Well worth repeating: The Age editorial 'Playing Games With Religion In Schools'

Playing games with religion in schools

Date August 1, 2014

The ancient book of Ecclesiastes teaches that there is a time and a place for everything. A time to be silent and a time to speak. There is also a time to pray, if that is what is needed. Whether there is a time and place for students to pray during school lunchtimes, however, is a matter that clearly causes some people enormous concern.

After state Education Minister Martin Dixon issued a ministerial direction about the rules and procedures governing the provision of special religious instruction in government schools, a cry erupted among some Christian groups claiming the rules encroach on basic human rights. Opponents of the directive say it amounts to an attack on religious freedom and free speech, and that it is a step towards outright bans on prayer in schools.

Their rhetoric is inflammatory, and their concerns are misplaced. The government is not banning prayer in school. It is not forbidding students to pray at lunchtime, if that is what they want to do with their meal break. It is saying that prayer forums ''cannot be led'' by teachers or other school staff, by parents, volunteers or visitors. Put another way, if there are prayer groups or meetings of student religious clubs during school hours, then they must not take the form of ''instructed'' prayer. That is a world away from imposing draconian curbs on the rights to religious freedom and free speech.

The rationale is simple. Government schools are secular environments and their primary aim is education. It has been that way since the Education Act of 1872 formalised that public education in this state should be free, secular and compulsory. In 1958, the law was amended to provide an exception allowing non-compulsory religious instruction classes to be held within schools, but on certain conditions and only by accredited providers. It should be noted the law does not bar religious instruction classes being held on state school grounds outside school hours.

The 2006 education legislation states that schools must ''not promote any particular religious practice, denomination or sect'', but it nevertheless allows schools to provide classes of special religious instruction during school hours, only by accredited representatives. To allow non-accredited instructors to supervise religious sessions at lunchtime would be to subvert the system entirely. Mr Dixon's directive provides a framework for schools to ensure they are abiding by the law and not inadvertently providing non-accredited religious instruction classes.

The Age has consistently argued that beyond reading, writing and arithmetic, there is room in schools for the study of the various belief systems and for informed and informative discussion about ethical choices. Education about religion should provide students with sound information about belief structures and religious practices that help shape our world, as well as provide historical context to the role played by religion in our world. A byproduct of all that might be greater social awareness and enhanced tolerance of diversity.

That does not, however, justify a state-backed religious agenda in education. A secular school system should not impose proselytising nor actively sponsor it. If religious instruction is to be conducted at all within the secular school environment, then there must be clear boundaries and rules. Where state schools do provide special classes in religious instruction, who teaches it, how, and when it is provided should all be carefully managed.

Nothing bars students from organising their own religious groups at school; they are not impeded in practising their religion at school. Their fundamental rights are preserved. At the same time, the resources and facilities of the state education system must be directed primarily to education for all

Although the directive mentioned in this editorial applies only to Victorian schools, the debate concerning religion in schools is nation-wide.

Australian Education Minister Called On To Dump Donnelly Now

Open Letter To Minister For Education published on 21 July 2014:

To The Hon Christopher Pyne
Monday 21 July, 2014
CC: Shadow Minster, The Hon Kate Ellis

Dear Minister,

In a recent interview to 2UE on 15th July Kevin Donnelly, Director of the Education Standards Institute, stated:

“If the school community is in favour of it [corporal punishment] then I have not got a problem if it’s done properly”

There is no doubt, given this interview, that Kevin Donnelly has no objection to the use of corporal punishment in schools.

This statement is a reckless and inappropriate endorsement of archaic attitudes and practices in relation to the discipline of children both in schools and society.

In a community where neglect and violence against children has been on the increase, corporal punishment must be seen as a totally inappropriate and ineffective behaviour management strategy for schools.

A National Summit, Behaviour in Australian Schools: Current trends and possibilities, was held in South Australia last week with the clear aim of raising the profile of children and their rights as students in schools.

