formulaic VELS speak) to the point where it is almost meaningless.  So, the government has decided that it is the teachers who are not good enough.  They want to raise the standard of teachers (which in itself is not a bad thing) and introduce performance based incentives for teachers.  The problem is, that with Victorian teachers being the lowest paid in the country, they are missing the point on how to attract and retain the best teachers.  Five or six years of study needs to be adequately remunerated.  Pay teachers a decent wage, value their professionalism, give them some flexibility in their curriculum and watch the students knowledge levels climb.  I for one will be joining the strike next week.