Wednesday, August 31, 2005

SCOTLAND CAN'T TRAIN ENOUGH DENTISTS -- BUT WHY?

Socialized education gone mad: Despite a shortage of dentists, they actually pay people NOT to study dentistry. Worthy of Ripley

Scotland's chief dental officer said that “constructive” talks had taken place at a university after it emerged that it was offering students bursaries to defer their studies. Ray Watkins met staff at Dundee University, which was paying prospective dental school students 2,000 pounds to postpone their studies after an unprecedented number took up offers of a place on the course, leaving it oversubscribed. The offer has attracted criticism from some politicians, who say that more places should be made available at at time when there is a shortage of NHS dentists in Scotland.

Speaking after a meeting with the dental school’s dean, Professor Bill Saunders, Mr Watkins said: “Last week the Deputy Health Minister highlighted the fact that our priority is not just on getting more students through our dental schools, but on making sure that we get more dentists committed to the NHS at the end of their training. Today I have had a very constructive meeting. I shall now feedback to ministers and they will respond fully in due course. ”

The school, one of only two in Scotland, has seen a 40 per cent rise in applications this year, with the number of acceptances increasing by more than 30 per cent. The shortage of NHS dentists has seen hundreds of people queuing outside surgeries to register with new practices when they open. The Executive responded to the crisis by announcing a 150 million pound funding package for dentists over three years.

The SNP’s Richard Lochhead called for the Executive to fund extra training places. “The hundreds of thousands of Scots who are not registered with a dentist will be wanting as many new dentists trained up as soon as possible,” he said. “The chief dental officer should go back to his political masters and demand resources to plug the funding gap that will allow our dental schools to take on more students.”

Source




Australian Secondary Teachers reject profit motive

And this is worthy of Ripley too: Teachers don't want education to be useful

The national teachers union has questioned whether schools should be teaching the skills needed to get jobs. In a submission to the national inquiry into the teaching of literacy, due to report within weeks, the Australian Education Union has questioned the value of knowledge becoming an "economic tool". The submission said teaching was now "the subject of intense debate by people who have little understanding of the process of education but great interest in the product. "(These are) people for whom the purpose of education is to enable nations and companies to profit within a knowledge society ... (though) such a purpose, in itself, is not necessarily a bad thing, within compassionate constraints," it stated.

The union argues against vocational teaching aimed solely at equipping students for the workplace, calling instead for a broad-based education. Federal president Pat Byrne said last night the submission aimed to show that "the purpose of education is not simply to prepare people for the workforce".

But federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson blasted the submission, saying "the union appears to think it is teaching students in a pre-industrial era". "It's seriously disturbing that the peak teachers' organisation in Australia can bemoan the fact it is educating young people for work," Dr Nelson said. "Of course, the moral, cultural, intellectual purpose of learning is important. But so too is preparing students for the world of work."

Ms Byrne said there was too much pressure on schools - from business, government and some parents - to produce students "who are prepared primarily for the workforce". "No one is saying that it shouldn't be the case but education serves a public good, beyond the benefit that it provides the individual. "It's not just: 'What does my child need so that my child benefits?"'

Ms Byrne came under fire earlier this week for criticising Australian voters for returning the Howard Government. In an address for a Queensland conference, Ms Byrne urged teachers to defend the "progressive" curriculum in schools and attack the rise in conservative values in education. "(The conservatives) certainly haven't won the curriculum debate, but they have made significant inroads into framing education to fit their version of the world," Ms Byrne wrote.

Her comments prompted Dr Nelson to say she was "not fit" to lead the union.

Dr Nelson announced the inquiry into literacy last May, after 26 leading academics questioned the teaching of literacy in Australia. The inquiry will study the effectiveness of both phonics and "whole learning" as learning tools.

The union's submission took a postmodernist stance on literacy, saying basic skills tests that only measure students' reading and writing ability "reinforce the one-dimensional view of literacy which is often seen in the press". The union argued against "accepting a narrow, cognitive-psychological approach to defining literacy at the expense of a broader socio-cultural definition". "Cognitive skills are a means to an end and must be situated within the broader context of the social and cultural purposes of literacy," the union said, adding that successful literacy programs "focus on the constructions of both masculinities and femininities" and that teachers must "avoid the 'competing victim' syndrome".

[Prime Minister] John Howard yesterday said more vocational training was needed to make up the skilled labour shortage. But Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of NSW president Sharryn Brownlee warned: "There's a real danger ... that students will be told that school is only about getting a job."

Source

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"


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