pommie bastard

Australia the land of free education for all?



The University of Melbourne says it will charge full-fee Australian students about $150,000 to complete a medical degree under the deregulated system proposed by the Federal Government.

The figure is tens of thousands of dollars more than indicated last week by Education Minister Brendan Nelson.

http://theage.com.au/articles/2003/0...801445940.html

dotty

Never mind most cant read or write here so they wont get to UNI.

Only joking of course:scared:

pommie bastard

No need for skills such as that , just a big bank balance will do?

dotty

There was some basis behind that comment, spent 2 hours this morning with a class of 7&8 year olds. I can honestly say that out of 23 kids, at least 10 had no idea of how to read sentences such as "My family went to the Zoo" "We saw the animals" "We went home in the car". I do find that hard to understand, compared to friends kids in Canada who by that age were studying in French and English and reading in Both languages. All seems very casual here. Parents dont seem concerned at all so perhaps its just normal. I do wonder tho how they can learn much else tho if they cant read?

Pommie_Bastard

(Darn, there goes me chance at bulk billing fraud.)

Pommie_Bastard

(Bugger, these kids are wising up to me intimidation. Have to stick with them thick Immos.)

pommie bastard

Hands up whos a thick Immo ?

Pommie_Bastard

(God these thick Immos are easy to stick up. Hang on its that me in the window?)

Jacqui

Not just uni fees to worry about, you'll be wanting to send them privately if the schools near us are typical. I'd advise anyone with kids to check out the good private schools and get them on the waiting list straightaway - 2-3 years wait around here. If your local high school is ok then stay there, but you'll have a "plan B" to turn to.

My 8 year old is in a class with kids who can barely read a sentence, yet my son is currently reading the Harry Potter series of books and can often be found with his nose in an interesting book about rockets or the like. He can't understand why his mates can't read yet! My 12 year old came home a few weeks back with a "cress head" - you know where they plant seeds and watch the cress growing - my god! My kids all did that at pre-school in the UK! Last year my 9 year old was amazed that their class spent time learning nursery rhymes, yes nursery rhymes! You can see why I'm keen to get them out of the government schools, they are going to fall desparately behind at this rate.

dotty

Jacqui I saw a friend this morning, Swedish girl, she is really annoyed about her 10 year olds constant complaint about the amount of colouring in activities they are given. Just cant believe colouring in is set work for age 10! Also, the teacher has stopped the kids going to the Computer lab, their only half hour of computer access a week because it is too wet to walk to that room. In 4 months they have had a total of 1.5 hours computer study. This is a Private school tho, so I am not sure if forking out the money is always the answer, check carefully because in my time here I have seen heaps of kids pulled out of private schools too, I am sure some will be an improvement but certainly not guaranteed.

Don

I hear pretty good things about the state schools around Christchurch NZ - any feedback?

Cheers - Don

pommie bastard

Kiwis are smarter than Aussies you may be right?

Kath

We've had a very similar experience to you. We've been a Perth nearly a year now and have now opted for a private school for my son who is nearly 8. The fees are a shock when you're used to free quality education in UK, we had a great school in England. We may return to the UK next year so we want to ensure our son keeps up a good standard of education. The differences here are quite significant if you have bright children.

I've recently met someone who has moved across from Melbourne and she has found lower standards of education in Perth, her children are way ahead. What is going on in WA state schools?

This part of Aussie life has been a big disappointment to us.

Kath

At my son's old school (state) they were always having Art lessons. I didn't like the amount of videos they watched (Disney etc..) especially towards the end of term, I think the teachers wanted an easy life. Very happy now with my son's private school but it's not cheap! Dotty is right, forking money is not always the answer.

Watt Dabney

No complaints so far here Don. My 7 year old son is reading books at his level and is always given extention work if required. he is already being considered for the Australaisian tests, which they use to monitor the brighter kids. His education is definately more hands on and includes lots of activities. These are often linked to the current topic the last one was bread/yeast. They made pizzas and Fruit Bread, they did a science experiment with a bottle with yeast & water in with a balloon on top. They went to see the local bakery, the teacher encluded maths and writing with the use of recipies. He recently took part in a spellathon in which he was set demanding words. I have had trouble getting my head round their maths programme as it is based around group and practical number work as opposed to sitting and writing, so I asked his teacher if I could observe a maths session and it is no problem, will do this next week. My 5yr old daughter started school recently and her progress is brilliant her reading ability it always being re-assessed and her books upgraded. Her work is also a bit more practical than i'm used to but I am happy with what i've seen. They do a session every other Fri called developmental which I help with. Basically lots of different activities set out for them to do from basic craft to clay or popcorn or sandwich making. There is also a woodwork table with vices, saws, hammers, nails and wood but I don't like supervising that table, all those 5yr olds weilding rusty saws:scared:
Their education is more hands on here but their academic progress is not neglected. In particular our son is making good progress here without showing the signs of stress he had in the Uk, he found it a bit of a rat race there. The teachers are very accomodating and are happy to hear my opinion and implement my ideas, they have no problems with me observing lessons I find them a lot more approachable than the Uk and respectful of my input into my kids education.

Paula