Grading system for schools gets a fail from Australian Council for Education Research

Posted to The Age (27/4/2014) on 27/4/2014 at 12:44 PM
Commenting on "Grading system for schools gets a fail from Australian Council for Education Research"
http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/grading-system-for-schools-gets-a-fail-from-australian-council-for-education-research-20140426-37axb.html

Grading MUST stay. Why has Professor Masters a prefix in his name - Professor? It is because of his excellence in certain field, not because he is just a Mr Average.

If a student scores an E, he/she needs to know. More than that, the teachers and parents need to know as well, otherwise only HE can help this student to improve.

It is not only education has grading; almost everything in life has it, including things we eat; performance of athletes; racing cars and drivers; airline, train and cruise tickets; professions etc. What is the reason for Five/Six-star rating in hospitality, or energy savings? Why do national security rate people as high risk or low risk? Why are there different salary levels at workplace?

I still take keen interest in this subject, even though I am a victim of the education system (that's a different story). I consider myself an educator for about 2 decades, who dislike and protested on many occasions the Competency Based Training (CBT) "grading" in TAFE. Students (trainees) are awarded Competent (C) or Not Yet Competent (NYC). This is not sufficient for some universities to assess whether the student satisfies the entry requirement.

There is a disincentive for top students to excel, and in the meantime encourages the less than average just work slightly harder to cross the finishing line.

It is totally unfair and discriminatory to slow down the smart students in order to wait for the slow one to catch up. Every individual's intellect is different, and it is unwise to hide it or brush over it. Each class assessment is a diagnostic tool, and why wait until it is too late to repair the damage, or hold back those who can proceed to something more challenging?

Good students need encouragement!

Don't trade a living for a pile of junk

Posted to Herald Sun (13/4/2014) on 14/4/2014 at 3:30 AM
Commenting on "Don't trade a living for a pile of junk"
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/dont-trade-a-living-for-a-pile-of-junk/story-fni0fhh1-1226882726084

Having a degree from a university or college that offers higher qualification does not guarantee that graduate actually earns his/her mark.

Many universities of today are no better than a college with a facelift. TAFE and private colleges that offer Advanced Diploma as the highest qualification can no longer survive. Some have transformed into high-ed institutions offering degree courses, even though they are NOT universities.

The numbers game does not necessarily produce academics or achievers, but on the contrary it makes top students average, and unjustifiably lifts the non-deserving ones at par with the top graduates.

It is disgraceful that university standards have been lowered to improve pass rate. Plagiarism is so prevalent and close to epidemic proportion. Students pay professionals or past year’s students to complete their assignments. Hardworking and top performing students are frustrated by lazy and good for nothing team members in team project work; and unfortunately the genuine students’ outcome is affected negatively.

Australia needs more tradies, NOT university graduates who cannot fix plumbing, electrical works, or build houses. There are not enough upcoming tradies to replace the retiring ones. Whether it is about fixing a leaking toilet cistern, building a house, laying out NBN cable, etc, tradies’ charges will continue to soar unless more qualified tradies enter the workforce.

We MUST lift the educational standards from primary level onwards. A smart nation needs smart people. Unfortunately with our country run by not so smart politicians, things will never work out!

Am I cynical? Yes I am.

Feeling weak (Post 3 of 3 Posts)

Posted to The Age (15/4/2012) on 18/4/2012 at 2:45 PM
Commenting on "Feeling weak"
http://watoday.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/feeling-weak-20120414-1x0g2.html


@Andrew Smith, you're quite correct to point out about international students market. In fact, I've written many articles about this AUD18.8 billion industry (when at its peak), second largest "export income" after the mining industry.

When the government policies brought in so abruptly, billions of dollars were wiped out, even if a third to quarter is gone, that will equate to AUD6.1b to AUD4.7b, good enough to achieve budget surplus without hurting the taxpaying public.

Will the students swamp the colleges again? I doubt so. UK, USA and Canada have been attracting the students with more favourable Visa and after-graduation-stay conditions than Australia.

Many private colleges and TAFE could not survive such disastrous downturn, and became history. Dragged down by this collapse are many teaching staff, mainly sessional teachers, who are the baby boomers. Reduced income implies reduced investment in property or stock market.

