Transcript - Doorstop - 8 December 2010

SUBJECTS: Implementation of the national curriculum

Hon Christopher Pyne MP: Today is the day the Ministers were supposed to sign off on the National Curriculum to start on January 2011. That's what's been promised for three years. Since April 2008 Julia Gillard promised and now Peter Garrett promised it. Instead the ministerial council have bought themselves more time today saying October 2011. So in 10 months from now they'll look at the final draft of the National Curriculum. New South Wales, Western Australia and other states continue to find fault with what the Federal Government is offering. They're saying it's too prescriptive, it's too cumbersome; they're saying there's no resources for teachers, there's not standardised achievement requirements and as a consequence they won't be starting in January 2011.

The Minister Peter Garrett in a delusional moment has claimed today is a historic victory and seemed to suggest that the National Curriculum is finished. It's far from finished. The Board of Studies in New South Wales declared that they won't sign off on it. Western Australia says they won't sign off on it. In his press release he says that it's beginning in 2011, which doesn't exactly fit with the fact that the ministerial council has decided that in October 2011 that they'll have another meeting which they'll decide whether the draft has been improved.

Journalist: Has there been a lack of consultation with people at the coal face as it were, or not?

Pyne: The problem with the National Curriculum is that some states believe it is dumbing down the curriculum. Now, all of us support a National Curriculum, but we'd all believe that it would increase standards, that it would lift the boats rather than go to the lowest common denominator. There hasn't been enough consultation. A lot of the states, teachers, unions and even the independent schools council and the catholic education office; groups that normally don't get together are all saying, let's delay this to get it right rather than get it in. We want a National Curriculum, but we don't want one that makes the standards lower for our students, we want them to be higher for our students.

Journalist: Why did Peter Garrett and the Government not recognise it?

Pyne: Peter Garrett and Julia Gillard are desperate for something to work in their Government. They are very big on announcement, very poor on delivery. They're getting slightly hysterical about how badly they've been going and today Peter Garrett was hoping to emerge with a consensus amongst the State Ministers. He hasn't done so, but he's decided to claim it anyway in a Jim Hacker moment, which would have made Jim proud. The truth is the National Curriculum is not beginning in January 2011 as was promised. It may begin in January 2012 at the earliest and the Minister actually has to start talking to people at the coal face about what they expect, not just teachers, but parents as well. Because it's parents who've got the biggest concerns and employers have got big concerns about the kinds of students we are turning out from our high schools and primary schools.

Journalist: What does it mean for the kids themselves; (inaudible) what's good, what's not, that sort of thing?

Pyne: Students only emerge from the schools with the information and knowledge that we provide to them, and if our curriculum is not of world standard then we will continue to fall behind, as the figures from have indicated from the OECD. In South Australia alone we are regarded as being one full year behind where we were ten years ago. So our curriculum is not producing for our kids the kind of skills and life and knowledge they need for the future. Now the curriculum must do that. It needs to test students, and make them better not just play to lowest common denominator.

Journalist: Have you had some responses from some pretty angry students and various interest groups such as you say the teachers union, and they're pretty hot under the collar about this I hear?

Pyne: Well the Independent Schools Association, the Catholic Schools, the non-government schools sector generally, even the education union, the independent education union, the Principal's association all saying lets depoliticise this process, lets get the curriculum right, rather than get it in and Peter Garrett needs to listen them, rather than try and save face for himself and for Julia Gillard. Julia Gillard identified the national curriculum as her number one reform when she was Minister for Education. She said it had been talked about for 30 years, but I did it. Now today, its patently obvious to everyone that we are going to have to wait another 12 months because Peter Garrett and Julia Gillard cant get it right.

Journalist: So is it more committees, more talking, more what? What do they hope to achieve by delaying this?

Pyne: Well the Commonwealth needs to listen to the Department of Education that have actually been improving their curriculum. Some states like New South Wales regard themselves as having a high standard curriculum. The Commonwealth can't expect them to reduce their standards just so Julia Gillard and Peter Garrett can look like they've delivered something.

Journalist: (inaudible) I know it's your job to oppose, but are other people in the community as angry about it as you, and see this as a transparent, yet another not delivered policy?

Pyne: Well the only point I'd make about that is that New South Wales Government is a Labor Government. I'm a Liberal opposition. So this is not a partisan issue. New South Wales Labor, Western Australian Liberals, Victorian Liberals, in fact the only state that have said they'll sign onto the national curriculum is South Australia. Every other state has reservations, some going so far as to say it will not begin January, 2011. So this is not about scoring political points, this about getting the national curriculum right and I proposed about a month ago to the government a delay of 12 months so we can get this curriculum right. They rejected that because they'd rather look like they're doing something, rather than doing something well.

Journalist: So in effect Peter Garrett has said ok lets start from January, but it's not ready, and they've haven't worked out subjects or who's studying them. The detail seems to have gone out the window.

Pyne: Well Peter Garrett is claiming that the curriculum is beginning in 2011, what he's not doing is saying that it might be late 2011 at best. The ministers aren't meeting until October 2011 to determine whether they're happy with the next draft. Now he wants people to think its starting in January, now that is quite misleading, and Peter Garrett should come clean and explain that the Ministerial Council has, far from signing off on a national curriculum, has said that we have new concerns, and it will be at least October 2011 before we can finalise a draft curriculum.

Journalist: Thank you

ENDS