FAIR GO OR USER PAYS? PROFESSOR VINSON ON INQUIRY FINDINGS

UNSW Professor Tony Vinson, Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Public Education in NSW, will this Friday speak about the inquiry's findings and the challenges facing our public schools.

In The Sir Harold Wyndham Memorial Lecture, hosted by the NSW Institute for Educational Research (NSWIER), Professor Vinson will ask whether equality of opportunity in education has given way to schools in which "you get what you pay for".

Professor Vinson will argue that public education is failing to compensate for social inequalities, leading to poor student performance and continuing cycles of poverty and disadvantage. His recommendations for improving our education system include: a reduction in class sizes in the early years, improved facilities and teaching resources, increased disability services, safeguards to ensure that disadvantaged schools are staffed by experienced teachers, and a review of traditional teaching practices.

The lecture is named after Sir Harold Wyndham, who, in the 1950's, carried out the last wide-ranging independent inquiry into public education in NSW. His findings were presented to the then education minister, and resulted in a major redirection of public education including the establishment of comprehensive high schools and changes to the Higher School Certificate (HSC).

What: The Sir Harold Wyndham Memorial Lecture and Dinner
Topic: Schools in a Just Society: The Renewal of Public Education in NSW
When: Friday, 27 September 2002
Time: 6.00pm
Where: Building X5B, Room 292, Macquarie University

CONTACT DETAILS: Associate Professor Alan Watson, UNSW School of Education, tel. 9385 1763, 0422 225 556 or Annabel Day, UNSW Public Affairs and Development, tel. 9385 3644 or 0425 207 024.