Education
Alan Reid
Whipping up a crisis over education won't improve quality
Alan Reid The release of international test scores last week unleashed a wave of commentary.
Michael Kirby
We need look only to Australia's past to give public education a future
Michael Kirby It is time for Australians to rediscover the original ideals and optimism of public education. Because of pressure groups and wedge politics, the grand objectives have been forgotten or frustrated of...
Nicholas Gruen
GDP's blind spots ignore full impact of education spending
Nicholas Gruen There's plenty wrong with gross domestic product as a measure of national wellbeing. As Bobby Kennedy said, it measures everything in life except what's most important.
Heckler
Education cuts score a fail now and for the future
Heckler I HAVE drafted this missive many times, each time trying to form my anger into some kind of coherent shape. I have tried to be witty; I have tried to be even-handed; I have tried to be analytical.
Heckler
Education's a valuable resource too
ALL this squabbling over education funding has got me thinking: what if we could afford to maintain current levels of private education funding while increasing the funding allocated to government...
Ken Boston
Vocational education has a vital role to play in flexing young minds
Ken Boston After 10 years in England, it is good to see the progress made in the inclusion of vocational curriculum in school education in NSW.
Bruce Guthrie
Castlemaine verdict changes the odds, but there's a blight in sight
Bruce Guthrie After 20 years, we still can't seem to agree on the best way to manage those pokies.
Kenneth Davidson
How to save billions: dump the desal deal
Kenneth Davidson It's official. Melbourne Water users will pay $19.4 billion in contract payments to AquaSure.
Tim Soutphommasane
After the Wilders trip, multicultural Australia can take a bow
Tim Soutphommasane It was a good thing that Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician, came to visit Australia last week.
Paul Monk
Pondering the possibilities of bridge-building after Benedict
Paul Monk Almost all of the commentary following the announcement by Pope Benedict XVI that he was retiring seems to have concentrated on relatively banal topics, such as what he will do now, who will succeed...
Ken Lay
Police committed to focusing on crime, not race
Ken Lay Racial profiling. Over the past week, these two words have been used in conjunction with Victoria Police. It's something I don't want to see happen again.
Barbara Taylor Bradford
Something for Kate? Not this Mantel piece portrait of a young duchess
Barbara Taylor Bradford I am a fan of Hilary Mantel's books. I even sent her a congratulatory email when she won her second Booker Prize.
Gerard Henderson
Talk of dual-citizen disloyalty in Zygier affair simply irresponsible
Gerard Henderson The concept of dual loyalties in Australia has an unpleasant connotation since it invariably implies disloyalty. A century ago, some sectarians labelled Catholics as possessing a dual loyalty.
Ross Gittins
Smartphone fever: perils of embracing the cyber crowd
Ross Gittins Is the productivity boost of mobile technology worth the hassle?
Rubenstein/Ben Moshe
Modern migrant's loyalty is an asset to the world
Kim Rubenstein and Danny Ben Moshe It is staggering that with one albeit very serious case overseas, that of the Ben Zygier suicide, Ben Saul (The Age, 20/2/13) wants to turn back the clock of globalisation and multiculturalism.
Alan Stokes
Footy needs more 'us' versus 'them'
Alan Stokes Please don't tell anyone, but I feel for Ben Barba and Canterbury Bulldogs supporters.
John Watson
Damning of sport sounds alarm on law
John Watson We should beware the spread of powers that weaken the rule of law.
Mark Stevenson
Amateur players need to beware of knock-on effect of concussion
Mark Stevenson One of the Carlton greats, Greg Williams, has memory loss. He won't be alone.
Ross Gittins
No pause to think in a world that's in touch while on the go
Ross Gittins I confess to a having an old fogey's ambivalence towards mobile phones. There are times when it suits me to keep in touch, but most of the time I don't want a phone taking over my life - or even...
Paul Sheehan
Concussion a concern from elite to schools
Paul Sheehan Greg Williams was the Diesel. He was slow, he was short, not good for an elite Australian Rules player.