Australia is not an isolated island in the global market. Our success attracted many vultures who wanted a slice of the action. Our government should learn a lesson not to introduce policies on the run!

Tough times for young job seekers (Post 2 of 2)

Posted to The Age (2/3/2012) on 2/3/2012 at 3:22 PM
Commenting on "Tough times for young job seekers"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/tough-times-for-young-job-seekers-20120302-1u721.html

Since Hawke and Keating years, young people are encouraged to go for paper qualification in University, and even now, the Government is so proud of the increase in University enrolment. The reasons for the increase are of twofold: one is due to the lowering of marks to gain entrance to higher education, and second, young people cannot find employment and hence are forced to pursue further education after high school.

At the vocational trade front, Australia is still crying out for more tradespeople many of whom have retired or are retiring. The shortage drives up cost of labour in construction, plumbing, connection and maintenance of household utilities, etc.

The smart Alec politicians want to make Australia to have a highly educated and qualified workforce. By population proportion, when Australia churns out one university graduate, USA churns out 15 and China 62.

Workforce needs work! Closure of factories takes away not only the full time jobs for the working families, but also apprenticeships and employment for the young people who need the starting point for future career path.

It is not that the young unemployed are choosy; just that some of the workplaces are inaccessible by public transport, and they may not speak the language to enable them to service special racial clients.

By the way, I'm a very qualified matured age unemployed, but fortunate enough to survive mortgage-free!

Tough times for young job seekers (Post 1 of 2)

Posted to The Age (2/3/2012) on 2/3/2012 at 2:56 PM
Commenting on "Tough times for young job seekers"
http://www.theage.com.au/business/tough-times-for-young-job-seekers-20120302-1u721.html

It is a myth to think that when one is prepared to work, and with certain qualifications, there is no problem in getting a job, or any job.

When one is in employment, it is easier to look for another job. If one is out of employment or has never worked before, there is a Buckley chance to get one.

Not all young people have problems with attitude (a term I still don't quite understand), and not many can afford iPhone. Some even have to resort to prostitution to earn enough to survive, and hopefully get out of the rut when they finish their study.

I am not a young job seeker; I had the opportunity to work three jobs to get through my University. I shared with several students renting a house in Faraday Street, Carlton when it was almost declared as a slump. I could afford to take on jobs that paid little, because the shared rent was minimal, close to Victorian market, did not have to travel to University and stayed in the air-conditioned library to do my homework until it closed late at night.

These days, the cost of living is very high and hourly pay rate is low. The comparative ratio is disproportionate. I know of a master-degree-graduate in International Banking working as cashier in a restaurant, a bachelor in architecture at Bunning's garden centre as sales staff, but many unemployed who have lost their self-esteem and confidence.

3000 more uni places

Posted to The Age (17/1/2012) on 17/1/2012 at 12:17 PM
Commenting on "3000 more uni places"
http://www.theage.com.au/national/tertiary-places/3000-more-uni-places-20120116-1q3a5.html

Having a degree from a university or college that offers higher qualification does not guarantee that graduate actually earns his/her mark.

Many universities of today are no better than a college with a facelift. TAFE and private colleges that offer Advanced Diploma as the highest qualification can no longer survive. Some have transformed into high-ed institutions offering degree courses, even though they are NOT universities.

The numbers game does not necessarily produce academics or achievers, but on the contrary it makes top students average, and unjustifiably lifts the non-deserving ones at par with the top graduates.

It is disgraceful that university standards have been lowered to improve pass rate. Plagiarism is so prevalent and close to epidemic proportion. Students pay professionals or past year’s students to complete their assignments. Hardworking and top performing students are frustrated by lazy and good for nothing team members in team project work; and unfortunately the genuine students’ outcome is affected negatively.

Australia needs more tradies, NOT university graduates who cannot fix plumbing, electrical works, or build houses. There are not enough upcoming tradies to replace the retiring ones. Whether it is about fixing a leaking toilet cistern, building a house, laying out NBN cable, etc, tradies’ charges will continue to soar unless more qualified tradies enter the workforce.

We MUST lift the educational standards from primary level onwards. A smart nation needs smart people. Unfortunately with our country is run by not so smart politicians, things will never work out!

Am I cynical? Yes I am.