The Summit brought together significant research on the complexity of behaviour in schools.

This research provides new insights into the ways schools can engage students in their learning and schooling while respecting their dignity, treating them fairly, and allowing and encouraging them to continue their education. It critiqued punitive responses to misbehaviour and offered alternatives.

It is upon this kind of evidence-based research that a senior educational advisor to the government should base his comments.

Harking back to community standards of more than 30 years ago has no relevance to the realities of today or 21st century community expectations.

The educational researchers and other participants involved in the Summit were disconcerted by the comments made by Kevin Donnelly, especially as he is a senior educational advisor to the Federal Education Minister. In this role, the Australian public has a right to expect informed commentary and advice based on sound research.

We call on the government to remove Mr Donnelly from his position as advisor on any matters related to the education of children in Australia.

We call on the government to amend legislation to ensure that the children of Australia are protected from all forms of corporal punishment in schools.

For communication on this matter please phone:

Dr Anna Sullivan 0402 965 844

Signed:
1. Dr Anna Sullivan
Senior Lecturer
School of Education
University of South Australia
 
And 181 others whose names and positions can be found here

'Three Mobs One River Learning Kit' won the promoting indigenous recognition category at the National Awards for Local Government

Clarence Valley Council CVC News media release*:

18 June 2014

Aboriginal Education project wins national award

A learning kit that was designed, produced and implemented entirely by the Aboriginal community in the Clarence Valley has taken out a major national local government award.

The ‘Three Mobs One River Learning Kit’ won the promoting indigenous recognition category at the National Awards for Local Government at the Great Hall in Parliament House, Canberra, last night.

Clarence Valley Mayor, Richie Williamson, who attended the ceremony with two of the driving forces behind the project – Beris Duroux and Joanne Randall – said it was fitting recognition for an inventive, inspiring and inclusive project.

“Projects like this help develop understanding between the indigenous and non-indigenous communities,” he said.

The Three Mobs One River Learning Kit started with the aim of engaging Aboriginal students and helping them extend their schooling to Year 12, but according to Ms Duroux, there have been many other spin-off benefits.

The program was developed by the three Aboriginal nations of the Clarence region – the Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr and Yaegl nations – and involves verbal in-school presentations by Elders and community members, multi-media presentations and reflections, written materials such as poems and articles and a living library of film and audio recordings.

The initial target was to engage 280 people, including Aboriginal parents, carers, agencies and community members. That target was surpassed in three months and after 12 months more than 2700 community members had made a connection with the learning kit.

More than 100 story themes have been offered by Aboriginal people and have been tracked to key student learning areas. Fifty five community members and 14 Aboriginal organisations have made a commitment to in-school verbal presentations.

Twenty seven PowerPoint and verbal presentations have been developed by parents, and four film pieces, four sound records, and a set of donated documentation has been compiled.

Department of Education and Communities Aboriginal communities liaison officer, Beris Duroux, said the project would not have been possible without the support of the three Aboriginal nations of the Clarence and the wider community.

“Without the stories of the Aboriginal people, we wouldn’t have a project,” she said.

“This is all about our future and helping develop future leaders in our community.

“But it also helps other members of the community understand our stories and our history.”

The program is running at Maclean High School and Grafton and South Grafton high schools and McAuley Catholic College are expected to have it running soon.

Release ends.

* Since David Bancroft, former editor of The Daily Examiner, began to write these media releases the level of reliable information they contain and general quality has improved - well done, David.

Australian Liberal-National Politics 2014: you stupid, stupid men

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne demonstrate their abysmal intellectual and political stupidity in appointing Kevin Donnelly one of only  two individuals who will be reviewing the national curriculum from Foundation to Year 12.

Former teacher and ex-Liberal Party staffer Kevin Donnelly says Australian education has become too secular, and the federation's Judeo-Christian heritage should be better reflected in the curriculum. [http://ab.co/1d9CV5e, 11 January 2013]

It is no secret that Donnelly would like to return Australian education to a time when the teaching of history was little more than instilling the political and cultural myths of dominant elites into the minds of students.

