Misspent youthPUBLISHED: 18 Dec 2012 00:32:33 | UPDATED: 18 Dec 2012 00:32:33PUBLISHED: 18 Dec 2012 PRINT EDITION: 18 Dec 2012
Her childhood experience shows clearly that Australia’s record in early (and thence later) education is shockingly poor. It wasn’t always so. Seventy years or so ago, when I was in primary school in country Victoria, most youngsters left school at 14 literate and numerate. They had to be numerate to handle sterling currency. They were also socially skilled and didn’t have to indulge in vandalism and thuggery to (presumably) maintain their self-esteem.
The tragic aspect of this is we could use digital technology in primary (and even pre) schooling to administer the necessary drill and practice and free teachers and parents to promote and monitor social activities that exploit the basic skills being developed through drill and practice. Instead, digital technology seems to be mainly used in secondary schools to occupy students’ time while teachers deal with their bureaucratic overload.
Neville Holmes Bakery Hill, Vic