Political games stalk curriculum

QUEENSLAND has accused the Liberal-led governments of NSW, Victoria and WA of playing "political games" with the national curriculum.

QUEENSLAND'S education minister has accused the Liberal-led governments of NSW, Victoria and Western Australia of playing "political games" at the expense of children by delaying implementation of the national curriculum this year.

Labor governments in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the territories are all implementing some degree of the standardised curriculum this year despite the most populous state, NSW, criticising the curriculum as "dumbed down" and inferior to its existing syllabus.

In Queensland, where authorities have implemented more of the curriculum than any other jurisdiction, the Opposition Liberal National Party yesterday accused Premier Anna Bligh of "racing ahead" so the reform coincides with a state election due within weeks.

"If you look at it logistically, there is no logic to use having raced in ahead of the other states, ahead of the professional development programs and resource material, and there doesn't appear to be any reason for it other than the election timetable," LNP education spokesman Bruce Flegg told The Australian, noting the bulk of teaching aids would come from NSW and Victoria.

But the state's Education Minister Cameron Dick branded the allegation "ludicrous" and accused the other states of reneging on a December 2010 pledge to implement the scheme this year.

"The only ones playing political games at the expense of school students are the LNP governments of New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia, who have reneged on their agreement," Mr Dick said in a statement.

"This timetable allowed plenty of time for jurisdictions to prepare, and had nothing to do with Queensland's electoral cycle."

WA Education Minister Liz Constable yesterday explained her state had indefinitely delayed the reform "until the full package of materials necessary for doing so were made available", echoing Dr Flegg's concerns about Queensland.

"We have learned from the mistakes of the previous (Labor) state government, which tried to implement curriculum changes without being fully prepared," said Dr Constable, who sits as an independent.

NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said his government had won the backing of teachers to defer implementation until 2013, saying "we are committed to the Australian curriculum but we will not compromise on quality".

"NSW supports a national curriculum, and we support it on the basis that it has to be implemented in a way that improves on the already excellent curriculum available in NSW," Mr Piccoli said.

Ms Bligh's visit to Murrumba State Secondary College yesterday, partly to mark the first cohort of Queensland year seven students to study at high school, provided the second opportunity for the Premier to be photographed alongside children in consecutive days.