His hostility to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and the current national curriculum is well known.

As to why religion is ignored, the answer is easy to find. In a report on the consultation process related to the curriculum, those responsible are content to argue, “The treatment of religion within the paper needs to be reviewed to include more reference to ‘non-religious’ views.”

The authors are also happy to embrace a politically-correct, postmodern view of society. Their belief is that Australia is “a secular nation with a multicultural and multi-faith society”, one that is “diverse and dynamic” and where students are taught to “value their own cultures, languages and beliefs”. [Dr Kevin Donnelly,8 June 2013,National curriculum's crusade against Christianity]

The history curriculum, in addition to uncritically promoting diversity and difference instead of what binds us a community and a nation, undervalues Western civilisation and the significance of Judeo-Christian values to our institutions and way of life. [Kevin Donnelly,29 October 2013,Our colonised classrooms]

While Donnelly’s fear of a factual history of Christianity as a political/social force (particularly the history of the Catholic Church) being taught to high school students is obvious:

In an early draft of the history curriculum, while “Christian” appeared once, there was no mention of Christianity. While the most recent document refers to Christianity a number of times (and once to the Catholic Church) the focus is very much on diversity, difference and cultural relativism. When Christianity is mentioned it is usually in the context of other religions (Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam) and there is no attempt to detail the historical and cultural significance of Christianity. When studying ancient Rome, for example, students are asked to consider the rise of the Roman empire and the spread of religious beliefs, but there is no mention of Christianity. In the study of Medieval Europe, Christianity is included, but the stated aims, that students should learn about “the dominance of the Catholic Church and the role of significant individuals such as Charlemagne”, “the Church’s power in terms of wealth and labour” and “the nature and power of the Church in this period”, indicate that students will be left with a less than favourable impression. [Kevin Donnelly,1 March 2011, A Back-to-Nonsense Curriculum]

Donnelly seems to have a long personal history of pushing ultra-conservative, religion-based views and resisting the concept of an inclusive society.

Dr Donnelly is the director of the Education Standards Institute, which his website states is the trading name for Impetus Consultants Pty Ltd, a business registered to the K Donnelly Family Trust.

In 2005, Amanda Vanstone told Parliament the Education Department had engaged Impetus Consultants to provide advice and services since 1996.

Ms Vanstone said Dr Donnelly had been paid $165,997 between 1997-2005 by the Howard government for consultant work....

Dr Donnelly wrote in 2011 for the ABC: ''Multiculturalism is based on the mistaken belief that all cultures are of equal worth and that it is unfair to discriminate and argue that some practices are wrong''.

In 2004, he wrote that ''many parents'' would consider homosexuality ''abnormal behaviour'', arguing: ''the reality is that gays, lesbians and same-sex couples with children are a very small minority and such groups do not represent the mainstream.''

He has also called for the Bible to be taught in state schools.  [The Sydney Morning Herald 12 January 2014]

Unfortunately Donnelly also appears to view the national curriculum and education as part of a wider political battleground:

the Cultural-left is dominant in areas like the ABC, the Fairfax Press, most of our universities and amongst our so-called public intellectuals. Listen to the news, read the papers or follow public debates and it soon becomes obvious that the consensus on most issues champions a Cultural-left perspective.

With the exception of the Murdoch Press, especially The Australian and commentators like Andrew Bolt, conservative authors and commentators like myself find it impossible to get an airing and, if we do, it is generally as the token spokesman from the ‘right’ selected to balance the other 2 or 3 hand chosen from the ‘left’. [Kevin Donnelly, Quadrant online,Education Standards Institute]

Donnelly's educational expertise is also called into question by past behaviour.

The education guru tasked with reforming Australia's national curriculum by the federal government was previously employed by tobacco firm Phillip Morris to design a school program teaching children about peer pressure and decision making that did not discuss the health dangers of smoking.

