Interface between Education and State Policy: Australia. Asia and the Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development, Education and Polity, No. 2.

Overview & Synopsis

One of seven studies in the "Education and Polity" series, this document looks at alternative futures and the interface of education with four areas: communication; employment and leisure; state policy; and technology. The studies were commissioned during 1984 and were conducted by interdisciplinary teams: two in Australia, two in India, one in Japan, one in Malaysia, and one in the Republic of Korea. Chapter 1 of this study stresses that the role of interface studies is to illustrate the interdependencies between education and other sectors (political, economic, social, and technological) in the formation of the future. Chapter 2 examines three case studies. The first, "Secondary Education: A National, Regional, and School Issue," reveals that secondary education in Australia provides a valuable but unfinished case study on the interaction between education and polity. The second, "Language, Education and Polity: A National Language Policy for Australia," emphasizes the problem created by the a diversity of language varieties that exist in Australia. The third, "Resource Planning, Addressing National Priorities through the Planned Allocation of Resources," identifies the interfaces, with budget allocations seen as the result of several forces: political, socio-cultural, economic, demographic, legal-governmental, and technological. A brief historical review of funding arrangements for education in Australia is provided and the role of the Commonwealth is investigated. The document concludes with attention to four scenarios for the future of resource planning in education. Six pages of references are appended. (RSL)