Aussie teaching not good enough: poll

Press, 10 July 1985, Page 28

Aussie teaching not good enough: poll

NZPA-AAP Sydney Many Australians believe the standard of teaching in schools is inadequate to equip young people to become good citizens or to help them take their place in the workforce, according to the results of a recent Gallup Poll. The poll, conducted for the N.S.W. Institute of Public Affairs, also showed that a majority of people believe discipline needs to be stricter in both government and * non-government schools. Of the 2062 people interviewed throughout Australia, 78 per cent believe government schools need stricter discipline and 49 per cent believe the same applies to non-goverhment schools.

When questioned about the purpose of education, 56 per cent said it was to equip young people to become good adults while 37 per cent said it was to equip young people to take their place in the workforce. According to the poll the standard of education was inadequate to achieve either purpose. It failed to make young people good citizens, according to 53 per cent, and it failed to help them take their place in the workforce in the eyes of 54 per cent The director of the 1.P.A., Mr Alec Simpson, said the poll was commissioned to see if concerns expressed at a recent education meeting were more widely held “I must admit the results me,” he said*