Monash backtracks on ‘woke’ marks requirement

A Monash engineering student lost marks for failing to include an Acknowledgement of Country on an assessment, sparking fierce backlash.

Monash University has backtracked on the requirement. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Monash University has backed down on a policy requiring students to include an Acknowledgement of Country on assignments or lose marks.

The decision was only overturned when an engineering student made a formal complaint to the university about the requirement for a final year project.

The student was required to include the acknowledgement and was docked marks because they did not do so.

On October 7 they made a formal complaint to the university, leading to the requirement being withdrawn.

The university told the student that the change would mean that “no student receives a deduction of marks if they choose not to include an Acknowledgement of Country in their assessment”.

In addition, the marks deducted from their EMG4701 Progress Report would be reinstated.

It comes as universities, including Monash, are requiring students to complete cultural awareness and respectful relationships modules in order to complete their enrolment.

If Monash students don’t complete such training they are locked out of the online learning system.

A university whistleblower who raised the issue with the Herald Sun said “reconciliation and Indigenous rights are important – we can all acknowledge the importance of that”.

“However, including an acknowledgement of country in a written assignment that is only going to be seen by one examiner does nothing in the way of improving the lives of Indigenous people.

“There are much more meaningful and impactful ways for Monash University to support Indigenous Australians and educate their students on Indigenous issues.”

A spokeswoman for Monash University said the institution was “proud of its commitment to fostering a community that recognises, respects and includes Indigenous peoples, cultures and knowledge”.

She said the inclusion of the acknowledgement was designed to show that students “have the ability to meet the standard of professionalism required of an engineer in Australia” and is in line with the engineering code of ethics.

“Monash respects the rights of students to respectfully and appropriately decline to provide an Acknowledgement of Country if they believe it conflicts with their right to free speech or academic freedom,” the spokeswoman said.

“Monash will continue to encourage students to include the Acknowledgement of Country where relevant and appropriate.”

The university’s requirement for the Acknowledgement of Country to be included on the engineering project was described by conservative author and commentator Kevin Donnelly as “an appalling example of woke ideology destroying academic freedom and penalising innocent students needlessly”.

“Another example of virtue signalling and indigenous identity politics that has become all too common,” he said.

Dr Bella d’Abrera, director of the Institute of Public Affair’s Foundations of Western Civilisation Program, said it was “hardly surprising”.

“Monash is the same woke university currently forcing all students to undertake a ‘indigenous voices’ training module before being allowed to complete their degrees,” she said.

“STEM studies used to be safe from this kind of woke ideology and virtue signalling, but it is clearly no longer the case.”

“Not long ago, our universities were revered as places where knowledge was preserved, generated, and disseminated. Now, they are miserable places where intellectual inquiry is discouraged and lack of conformity to the current orthodoxy is punished.’

“This type of empty virtue signalling does nothing but to completely render the Welcome to Country meaningless.”

Meanwhile, Premier Daniel Andrews has ruled out forcing students at government schools to make an acknowledgement of country on their worksheets and assignments.

The Premier said Monash University’s now-dumped policy to deduct marks from students who fail to include the acknowledgement is “entirely a matter for them”.

“No such requirement relates to school students,” he said.

“What Monash asks of their students is a matter for them. I say that as a Monash graduate and as the Premier.

“It had not occurred to me to do what Monash is talking about doing. It’s not something that we’re interested in doing either.”

Mr Andrews said the government chose to pay its respects to Aboriginal Victorians in other ways.

“There are many different ways of which we can acknowledge the oldest continuous culture known to human history,” he said.

“The way we choose to do it is not what you write at the top of the page.

“We’ve written laws about Treaty and we are going to get a Treaty delivered.”