Membership

Membership

* Appointments pending

Criteria for Membership

The Council consists of the members appointed under section 57 of the Education Act 2004: a chairperson, six people who, in the Minister’s opinion, represent the views of the general community and ten people who, in the Minister’s opinion, represent the views of government school education.

The education members are drawn from organisations representing principals, government teacher union, parent associations, student associations and school boards.

Members are appointed for a term not longer than three years.

Advice Provided by GSEC to the Minister for Education and Training

2008-09 Budget Recommendations

The Council identified only those funding priorities that were of the greatest strategic importance. The Council acknowledges that more can always be done to further improve the already high standard of public education in the ACT, but believed the following priorities represent ways both to address the most urgent needs in schools and to also capitalise on recent Government investment.

GSEC budget priorities for 2008-09 were:

• curriculum quality, teaching and learning assessment, preschool to year 10
• teaching and learning in a digital environment, preschool to year 12
• career counselling in colleges
• early intervention to promote student engagement, preschool to year 6.

Early Childhood Schools

GSEC endorsed the recommendations of the report – Early Childhood Schools – a framework for their development as learning and development centres for children (from birth to eight) and their families.

GSEC believes in the fundamental importance of:

• the early childhood years in all aspects of a child’s development
• early childhood learning as a foundation for all subsequent learning
• inter-agency collaboration in early childhood services
• both government and non-government services being co-located and decentralised
• an evidence-based approach to establishing and sustaining the facilities.

School Standards Authority

GSEC decided that more detail would be required before it could state whether it supports or opposes the development of a School Standards Authority.

The issues raised are of such potential importance, GSEC supported the suggestion that the proposal should proceed to the development of a detailed proposal for extensive community consultation. GSEC supported the widening of community consultation with more specific proposals to assure high standards of education in the ACT.

Languages Other Than English (LOTE)

GSEC strongly believes that LOTE needs to be a compulsory part of the curriculum of public schools, particularly in the early childhood, late childhood and early adolescent bands of development.

GSEC believes that intercultural understanding is increasingly being identified as critical to meet the challenges of the 21st century - 'a prerequisite for learning the communication and inter-cultural skills to work confidently in diverse cultural environments at home and abroad and to make discriminating choices about global culture (2010, Education Queensland).

While intercultural understanding can be gained without studying a LOTE, research in this area leaves no doubt that an effective LOTE program is one of the best ways of enhancing students' development of intercultural understanding. In addition, an effective LOTE program enhances students' ability to communicate. It develops their understanding of how languages work and extends their ability to think.