Australian Education Policy

In order to meet rising demand in education and to be more competitive globally, Australian Education Ministers have tried to make agreed national goals for young Australians through policies (Connell, Welch, Vickers, Foley, Bagnall, Hayes, Campbell, 2013). This essay will analyze the emergence of Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians through social, historical and political perspectives, outline the main intentions of the policy, how this policy tries to address the issues of inequity in education faced by students from disadvantaged backgrounds and interpret the strengths and weaknesses of this policy.

Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians was emerged on 2008, which was the year that
This policy has identified the disadvantaged groups who experience inequality in education including Indigenous students, students from low socioeconomic background, students with disabilities, students who are displaced, students who are asylum seekers and those who live in the remote area (MCEETYA, 2008). To achieve the outcome, three commitments were made and they are corresponding to each group: ‘close the gap’ for Indigenous students, targeted support for students from disadvantaged group, improvements for schools in impoverished areas are required (MCEETYA, 2008). The roles of families, communities, teachers, curriculum, assessments, schools and government were stated in the policy so that specific aims and responsibility for each group were clear. Furthermore, MCEETYA four-year plan 2009-2012 is a follow up action plan for the policy, which has supplied the practical strategies and actions to company with the commitments (MCEETYA, 2009). Within the action plan, relevant agreements and documentations are mentioned to support Indigenous and students from other disadvantaged groups, such as Australian Directions in Indigenous Education 2005-2008 and a seven-year National Partnership Agreement on Low Socio-Economic Status School Communities (MCEETYA, 2009). Effective and explicit actions are suggested to support disadvantaged students and the role of
According to the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities (2014), around one-fifth of all students learning English as a second language in NSW government schools and over 30% are from non-English background. EAL/D students are those who are immigrants, refugee, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Australian-born students whose first language is not English (New South Wales Department of Education and Communities, 2014). Similar to students from other disadvantaged groups, some EAL/D students have experienced challenges in learning and communication due to inefficient English, which leads to left behind with children who are from English background. However, EAL/D students are not identified as an disadvantaged group in the Melbourne Declaration. Although not all EAL/D students are disadvantaged because of non-English background, some EAL/D students who lack of English do experience disadvantage on schooling. As Melbourne Declaration focuses more on Indigenous students and students from other disadvantaged groups, the reflected value is that as a public good, education should be equally accessible to students who are from disadvantaged backgrounds, the situation of underperforming was calling for more attention and guidance (Connell, et al., 2013). The National Assessment