The material, which was given to more than 1500 children in Australia and New Zealand, instead encouraged students to make their own decisions about doing ''something wrong'' including smoking (later versions of the guide, including an Aboriginal version, included discussion of the harmful impacts of smoking).

On Friday, the material's author, Kevin Donnelly,.... [The Sydney Morning Herald 12 January 2014]

The Australian Medical Journal, “Below the Line”: The tobacco industry and youth smoking - in part a critique of Donnelly's school program.

The appointment of this two-man review body makes one suspect that both Abbott and Pyne are progressing their own personal religious agendas rather than creating policy for the national good.

Background

Who is Kevin Donnelly?

Who is Ken Wiltshire?

Support your local TAFE. Do your block from 11-17 November 2013

International Day of the Girl Child 2013

On December 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare 11 October as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. For its second observance, this year’s Day will focus on “Innovating for Girls’ Education”.

The fulfilment of girls’ right to education is first and foremost an obligation and moral imperative. There is also overwhelming evidence that girls’ education, especially at the secondary level, is a powerful transformative force for societies and girls themselves: it is the one consistent positive determinant of practically every desired development outcome, from reductions in mortality and fertility, to poverty reduction and equitable growth, to social norm change and democratization.

While there has been significant progress in improving girls’ access to education over the last two decades, many girls, particularly the most marginalized, continue to be deprived of this basic right. Girls in many countries are still unable to attend school and complete their education due to safety-related, financial, institutional and cultural barriers. Even when girls are in school, perceived low returns from poor quality of education, low aspirations, or household chores and other responsibilities keep them from attending school or from achieving adequate learning outcomes. The transformative potential for girls and societies promised through girls’ education is yet to be realized. [United Nations 2013]

Australian Federal Election 2013: Tony Abbott rejects the idea of well-rounded and informed students?

The Australian 3 September 2013:

TONY Abbott has urged a rethink of the national history curriculum, saying it underplays the heritage of Western civilisation, gives too much focus to trade unions and overlooks conservative prime ministers.

The Opposition Leader said while he would not dictate changes, the Coalition believed it was "possible to do better" and was entitled to say "maybe you ought to have a rethink".

Asked whether the national curriculum had become "politicised" under Labor, Mr Abbott said it was "mostly" to do with history.

"Lack of references to our heritage, other than an indigenous heritage, too great a focus on issues which are the predominant concern of one side of politics," he said at the National Press Club in Canberra. "I think the unions are mentioned far more than business. I think there are a couple of Labor prime ministers who get a mention, from memory, not a single Coalition prime minister."....

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has a somewhat strange idea about the history curriculum which forms part of the national Foundation to Year 12 Australian Curriculum.

Rather like a modern American Tea Party 'patriot' he apparently wants a sanitized, markedly right-wing and white bread version of history to be taught in our schools.

This is what the national history curriculum actually covers between Years 6 and 12 in order to produce a well-rounded student:

The Year 6 curriculum moves from colonial Australia to the development of Australia as a nation, particularly after 1900. Students explore the factors that led to Federation and experiences of democracy and citizenship over time. Students understand the significance of Australia’s British heritage, the Westminster system, and other models that influenced the development of Australia’s system of government. Students learn about the way of life of people who migrated to Australia and their contributions to Australia’s economic and social development.

The Year 7 curriculum provides a study of history from the time of the earliest human communities to the end of the ancient period, approximately 60 000 BC (BCE) – c.650 AD (CE). It was a period defined by the development of cultural practices and organised societies. The study of the ancient world includes the discoveries (the remains of the past and what we know) and the mysteries (what we do not know) about this period of history, in a range of societies including Australia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and India.

The Year 8 curriculum provides study of history from the end of the ancient period to the beginning of the modern period, c.650 AD (CE) – 1750. This was when major civilisations around the world came into contact with each other. Social, economic, religious, and political beliefs were often challenged and significantly changed. It was the period when the modern world began to take shape.

