On the Quality of Education…

I was saddened, but not altogether surprised, to read online this week (Brisbane Times, Aug 31) that university lecturers across four states in Australia are considering a national strike that may mean that the marking of student exams is disrupted, among other outcomes. If the action proceeds then presumably some of our future members will be adversely affected, as will some existing members.

In an earlier blog entry entitled On Education I lamented that:

A decline in funding in real terms for the tertiary sector – as measured against most other OECD nations – has clearly impacted the education sector in many ways… (many) have long held concerns about access to education and on the effect that cuts in funding may have on educational quality.

Genevieve Kelly, state secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union, seems to agree with these remarks. Ms Kelly claims in the article that increased workloads, and a shift towards casual teaching and fixed-term contracts have conspired to reduce the quality of education offered to students.

Regardless of the reason for the action, the fact that the situation in Australian universities has become so untenable, and that the teachers themselves cite the poor quality of teaching at universities as being a reason for the proposed action, is regrettable. One can only hope that the standard of education is sufficient to ensure that future graduates are capable of keeping Australia globally competitive in business, and competitive in other ways.

Mr Ian Argall, executive director of the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association, is quoted in the news story as claiming that “the national approach by the union was inappropriate and did not take into account the economic circumstances of different universities.” By extension one must conclude that very different educational standards are applied by the universities too. Again, this is a concern for our profession.

Andrew Dunn responded to my earlier blog post On Education with some lengthy and insightful comments including the following (a note to devotees of this blog: Hi Mum, Hello Prime Minister, you may care to read Andrew’s comments in full, they are compelling):

While the rhetoric of teaching quality is bandied about, the truth is that teaching effectiveness is not routinely monitored, rewarded or, in cases where it is manifestly inadequate, sanctioned. Indeed, it is a little known fact that there are clauses in the enterprise agreements of several universities which specifically prohibit performance related disciplinary action being taken against faculty members on the basis of poor teaching evaluations… The notion that this territory ought be the sole domain of the universities is in my view indefensible, principally because the hard truth of the matter is that many cases, under the pressure of business and funding models which poorly serve business and accounting education, they have in many cases failed to deliver to an adequate standard – to say nothing of a world class standard (of education).

CPA Australia is of course a major supporter of universities and students and has been so for many years. We fund scholarships, award programs, academic conferences, academic bodies, research journals, a professional journal with an educational bent, individual faculties in their pursuit of excellence in teaching and research, and do myriad other things to support high quality of education in Australia and beyond. Our members have a stake in ensuring that they and their future fellow members and colleagues are taught well, and that their learning experience is world-class.

The beacon of light in all of this is that while the issue still makes the headlines there is hope. Perhaps the headlines will attract enough attention to get all parties to the table to try and ensure that the decline in the standard of education is reversed, and that our profession does not become a victim of bureaucratic folly and administrative malaise within the tertiary sector.