Teachers would be barred from discussing LGBTQI issues or engaging in discussions of ‘culture wars’ under proposed reforms to the NSW education system.
One Nation’s Mark Latham today revealed his party’s education policy, which will limit the reach a teacher has in the classroom to a more traditional curriculum.
The proposed policy extends to Catholic, independent and public schools and promises to clamp down on “unnecessary” curricular items that focus on core learning areas.
The party hopes to secure four seats, more than the two it currently holds, in the New South Wales election on March 25, which could give them the balance of power.
If successful, the newly formed government will need to work with One Nation to govern effectively.
Latham summed up the proposed reform into an 11-point policy that encourages performance-based pay for teachers and a blanket ban on gender fluid lessons, which he has called “a form of child abuse.”
‘In the left’s march through the institutions, schools are now on the front lines of the culture wars,’ the manifesto says.
Mr. Latham summed up the proposed reform into an 11-point policy encouraging performance-based pay for teachers and a blanket ban on gender fluid lessons, which he has called “a form of child abuse.”
‘The attempt to displace the role of parents must be reversed. One starting point is to remove politically aroused content and classroom teaching.’
Mr Latham noted that there are 17,000 students in NSW starting secondary school with limited basic reading and writing skills.
He said international tests found that the average 15-year-old NSW student is “four years behind their Chinese counterparts in mathematics and 3.5 years behind in science.”
The same age group is almost 18 months behind what a student in NSW would have been in 2000, Latham said, describing a “20-year downward trend” in the state’s academic output.
“NSW is now in the second tier of Australian school results, behind the ACT, Victoria, Western Australia and even Queensland,” he said.
“This is a full-blown crisis for our state.”
Latham said that literacy and numeracy classes have fallen by the wayside to “find time and space for rubbish lessons on gender fluidity… full of fads, experiments, sparked political nonsense and an overemphasis on the ‘well-being of the students’ (with some schools resembling community health centers rather than centers of academic excellence).
One Nation’s Mark Latham today revealed his party’s education policy, which will limit the reach a teacher has in the classroom to a more traditional curriculum.
‘Secondary English has become a long-running tutorial in gender studies… In some schools, there is now more indoctrination than education.’
The One Nation education policy will call for ‘explicit teaching’ which will once again require a teacher to stand at the front of a classroom directing students.
The focus would again turn to literacy, numeracy, history, science and “other basics,” Latham said, leaving no room for discussions of race, gender and sexuality.
The policy criticizes modern teaching methods in which children are given the opportunity to be “leaders” and explore the curriculum at a more individualized pace.
The last review of the NSW curriculum took place in 2020 and concluded that change was necessary to give students the best possible chance to succeed.
Teachers complained that they are expected to complete too many syllabus items, without enough time to thoroughly teach each section.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, one teacher said it is “nearly impossible” to surpass everything now expected of them.
‘The number of classes is increasing every year and we are expected to cover more than ever before,’ said the fourth grade teacher.
‘It’s really taking us away from the profession… I started teaching because I love children, but it’s hard to maintain that passion.’
Data shows that teachers are leaving the industry in droves, primarily driven by burnout.
Mr Latham’s policy also pointed out that the government’s vaccination policy during Covid forced some teachers to leave the profession. He has promised to restore the jobs of people who were laid off as a result of the mandates.
But Mr Latham’s policy also pointed out that the government’s vaccination policy during Covid forced some teachers to leave the profession.
He vowed to restore the jobs of people who were removed as a result of the mandates.
One Nation will also advocate for parents to have the legal right to remove their children from classes that do not align with morals and personal beliefs and a “no surprises” policy, which would ensure that all teaching points are explained. in detail to parents in advance.
As part of the 11-point policy, Mr. Latham would implement a blanket ban on phones in schools, encouraging “genuine face-to-face interactions on the playground” and allowing students to focus on education at school. classroom.
Finally, Mr. Latham calls on schools to seek parental approval before engaging in any discussion with students under the age of 18 about gender fluidity or possible gender transitions.
“If teachers need to express their politics, they can run for parliament, instead of using their students as political guinea pigs,” he said.