The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) also met last week and heard for the first time from the federal Minister for Education and Youth Alan Tudge. 

Due to the current restrictions Minister Tudge presented online and provided an update on the Federal Government’s key planks in education policy.

As you may have read last week, the Minister is seeking further review of the draft Australian Curriculum.  He stressed the importance of having evidence-based practice embedded in the curriculum such as the explicit teaching of phonics. 

Other observations by the Minister were that the current draft revised Australian Curriculum documents did not consistently lift standards (and, in the case of mathematics, reduced them in his view), were almost impenetrable rather than accessible, and didn’t appropriately reflect Australia’s history.

In summary, the Minister made clear that he would not be supporting the revised drafts in their current form. The Minister also highlighted the challenges being faced in attracting, training and retaining teachers. He encouraged participation in the recently announced review of initial teacher education.