The Year 9 curriculum provides a study of the history of the making of the modern world from 1750 to 1918. It was a period of industrialisation and rapid change in the ways people lived, worked and thought. It was an era of nationalism and imperialism, and the colonisation of Australia was part of the expansion of European power. The period culminated in World War I 1914-1918, the ‘war to end all wars’.

The Year 10 curriculum provides a study of the history of the modern world and Australia from 1918 to the present, with an emphasis on Australia in its global context. The twentieth century became a critical period in Australia’s social, cultural, economic and political development. The transformation of the modern world during a time of political turmoil, global conflict and international cooperation provides a necessary context for understanding Australia’s development, its place within the Asia-Pacific region, and its global standing.

In Years 11 and 12 the curriculum allows students to do in depth study of either  modern or ancient history.

The Australian Academy of Science conducts an online survey

In May 2013 the Australian Academy of Science conducted an online survey[1] and these are some of its findings:

30% of Australians think that it takes one day for the Earth to orbit the sun.

27% of Australians think that humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs and 21% of university graduates think humans lived with dinosaurs.

6% of Australians think 81-100% of the earth’s surface is covered by water, with 7% of this group having a university education.

25% of Australians are not sure of the percentage of the Earth’s water that is fresh.

9% of Australians don’t believe in evolution and 10% don’t think it is currently occurring.

9% of Australians do not think humans are influencing the evolution of other species and 19% of university graduates do not think humans are influencing the evolution of other species.

79% of Australians say science education is absolutely essential or very important to the Australian economy.

[1] The survey was undertaken online and conducted between the 7^th and 10th of May, 2013. Respondents were drawn from a professional social and market research panel.

The overall sample size was 1515, segmented and weighted to be nationally representative of Australia’s population by gender, age and residential location.

The accuracy of the results at an overall level is +/-2.5% at the 95% confidence interval. This means, for example, that if the survey returns a result of 50% to a particular question, there is 95% probability that the actual result will be between 47.5% and 52.5%.

Full survey results here.

Tony Abbott and who should be allowed a decent education

Tony Abbott as President of the Sydney University Student's Representative Council  in 1979:

…you see the Marxists that I said are operating in the universities…they realise now that the universities play a crucial role in the education of the elite of modern society. And they understand that if they destroy the academic standards and perhaps even the moral standards of that elite well then they have perhaps fundamentally and fatally undermined liberal democratic society…

What I am saying is that there are a number of academics of Marxist leanings in the university who are actively working to destroy academic standards. I wouldn’t put a plot coordinated from the Kremlin but there is certainly a general tendency towards destroying academic standards and the impetus is coming from this sort of person….

Well I see women as having an equal opportunity in every area as men have…mind you, I must add the proviso that while I think men and women are equal they are also different and I think that it is inevitable and don’t think it’s a bad thing at all that we will always have, say, more women doing things like physiotherapy and an enormous number of women simply doing housework and probably more men doing things like digging ditches…”

Tony Abbott  as Australian Opposition Leader in 2011:

''It's all very well keeping kids at school past year 10, but they've got to be the right kids being kept at school past year 10,''

In 2012:

Tony Abbott will slash financial support for university students and gut the current funding to Australia's higher education system. Opposition spokesperson, Brett Mason, today confirmed the Coalition will cut student support payments, including the Student Start-up Scholarship, meaning only those students from wealthy backgrounds will be able to afford to go to university.

In 2013:

Coalition leader Tony Abbott says the federal government’s proposed education changes are too expensive and unnecessary because there is no fundamental problem with the way schools are funded…..

But Mr Abbott said he would maintain the changes to university funding which the government announced earlier this month…..

‘‘I don’t think anyone should expect those cuts to be reversed,’’ Mr Abbott said.

NSW first to sign up to National Education Reforms in April 2013

Australian Government

NSW first to sign up to National Education Reforms

Media Release

Tuesday 23 April 2013

The Australian and New South Wales Governments have today reached an historic agreement which will benefit over 1.1 million students across the state.