Superfast net to change education

Posted to Adelaide Now (16/9/2011) on 29/9/2011 at 10:51 PM
Commenting on "Superfast net to change education"
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/in-depth/superfast-net-to-change-education/story-e6frebvu-1226138893759

For higher ed, superfast broadband for education means superfast plagiarism and super slow brain work. For lower forms, superfast broadband means superfast internet games and super slow RRR's.

Uni's a shock to students

Posted to Adelaide Now (18/9/2011) on 19/9/2011 at 12:16 PM, 4:20 PM, 4:50 PM (Not published by Newspaper)
Commenting on “Uni's a shock for students”
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/unis-a-shock-for-students/story-e6frea6u-1226140351467

In general, schools prepare students to be Jack of trades and master of none.

Another problem is that there is always push for smaller class sizes and more teachers’ attention. While this may be alright for students below lower secondary, the change must begin in upper secondary as a transition to university. If students at this stage do not learn to compete academically, but still live in a protective cocoon, they will become lost souls in universities.

Unfortunately, many first year students tend to think that it is a honeymoon year with their new born freedom, after being treated like "kids" for the last 12 years or so at schools.

University is not a babysitting place and truancy is not monitored. Plagiarism is more prevalent in university, and attitude of lecturers varies according to their conscience and politics of the university.

Same argument can be said about universities not preparing graduates for future workplace environment and life journey. Don't be a baby, get over it Gen U.

When politicians start tinkering with education, you know your kids are in trouble

Posted to Malaysian Chronicle (1/9/2011) on 1/9/2011
Commenting on "When politicians start tinkering with education, you know your kids are in trouble">/span>
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=18568%3Awhen-politicians-start-tinkering-with-education-you-know-our-kids-are-in-trouble&Itemid=2#.Tl7cLaQLafw.facebook

Posted on 1/9/2011 at 12:48 PM
"Plagiarism, cut-and-paste and the outsourcing of tasks and assignments have become the norm in the higher institutions of education – all due to the lack of proficiency in the English language. " is neither unique to Malaysia, nor due to lack of proficiency in the English language. This is NOT uncommon in Australia, and I had to fail many of my students (as high as 90% in one class), with the blessing my Departmental Director. In severe cases, they had to repeat the subject / module.

The problem is, what do the lecturers / tutors do when they discover plagiarism? Many will sweep it under the carpet and score the assignment / project accordingly, some will give them borderline pass, some will interview the students asking them why they do such silly things. Education is a business, and many colleges / universities don't like high failure rates. Teachers / lecturers are pressured to pass students despite poor performance. So the practice continues on.

Plagiarism is a no no, and is always stipulated in the college / university student diary or policy handbook. Students MUST BE reminded on the very first day they enter the classrooms / lecture halls the consequence of plagiarism. I'm not a very popular teacher / lecturer, but I do "produce" some excellent performers and achievers.

Posted on 1/9/2011 at 1:28 PM
Symbols used in Maths and Science are universal, and therefore the language of delivery is not important.

Germany, the largest economy in Europe uses German instead of English in their education system.

Many mainland Chinese students go to Germany universities to study, without knowing a word of German at the start. I met several of them on one of my European tours. They were very fluent with German, and spoke little English. How did I communicate with them? In Mandarin / Potunghua, of course.

I am thankful that my late father sent me to a Chinese-medium school up to Primary 6. That provided me a good foundation, despite the fact that I went on an English-medium school after that. I still write blogs in Chinese in Chinese newspaper, tell stories to the Australians about Chinese traditions and culture, and developed bilingual software in Chinese / English for HK clients.

Many overseas students from Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Burma, China, etc who come to Australia for Higher Education undertake a year or two of intensive English language classes. Many become just good as other English-speaking students.

Posted on 1/9/2011 at 1:38 PM
In respond to MARA, I did get away from being sacked. I took the policy handbook to the Director, and asked whether the policy was for real and I should follow it. No Director would ever say NO to policy written by the college / university in black and white as well as on the website. I then said to him that he had just given me permission to fail 90% of the students! This is effective negotiation!

Posted on 1/9/2011 at 3:15 PM
Only human students plagiarise when they do their assignments / projects. Tutors, lecturers or professors assess or mark the students’ submissions, and therefore they are not the culprits of plagiarism. As for colleges and universities, they cannot plagiarise because they are non-living things!

