Education policy: stuck on a dirt track to nowhere

At the other end of the continuum we find that for the vast majority of parents preschool education has become an essential requirement. We know that the preschool years are critical for cognitive development. This in turn implies that we need quality preschool education - quality that is characterised by realistic staff to student ratios and a teaching staff that is well trained not merely in child care but in early childhood education. Again not only do we need sufficient places for all children; preschool education needs to be free.

In addition we need to transform the way we conceive of education. Around the country sits an enormous investment in purpose built educational facilities. Facilities that are closed to the public for much of the time. Why should schools not be staffed for 12 hours a day? If they opened at 0700 and closed at 1900 we would remove the problem of latch key kids. More importantly we would generate the time during which a range of programs could be delivered that simply do not fit into the time demands that the core curriculum makes on the school day.

The immediate objection to the ideas presented here is that of cost. And this is what inhibits both the formal adoption of a set of principles and to follow through on these principles. Governments are reluctant to embrace these ideas because they imply a need to raise taxes. So what would be the implication on the budget?

We need to bear in mind that they cannot be implemented overnight. The only possible exception being the removal of the HECS provisions. But even that would not impact adversely on the budget - for HECS fees are only recovered once students enter the workforce so the earliest a removal of HECS fees in 2011 would impact on the budget would be 2014.

With the other provisions the following will need to be put in place before it can happen. There needs to be agreement not only on a national curriculum but on the criteria that should apply to self governing public schools. This cannot be imposed by one political party but will need to be bipartisan for it will describe the criteria that should apply to educational institutions before they can be fully funded.

While we can make preschool education free overnight there remains the problem of appropriately qualified teachers - to get sufficient numbers of fully qualified preschool staff in the system will take a minimum of five years.

Finally, extending school hours will also require the training of a small army of paraprofessionals that can deliver a range of programs out of normal school hours.

What all this means is that the transition to an education program that reflects the two principles of education with which we started would take place over about a decade. This gives governments sufficient time to ensure that the funding to cover these changes is put in place.

Education is an investment in our collective future; we all benefit from a well funded system that targets all students and ensures that we have the workforce that can meet the demands of the 21st century - it is high time that we get of the dirt track and hit the bitumen.