The Prime Minister and Premier of NSW today signed the National Education Reform Agreement, kicking off the biggest change to school education in Australia for 40 years.

It’s an agreement that will drive long term improvements in NSW schools and a fairer approach to funding based on the needs of every student.

Building on recent Federal and NSW reform directions, the agreement incorporates the National Plan for School Improvement. This will see the two governments work together to achieve:

• Stronger requirements for entry to teaching courses and better induction and support for     new teachers;
•  Higher teaching standards and annual teacher performance appraisals;
• The Australian Curriculum from Foundation to Year 12 in full;
• Publicly available school improvement plans and reports;
• Empowered school leadership through greater local authority in staff selection and roles;
• School readiness assessments for students on entry to school;
• A priority focus on reading instruction for students in kindergarten to Year 2; and
• Greater provision of Asian languages across all year levels.

Both Governments will adopt consistent needs-based funding arrangements, with the Federal Government moving to legislate its funding commitments over coming weeks.

This will provide NSW schools with additional investment totalling around $5 billion over six years. Of this, the Federal Government will contribute 65 per cent ($3,270 billion) and the NSW Government 35 per cent ($1,761 billion).

On top of this, the Federal Government has committed to grow its school education spending by 4.7 per cent per year from 2014 into 2015 and throughout the agreement. In return, NSW has agreed to grow its own school budget by 3 per cent per year from 2016 onwards.

Both Governments have agreed a year-by-year transition that will see funding for NSW schools reach at least 95 per cent of the new Schooling Resource Standard in 2019 in a fair and consistent way.

The NSW Government runs the largest school system in the country. Today’s announcement confirms that the National Plan for School Improvement, including new funding arrangements, can and should apply to all Australian students.

This agreement between the Federal and NSW Governments sets the benchmark for other states and will drive the reforms we need to see if Australia is to be in the top five in the world in reading, maths and science by 2025.

The Australian Government is determined to keep working closely with all remaining state and territories– and with schools, parents and communities right across the nation – to see these reforms agreed by 30 June 2013.

This will give schools the certainty they need to plan for next year.

These reforms are in the interests of all Australian children, and they are in our national interest so we can take economic advantage of the opportunities of the Asian century.

In 2013 Australian universities are still predominately the professional training ground of the middle and upper classes while government schools remain the main education providers. So which level of education is most in need of increased government funding?

Once the Gillard Government had announced funding measures to underpin its policy response to the Review of Funding for Schooling Final Report December 2011 (Gonski Report) there was an immediate and predictable outcry regarding the government’s intention to remove $2.3 billion from direct/indirect tertiary education funding commencing in 2014.

Leaving aside the obvious wealth of some of the older universities, is this outcry justified? Should Australian taxpayer dollars continue to be spent at record levels on higher education or should these be spent in a more immediately equitable manner with the eventual aim of increasing the education standard of the population?

Australian Society

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2009–10 twenty-three per cent of the Australian population lived in low income-low wealth households. With sixty-one per cent of female single parents and forty-nine per cent of single male parents living in low economic resource households.

Economic hardship often means that people experience a relatively low material standard of living. For people who live in economic hardship, access to economic resources that provide for the consumption of goods and services such as food, housing, clothing, medical care and so on are limited Low economic resources can also restrict a person's ability to be included in the society around them, and limit their opportunities to create the life they want.

The Universities

The Higher Education Base Funding Review Final Report (O c t o b e r  2 0 11) states that: In 2007, total government funding to the higher education sector was $8 billion, of which base funding was $6.4 billion. In 2011, total government funding had reached close to $12 billion, of which $8.5 billion is base funding. It is estimated that in 2013, total government funding will be $13.6 billion and total base funding will be $10 billion.

A further $500 million will come from the Education Investment Fund for the tertiary sector over the next five years, although it is not yet known what proportion of these funds will be allocated to universities.