Federal Budget 2011 - Swan's blueprint for surplus

Posted to Adelaide Now (11/5/2011) on 11/5/2011 at 1:07 AM
Commenting on “Federal Budget 2011 - Swan's blueprint for surplus”
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/in-depth/swans-blueprint-for-surplus/story-fn8o0uyv-1226053507909

Does it mean that people like me mature-age person need to be retrained to work in mining towns in Western Australia or Queensland, go under the house to fix plumbing or up the roof top to install solar panels? I am well-trained, with post-graduate degree and other qualifications, more than qualified to train the untrained, and yet I find myself unemployed.

I had been a sessional TAFE and VET trainer for 15 years, until the international education bubble burst when the government changed policy. More than half of the international students choose not to come to Australia anymore, and therefore, many trainers like me are unemployed.

Life as a sessional teacher is very tough. We are hard working people, and no dole-bludgers. Each term, we queue up, not at Centrelink, but at the course coordinator office asking whether there is any work for us.

Budget 2011 Let's turn mining boom into job boom

Posted to Herald Sun (11/5/2011) on 11/5/2011 at 12:47 AM
Commenting on “Budget 2011: Let's turn mining boom into job boom, says Wayne Swan”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/federal-budget-2011/story-fn8melax-1226053631468

Does it mean that people like me mature-age person need to be retrained to work in mining towns in Western Australia or Queensland, go under the house to fix plumbing or up the roof top to install solar panels? I am well-trained, with post-graduate degree and other qualifications, more than qualified to train the untrained, and yet I find myself unemployed.

I had been a sessional TAFE and VET trainer for 15 years, until the international education bubble burst when the government changed policy. More than half of the international students choose not to come to Australia anymore, and therefore, many trainers like me are unemployed.

Life as a sessional teacher is very tough. We are hard working people, and no dole-bludgers. Each term, we queue up, not at Centrelink, but at the course coordinator office asking whether there is any work for us. I cannot speak on behalf of other trainers; yes, I do indirectly and crudely beg for work and therefore, money.

End 1 of 2


Posted to Herald Sun (11/5/2011) on 11/5/2011 at 1:02 AM

Creating 500000 jobs is pine in the sky; along the way probably more jobs are lost. Realistically the net number is probably negative or negligibly small. Do the politicians understand what training really entails? If this is Asia, where people have the right attitude to learn and want to be trained to excel rather than just be competent, training will be a breeze. Unfortunately, I find that the real success rate of people being trained and achieved proper outcome is far from satisfactory. After so many years in the training / education industry, I can only conclude that we are producing half-bake Rolls Royces instead of top quality T-Fords - it is still a long way to have "mass-produced" skilled workforce.

The mythical unemployment rate of around 5% is just pure nonsense. A person receiving payment for one hour during the survey period is considered as employed. In short, the real hidden unemployment rate should be at least 15% or more.

Many mature-age workers who have lost their jobs turn to running small businesses. Not that they are good at doing so, but they are not untitled to go on the dole queue, like the boat-people or welfare bludgers.

End of 2 of 2

VET needs funding upgrade

Posted to The Australian (4/5/2011) on 8/5/2011 at 12:12 PM
Commenting on “VET needs funding upgrade”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/opinion-analysis/vet-needs-funding-upgrade/story-e6frgcko-1226049332247>

Skills funding is going to be another humongous news on how service providers ripping-off the system. According to a source, this is already happening, with at least one provider signing off and issuing two to three thousand certificates in a year with hardly any students require attending a class, online or otherwise.

The funding model is a joke, too. Some programs are receiving both state and federal funding at the same time, which was once a cardinal sin known as double dipping.

The demise of international students coming to “study” makes some surviving service providers to become smarter by offering degree courses, in order to accommodate the so called “competent learners” to hang around longer. Hopefully the degrees, some of which are not worth the paper that is written on, will help to these desperate ones achieve their goal in getting permanent residency PR.

Computer technology creates bigger crooks in the education sector, and plagiarism is so widespread and getting more and more difficult to detect. One wonders how many “trained learners” who are deemed competent and become professional, are developing computer programs full of bugs which cost millions of dollars due to downtime or customers going to competitors; providing financial advices causing huge financial write-down of large institutions and livelihood ruin of ordinary mums and dads; building houses that crack or collapse with small earth movement, etc.

