Page 1962 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 14 May 2013
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The international education sector is important not only to Australian society but also to the country’s economy. International education activity contributed $16.3 billion in export income to the Australian economy in 2010-11. The economic benefits for the ACT are clear to see. But just as importantly, so are the social benefits. We are favoured by these visitors, some of whom will stay in Canberra after their studies, bringing a cosmopolitan, multicultural and diverse dimension to everyday life.
So why is it that there is so much debate about the education funding by the federal Labor government?
Announcements last month that the government is proposing cuts to the higher education sector of $2.3 billion to assist with the funding of the Gonski reforms were dismaying. These cuts are the biggest hit to the sector since 1996 under John Howard, and will put additional pressure on the higher education sector at a time when the sector was in fact due to receive additional funds.
The benefits in a stronger tertiary education sector are clear for all to see. The pride we take or the disappointment we feel when we see the nation’s universities’ rankings rise and fall are a good indication of the views we all have on quality education. Of the 29 advanced economies, Australia is ranked 25th for public investment in universities. The poorer our universities, the poorer our society. I have yet to read any credible research or report that calls for less funding or that diminishes the role that quality education has in the health of our combined community, economy or environment and the success that comes from investing well in universities. In fact, there are many reports that state quite the opposite. Reports clearly show that we need to increase both base funding and student support services, increase research and development funding and opportunities, and increase equitable access to a tertiary qualification.
In March 2008 the federal government initiated a review of higher education to examine the future direction of the higher education sector in what became known as the Bradley review. At the time, Professor Bradley wrote:
Australia faces a critical moment in the history of higher education. There is an international consensus the reach, quality and performance of a nation’s higher education system will be key determinants of its economic and social progress.
Professor Bradley went on to say:
Australia is falling behind other countries in performance and investment in higher education.
At the time of the report, in the OECD we were ninth out of 30 in the proportion of our population aged 25 to 34 years with such qualifications, down from seventh a decade earlier. And more recently, in December 2011, the federal minister for tertiary education, Senator Chris Evans, released the final report of the Higher Education Base Funding Review. The panel reached the conclusion that the current funding clusters no longer reflect the costs of delivery of teaching, scholarship and base research capability in all disciplines.
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