Give academic excellence a sporting chance

The Victorian education system is under review. In part, the purpose of the review is to ensure "the relevance of legislation to the contemporary education and training environment and that legislation supports the achievement of government policy objectives".

As acknowledged by Kosky, the original Education Act, enacted in 1873 and substantially revised in 1958, is no longer relevant and there is an urgent need to ensure the system successfully tackles today's challenges as well as the demands of the future.

To that end, if the Bracks Government is serious about education reform, it should not restrict itself simply to opening one elite sports academy. The alternative is to free the system from capture by education providers and to implement those overseas initiatives that have been proven successful.

Charter schools in the United States, where the centralised bureaucracy steps back and greater autonomy and control is given at the local level, have been proven to raise standards; especially in depressed, disadvantaged areas.

Private-public partnerships in Britain, where corporate and philanthropic groups take control of underperforming schools and where the school culture is one of excellence and success, have also led to higher standards.

If individual schools are to succeed, it is also vital that principals are given the power to hire and to fire staff, to deal with underperforming teachers and to reward those who achieve the best results.

Finally, given the diverse range of student interests, abilities and post-school destinations, it is no longer feasible to have a one-size-fits-all curriculum. Schools, in a general accountability framework, should be allowed to specialise and to offer a curriculum that best suits the needs of their communities.