In the name of perceived cost saving and following the Jones’ trend, many service providers offer online courses. In reality online learning system is a false economy - it wastes more precious resource known as time, encourages slap-dash assessment and worst of all no one can tell who is really at the other end attending the course or doing the work!

No longer only the VCE examination solutions can be purchased from Victorian market, so the story goes, post graduate thesis are written by professional for a fee. Honest system only works well with honest people.

Literacy and numeracy education system flawed - Part 2

Posted to Adelaide Now (5/4/2011) on 5/4/2011 at 10:53 PM
Commenting on “Literacy and numeracy education system flawed”
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/literacy-and-numeracy-education-system-flawed/story-e6frea6u-1226033651976

The previous comment I posted is based on my many years of experience as a trainer (a word I dislike to use) in competency-based-training (CBT) in private colleges and TAFEs. There is a push to introduce CBT in primary and secondary schools. This will worsen the LLN problem.

LLN is fundamental and basic requirement upon which other knowledge and skills can be built on. CBT is good for task-based training, but makes the learners very much one-track mind. As an example of CBT, a sportsperson may excel in a particular sport he/she is trained and coached in, but nothing else.

CBT is also a cause for many mature-age workers being unemployed. While they may have years of solid background and know-how for a particular field of work, an employer or the employment agency prefers to seek out candidates, probably with little or no prior working experience but have specific skills, to fill the position for that particular instance. Resume can be fabricated so that a candidate has an advantage over other applicants, but when problem arise, all hell breaks loose.

LLN skills are not an option. They must be compulsory to job seekers, because of our stringent industrial and employment laws.

Literacy and numeracy education system flawed - Part 1

Posted to Adelaide Now (5/4/2011) on 5/4/2011 at 12:14 AM
Commenting on “Literacy and numeracy education system flawed”

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/literacy-and-numeracy-education-system-flawed/story-e6frea6u-1226033651976

The education system fails Australia! Too much emphasis is placed on training instead of teaching, and competency instead of quality.

In the name of being a developed, affluent English speaking country, we have a misconception that we are more superior than our neighbouring Asian countries - poor, underdeveloped or developing.

Whatever we do in Australia, we do it the most expensive way, because we are bound by many legislative requirements such as equal opportunity, anti-discrimination acts. Our system produces half-baked Rolls Royce instead of quality T-Ford learners.

From early childhood days, children are brainwashed to take things easy, not to be overloaded with knowledge - the key to future success. Instead of building solid foundation based on language, literacy and numeracy LLN skills, children are forced to learn things that even adults have problem in grasping such social responsibility, global warming, bullying, etc. Children are encouraged to think and debate without the underpinning knowledge, and hence grow up to be unreasonable and arrogant - Jack of all trades, and master of none.

My motto is "being good is not good enough, my minimum standard is excellence!"

Millions behind on basic skills, threatens Australia's international competitiveness

Posted to The Australian (4/4/2011) on 4/4/2011 at 3:36 AM (Not published)

Commenting on “Millions behind on basic skills, threatens Australia's international competitiveness”

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/millions-behind-on-basic-skills-threatens-australias-international-competitiveness/story-fn59niix-1226032957469

The education system fails Australia! Too much emphasis is placed on training instead of teaching, and competency instead of quality.

In the name of being a developed, affluent English speaking country, we have a misconception that we are more superior than our neighbouring Asian countries - poor, underdeveloped or developing.

Whatever we do in Australia, we do it the most expensive way, because we are bound by many legislative requirements such as equal opportunity, anti-discrimination acts. Our system produces half-baked Rolls Royce instead of quality T-Ford learners.

From early childhood days, children are brainwashed to take things easy, not to be overloaded with knowledge - the key to future success. Instead of building solid foundation based on language, literacy and numeracy LLN skills, children are forced to learn things that even adults have problem in grasping such as social responsibility, global warming, bullying, etc. Children are encouraged to think and debate without the underpinning knowledge, and hence grow up to be unreasonable and arrogant - Jack of all trades, and master of none.

My motto is "being good is not good enough, my minimum standard is excellence!"