NAPLAN boycott another Labor Education bungle

The decision by the Australian Education Union to boycott the National Literacy and Numeracy tests is another education failure of the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, which can be added to a long list, Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education said today.

"A test boycott means thousands of public school students will potentially miss out on NAPLAN testing - begun under the former Coalition Government - which provides insight into the progress of students for both parents and schools," Mr Pyne said.

"Ms Gillard's suggestion that parents should act as strike-breakers, and cross picket lines to oversee the NAPLAN testing demonstrates a bizarre disconnect from the reality of the parent/teacher relationship," he said.

Teachers and parents generally work together; Ms Gillard wants to pit them against each other.

Then there is the incomprehensible refusal of the Minister to meet with the Australian Education Union to try and resolve this important matter, resulting in the current impasse.

A teacher boycott of the NAPLAN can be added to the bungled Computers in Schools program, the non-existent Trades Training Centre program and the billions being squandered in the Building the Education Revolution as policy failures directly attributable to the incompetent Minister for Education.

"It's time for the Prime Minister to 'Garrett' Ms Gillard and hand over her education responsibilities to someone else," Mr Pyne said.

April 12, 2010

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