Queensland Catholic Education Commission (QCEC) is cautious about Queensland Premier Anna Bligh’s push for a national school curriculum.
QCEC executive director Mike Byrne said he had contacted Ms Bligh seeking a meeting to discuss her proposal for a national school curriculum to be implemented as early as 2010.
Mr Byrne said Ms Bligh’s announcement, made last Sunday, had not been canvassed with the Catholic sector, however he had since spoken with the Premier’s office and been assured of plans to consult closely before details of the proposal are progressed.
He said while the QCEC was supportive of the initiative to establish a national curriculum framework, major curriculum change is a complex process requiring the collaborative development of syllabus documents, preparing teaching resources, trialling, and extensive teacher professional development that would require a major investment of time and funding.
Mr Byrne said work toward nationalising the school curriculum had already commenced with the new Federal Government’s formation of a National Curriculum Board to develop frameworks in four key areas of English, maths, science and history. However, it appeared the Premier was seeking to take the concept further to cover all schooling and to fast-track the process.
“In my initial discussion with the Premier’s office, I expressed particular concern that her timeline of 2010 for implementation of a full national curriculum was unrealistic,” he said.
“All materials would need to be agreed to and ready by mid-2009, creating an increased workload for teachers and potential uncertainty and confusion for students and parents.”
Mr Byrne said while broadly speaking, consistency of curriculum across the nation made sense, it should not be at the expense of flexibility for teachers and school communities to develop and deliver programs tailored to cater for the learning needs of individual students.
“We will consider the Premier’s proposal closely and look forward to constructive dialogue with both her and (Queensland Education) Minister Rod Welford on the matter,” he said.
Mr Byrne said it was too early to say what the full implications of the Premier’s proposal might be for the existing state curriculum authority, the Queensland Studies Authority, and other state level mechanisms.