According to the Department of Industry, Innovation, Research and Tertiary Education: From 2012 to 2015 the Gillard Government will invest $58.9 billion in higher education and that funding for university student places in 2013 was 10.1 per cent higher.

The majority of students enrolled at Australian universities still come from middle or high socio-economic status backgrounds.

While university enrolments in Australia have more than doubled in the last two decades, students from low SES backgrounds are three times less likely to enter university than those from high SES backgrounds……

An obvious barrier to a student’s entry into higher education is non-completion of secondary school and general poor academic achievement. As noted above, the literature identifies that secondary education non-completion rates are much higher for low SES, Indigenous, and regional and remote student groups than they are for others. The evidence points to a strong negative correlation between low SES and secondary school completion and thus entry to higher education.

The Australian Council for Education Research media release indicates that in 2013 an estimated 14.3 per cent to 18.5 per cent of domestic university undergraduates in Australian universities in 2013 come from a low socioeconomic background.

Primary and Secondary Schools

Government schools remained the main provider of school education in Australia, with a total of 2,342,379 students, compared with 736,595 students attending Catholic schools, and 511,012 students attending Independent schools…..

..in absolute terms Indigenous student numbers in government schools, 149,307, far exceeded the number in non-government schools, 26,750….

In 2012 the apparent retention rate for all students was 79.9%, with the female rate of 84.3% being 8.5 percentage points higher than the male rate of 75.8%.

In 2012, the rate varied considerably across affiliations: 75.8% in government schools, 82.1% in Catholic schools, and 91.8% in Independent schools, the latter down from a high of 94.9% in 2009…..

Between 2011 and 2012, the apparent retention rate for Indigenous males rose by 3.1 percentage points to 49.2%, and for Indigenous females rose by 1.6 percentage points to 52.9%. The apparent retention rates from Year 7/8 to Year 10 for these students were significantly higher at 96.9% for males and 100.0% for females.

Remembering the deeply weird side of Mr. Rabbitt - Part Two

The very monochrome Mr.Rabbitt in missionary position…….

Herald Sun 18 December 2009:

"I think everyone should have some familiarity with the great texts that are at the core of our civilisation," Mr [Tony] Abbott said. 
"That includes, most importantly, the Bible. I think it would be impossible to have a good general education without at least some serious familiarity with the Bible and with the teachings of Christianity.”

* Photograph from Google Images

A lesson taken from the behaviour of fellows and students of the College of St. John the Evangelist (University of Sydney)

 

One NSW North Coast resident’s view on the anarchic College of St. John the Evangelist:

 

I don't understand what all the fuss is about with the Untouchables at St John's College. The men abused someone, the impression was given that disciplinary action had taken place and then they were given positions of power. Looking at the history of the Catholic Church surely they are just carrying on long-held and upheld Catholic traditions and in that tradition nothing has nor apparently ever will change.

Phillip Anderson, Uki

 

 

Background:

 

Why the College of St. John the Evangelist at Sydney University needs to be dissolved now

Why the College of St John the Evangelist at Sydney University needs to be dissolved now

An Act to Incorporate Saint John’s College as a College within the University of Sydney

(Assented to December 15th 1857)

Whereas considerable funds have been subscribed for the Institution and Endowment in the Archdiocese of Sydney of a Roman Catholic College within the University of Sydney, to be called “The College of Saint John the Evangelist” wherein the students shall receive systematic religious instruction and be brought up in the doctrines and discipline of the Roman Catholic Church, and provision be made for the residence of the Students and their preparation for the University Lectures and Examinations under Collegiate control. And whereas it is expedient that the said College should be incorporated: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same......

 

THE FICTION:

 

The College of St John the Evangelist:

 

Situated within the University of Sydney, the College has fostered the intellectual, spiritual, cultural, sporting and social pursuits of its student community since 1857. It is the oldest and most distinguished Australian University Catholic College….

