Tag Archives: education

Queensland has too many low-performing schools

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Gene Tunny

One major challenge the current Queensland Government faces is the need to reform a school system that historically has had a disproportionate number of low-performing schools. The extent of poor performance among our secondary schools is pretty clear in data … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

Improving teacher quality key to lifting student performance

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The new OECD report showing Australia’s educational performance is slipping has gained a lot of media attention this morning (e.g. Queensland students lag behind national average in maths, science and literacy) and should inspire policy makers to push for further … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Teacher pay revamp long overdue

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I’m very pleased the Queensland Government is considering linking teacher pay to teacher performance (see today’s Courier-Mail), as improving pay for the best teachers will help stop the leakage of the best teachers out of the education system and may … Continue reading →

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More CSG-LNG jobs than previously forecast, but minerals job vacancies have plummeted

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday I attended the Energy Skills Queensland (ESQ) Annual Conference at the Royal International Convention Centre at the RNA Showgrounds in Brisbane. At the Conference, ESQ released its Queensland CSG to LNG Industry Workforce Plan, which received coverage from ABC … Continue reading →

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Toowoomba very reliant on education sector – risk from higher ed reform

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Gene Tunny

An article in the Toowoomba Chronicle has reminded me just how significant the University of Southern Queensland has been to Toowoomba’s economic development and prosperity, and the USQ Vice-Chancellor is certainly right to be concerned about potential higher education policy … Continue reading →

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Long-term education target unlikely to be met – haven’t we learned from previous unachievable targets?

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The National Plan for School Improvement released with the 2013-14 Commonwealth Budget has the potential to signficantly lift educational outcomes across Australia and is therefore one of the positives of this Budget. But I’m skeptical of the Government’s stated ambition … Continue reading →

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Despite cost disease, Government can boost public sector productivity

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Gene Tunny

There are several fundamental differences between the public and private sectors, one of which was noted in Sir Peter Gershon’s review of Commonwealth Government ICT use in 2008. On Commonwealth agencies, and I assume the same would apply to State … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How were job losses shared across Qld Government agencies?

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Gene Tunny

An article in the Financial Review this morning (Government jobs growth masks softer employment market) prompted me to examine the Queensland public service data more closely. Given the significant Queensland public service (QPS) job cuts over the last nine months, … Continue reading →

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More young women studying full-time due to sluggish labour market

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Gene Tunny

Katherine Feeney has an interesting article in the Brisbane Times today on the decline in labour force participation (i.e. working or actively looking for work) among young women in Brisbane since the financial crisis (Young women out of work): In … Continue reading →

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Cost of schooling will keep increasing under current model

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Gene Tunny

It’s no surprise to see another report on escalating private school fees (Queensland private schools announce fee hikes of up to 7 per cent for 2013), given that, under the traditional schooling model, the potential for productivity gains in schools … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments