01 May 2012, 010512, 3q, 3Q Ep 10, Early Childhood Australia, ECA, Education, Ep 10, Pam Cahir
Pam Cahir talks about the biggest improvements to early childhood education in 25 years.
More Australian babies and toddlers are in childcare than ever before. And they’re there when their brains are laying down the pathways vital for later learning, intelligence and social capability.
Pam Cahir, the CEO from Early Childhood Australia, tells 3Q how new national reforms are ensuring childcare centres provide a nurturing environment that will ultimately have a long-term beneficial effect on the society of the future.
Critics of the Government’s plan say the changes will cost up to $27 a day more in childcare. But Pam Cahir says they are exaggerating the price increases, which she estimates to be closer to $5 a day.
The ECA believes the small price increase is warranted to ensure the long-term goals of the reform agenda are met.
01 May 2012, 010512, 3q, 3Q Ep 10, Education, Ep 10, Matt McGowan, National Tertiary Education Union, NTEU, Union, universities
Matt McGowan explains why opening up university places is admirable but will fail unless it is matched with better funding.
This year almost 90 per cent of school leavers who applied to go to university got a place. That’s because the government removed the caps on university enrolments to create more opportunities for those from lower socio-economic groups.
But Matt McGowan from the National Tertiary Education Union tells 3Q that academics are already suffering with the swelling numbers of foreign fee paying students. With this new influx – which brings in much less funding capital – the pressures on the system will be magnified.
He talks about the NTEU’s campaign Invest in Universities calling for a fix to the problem.
Education, education funding, Gonski report, Polling, polls, school funding, Schools, students, taxpayers
Q. The Gonski report on funding education has recommended a new model for school funding that would mean all students are entitled to a set level of funding regardless of where they go to school, disadvantaged schools receive more funding and taxpayer funding for private schools is adjusted down based on parents’ capacity to pay.
Do you support or oppose these recommendations?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| Total support |
68% |
79% |
64% |
76% |
| Total oppose |
13% |
7% |
17% |
14% |
| Strongly support |
25% |
37% |
17% |
35% |
| Support |
43% |
42% |
47% |
41% |
| Oppose |
9% |
5% |
12% |
9% |
| Strongly oppose |
4% |
2% |
5% |
5% |
| Don’t know |
19% |
14% |
19% |
10 |
68% say they support the recommendations of the Gonski report on funding education and 13% were opposed.
Strongest support was shown by Labor voters (79%), Greens voters (76%) and people aged 55+ (75%).
budget, Budget Surplus, Education, education funding, Federal Budget, Gonski report, Polling, polls, Schools
Q. The Gonski report also recommends a $5 billion increase in education funding with $1.5 billion of this additional funding coming from the Federal Government and the rest from the State Governments. If the Federal Government provides this additional funding it may mean they will not be able to return the budget to surplus next year.
Do you think it is more important to provide this additional funding for schools or more important to return a budget surplus?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| More important to provide additional funding to schools |
61% |
63% |
58% |
83% |
| More important to return a budget surplus |
24% |
25% |
29% |
11% |
| Don’t know |
15% |
12% |
12% |
6% |
61% think it is more important to provide additional funding to schools and 24% say it is more important to return a budget surplus.
Those who think it is more important to provide additional funding were women (65%), aged 45+ (67%), and Greens voters (83%).
Education, education funding, Gonski report, Polling, polls, private schools, public schools, school funding, Schools
Q. Do you think all schools should get an increase in funding or should some of the wealthy elite private schools not get an increase in funding?
|
Total |
Vote Labor |
Vote Lib/Nat |
Vote Greens |
|
| All schools should receive an increase in funding |
23% |
17% |
31% |
11% |
| Some wealthy elite private schools should not get an increase in funding |
73% |
78% |
68% |
83% |
| Don’t know |
4% |
5% |
2% |
5% |
Only 23% think that all schools should receive an increase in funding and 73% think that some wealthy elite private schools should not get an increase.
Highest support for all schools to receive an increase in funding came from Liberal/National voters (31%) and those on incomes over $1,600pw (28%).
Highest support for wealthy elite private schools not receiving additional funding came from Greens voters (83%), Labor voters (78%) and people aged 45-64 (78%).
BER, BER program, children at school, Education, Federal Government, GFC, primary school, school, School Building Program, school children, Schools, secondary school
Q. Overall, how would you rate the Federal Government’s BER program to fund new school buildings which was introduced during the GFC?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Vote Greens | Total with children at school | Children at primary school | Children at secondary school | |
| Total good | 30% | 49% | 17% | 39% | 43% | 49% | 38% |
| Total poor | 31% | 10% | 50% | 18% | 27% | 27% | 26% |
| Very good | 7% | 15% | 3% | 5% | 11% | 12% | 11% |
| Good | 23% | 34% | 14% | 34% | 32% | 37% | 27% |
| Neither good nor poor | 15% | 21% | 22% | 27% | 21% | 17% | 24% |
| Poor | 15% | 8% | 20% | 13% | 12% | 12% | 11% |
| Very poor | 16% | 2% | 30% | 5% | 15% | 15% | 15% |
| Don’t know | 17% | 19% | 11% | 16% | 10% | 6% | 12% |
Respondents were divided over the Federal Government’s BER program to fund new school buildings – 30% thought it was good and 31% poor. Opinions were closely related to voting intention- 49% of Labor voters thought the program was good and 50% of Liberal/National voters thought it was poor.
Households with children at primary or secondary schools were more positive – especially those with children at primary school. 43% of all those with school children in their household and 49% of those with primary students thought it was good.
Building program, Education, Polling, polls, primary school, school, school children, Schools, Schools of Building program, secondary school
If children at school –
Q. How much did the schools those children attend benefit from the Government’s school building program?
| Total | Vote Labor | Vote Lib/Nat | Children at primary school | Children at secondary school | |
| A lot | 19% | 25% | 16% | 26% | 15% |
| Moderately | 30% | 37% | 31% | 32% | 29% |
| A little | 23% | 15% | 33% | 24% | 22% |
| Not at all | 12% | 10% | 11% | 7% | 17% |
| Don’t know | 15% | 13% | 9% | 11% | 17% |
Of the respondents with children at school, 49% thought their schools had benefited a lot of moderately, 23% thought they had benefited a little and 12% not at all. 58% of those with children at primary school thought their schools had benefited a lot/moderately compared to 44% of those with children at secondary schools.
climate change, economy, Education, Election, environment, Health, immigration, International Relations, Security, Voting intention
Q. How important are the following in deciding which party you will vote for?
| Top priority | Very important | Quite important | Not so important | Don’t know | |
| Better at handling Australia’s economy | 37% | 48% | 10% | 1% | 4% |
| They have better policies on things like education and health | 31% | 47% | 16% | 1% | 4% |
| They are more capable of governing effectively than the other parties | 30% | 47% | 16% | 1% | 6% |
| They are more likely to represent the interests of all Australians | 30% | 45% | 18% | 3% | 5% |
| They will do things that help me and my family | 28% | 42% | 21% | 4% | 5% |
| They have better policies on things like national security and immigration | 24% | 42% | 22% | 6% | 5% |
| Better at looking after the interests people like me | 23% | 47% | 22% | 4% | 4% |
| They have better policies on things like industrial relations and supporting Australian workers | 23% | 44% | 24% | 4% | 5% |
| More trustworthy than the other parties | 22% | 44% | 21% | 5% | 8% |
| They have better policies on things like environment and climate change | 21% | 41% | 23% | 9% | 5% |
| They have a better leader | 16% | 40% | 28% | 8% | 7% |
| I always vote for them | 9% | 15% | 24% | 42% | 10% |
Key factors in deciding which party to vote for are handling the economy (37% top priority), policies on education and health (31%), capable of governing effectively (30%) and representing the interests of all Australians (30%). Comments »