 

under the direction of its Visitor, the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney, (currently His Eminence George, Cardinal Pell) the College associates itself with the interests of the Australian Church and its mission, particularly by the fostering of appropriate academic directions in education, charity, social justice, ethics and environment.

 

Formal Dinner in the Great Hall

 

Cardinal George Pell in Our People 13 April 2008:

 

For why does St. John’s College exist if not in order to help its members to find the sweetest and most satisfying of pastures, or, as Jesus described it, “to have life to the full”?

 

The Eagle St John’s College Weekly Newsletter Semester One, Week Five, 1 April 2011:

 

older Johnsmen, many of whom have gone to a place even better than St John’s! Some you may know are current politicians, Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey and Frank Sartor;

 

Weekly Newsletter Semester One, Week One, 12 March 2012”

 

“If you accept this offer of a place [at St John’s College in 2012], you are choosing to become a part of a movement towards positive change.”

 

THE REALITY:

 

http://www.smh.com.au/national/tertiary-education/college-throws-out-30-students-20120310-1ur5h.html

 

Zoe Arnold in Mama Mia 21 March 2012:

 

“I don’t exactly remember the moment I realised life at St John’s College wasn’t for me. Maybe it was after witnessing the spectacle of flaming “man-ginas”, where brutish young Johnians would set alight their pubic hair in front of a bellowing, chanting crowd as some kind of test of their manhood. Maybe it was after watching the beautiful, heritage listed library being drowned in beer and then used as a slip ‘n’ slide as another drunken night in house got underway.

 

The Sydney Morning Herald  4 November 2012:

 

Eight months on, nothing has changed. Police have been called to investigate widespread vandalism including smashed windows and doors, furniture broken or set on fire, and graffiti. Faeces are routinely found in common areas and bedrooms. Every second Friday, the student committee has decreed that all Johnsmen not speak to any female students - who are known as ''Jets'': the term is an acronym for ''just excuse the slag''.

Freshers are still being forced into initiation rituals, including the consumption of toxic drinks. And some senior students are showing a cavalier disregard for the fallout from the poisoned girl's near-death, and have even printed T-shirts that celebrate the incident.

The college's honorary dean and a member of the college's executive have quit in disgust, with many former executives and existing students calling on Australia's highest-ranked Catholic, Sydney Archbishop George Pell, to intervene and ''rescue'' the 150-year-old institution from ''a crippling disease''.

University of Sydney honorary professor Roslyn Arnold said she quit the St John's executive this semester because she was ''ashamed to belong to such a group''.

''Anarchy has broken out and anarchy is not too strong a word,'' Professor Arnold said.

''An external review of the governance of the college needs to be conducted urgently because the fellows are responsible for what happens on campus … I've been in universities for almost 40 years and, to be quite frank, I've never seen anything like this.

''In the external world, the incidents taking place could be considered criminal. I believe Cardinal Pell is the person who is ultimately called if things spiral out of control and become really tricky. In my opinion, we are well past that stage.''

The college's honorary dean, Father Walter Fogarty, also resigned earlier this year after nine years of service as a fellow. He said: ''I lost confidence in where the council was going and am concerned about the dynamics of some of the old boys. There is a Peter Pan complex.''

The Sydney Morning Herald  4 November 2012:

 

The Sun-Herald understands the college's rector, Michael Bongers, will lose his job on Monday because of the strong stance he has taken against the ugly St John's culture.

It is the old Johnsmen who are the architects of the rector's pending downfall and responsible for the trouble at St John's.

It is these old Johnsmen who should be walking the plank - and their anachronistic ideas about the nobility of preserving obnoxious traditions. By condoning bad behaviour they have created a situation where the lunatics are running the asylum.

 

One of the alumni speakers on the night

Recent scenes at St John's College

The University of Sydney has tolerated this college for far too long. It needs to squarely face the situation and root out from its midst this culture of mindless brutality and misogyny so long condoned by the Catholic Church and Sydney Establishment.