Category Archives: Education

Boom and bust in international student numbers in Qld

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Gene Tunny

I suspect the large drop in international students in Queensland (and across Australia) due partly to the high Australian dollar is a concern to universities, TAFEs and private providers, such as the Sarina Russo Group, which have made a lot … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Migration | Leave a comment

Laptops for school students may not be cost effective

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Gene Tunny

A report today confirms the Federal Government’s laptops in schools program is a large burden on schools across Australia, which are struggling to find technical staff to maintain the laptops (Shortfall of information and communications technology technicians hits schools). As … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Labour market | Leave a comment

Training reform package is a winner

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Gene Tunny

The Gillard Government deserves credit for its new training reform package, Skills for All Australians, released today. If adopted by the States it will made vocational education and training (VET) a demand-driven system and extend HECS-HELP loans to all VET … Continue reading →

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Governments will need to re-think childcare reforms

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Gene Tunny

The Productivity Commission is by now used to governments ignoring its well-crafted, realistic economic policy advice, but usually the advice is ignored because it’s politically toxic – e.g. it would upset the entire population of Tasmania. Currently, however, governments across … Continue reading →

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People’s Question Time on education and skills

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Premier Anna Bligh, Education Minister Cameron Dick and Employment Minister Stirling Hinchliffe are taking part in a People’s Question Time event tomorrow night at the State Library in Brisbane that I am attending. While registrations to attend are closed, you … Continue reading →

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Don’t tie up money in Education Trust, cut taxes instead

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The proposed Queensland Education Trust has the look of a policy born out of a focus group, and Treasury must have been asleep when the policy was under development, because the proposed policy fails on basic public finance and economic … Continue reading →

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Education Dept will need to build a lot of new classrooms

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Gene Tunny

If there is a new Campbell Newman-led Government in Queensland next year, as the polls are suggesting, it will need to assess the budgetary implications of a large increase in the number of school students, before it commits funds to … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Education, Infrastructure | Leave a comment

Teacher performance pay

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Last night in Melbourne, where I’m based for the next few weeks, I attended a Grattan Institute event on the economics and politics of teacher merit (i.e. performance) pay, which featured former ANU economics professor, now federal MP Andrew Leigh … Continue reading →

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Private schools probably don’t have to worry about half-baked funding reforms

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The Federal Government’s Gonski Review of Funding for Schooling has attracted some attention for a bold recommendation in one of its commissioned reports that private schools should be forced to take on struggling students. The Courier-Mail has coverage here: Schools … Continue reading →

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Forget about that fancy book learning

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti gave a great talk at Brisbane’s Customs House today to UQ business, economics and law alumni on the company’s recent re-branding, which is aimed at capturing a large chunk of the high margin business and government travel … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 2 Comments