NOTEBOOK
The Age
Monday February 15, 2010
Quote € unquote€śThe only way to prepare forNAPLAN tests is to make(students) more literate andnumerate, and that€™s no badthing.€ť€” The chairman of theAustralian Curriculum,Assessment and ReportingAuthority, Barry McGaw,at a Senatehearinglast week.BRITAIN€™S fi rst Asian judge hascalled for Sikhs to be allowed towear their ceremonial daggers toschool.The Guardian reports that SirMota Singh€™s comments come aftera number of cases of Sikhs beingbanned from wearing the daggers €”known as kirpans €” and otherreligious objects in schools orworkplaces.€śNot allowing someone who isbaptised to wear a kirpan is notright,€ť Justice Singh said. €śI see noobjection to a young Sikh girl or boy,who€™s been baptised, being allowedto wear their kirpan if that€™s whatthey want.€ťIn October, a Sikh police offi cerwon a discrimination case againstGreater Manchester Police afterbeing told to remove his turban forriot training.The 2006 PISA study across 57countries found Australian studentsranked eighth, with an average scoreof 520. Finland was top with 553.Judge makes a point on daggersSimple arithmetic1.6 millionThe number of people whohave visited the My Schoolwebsite since it was launchedlast month.A penny gainedAN ORGANISATION for EconomicCo-operation and Development studyestimates that Australia could makemassive economic gains if it couldlift the performance of all studentsin literacy, numeracy and scienceabove a minimal achievement level.In the study, the OECD advisesWestern governments that if they putmore effort into education €”particularly of poor achievers €” thelong-term economic gains woulddwarf those from conventionaleconomic policies.The study estimates thatAustralia would gain $2.4 trillion €”the equivalent of more than twoyears€™ output €” over the lifetimes oftoday€™s babies if it could lift allstudents above an average score of400 on the international PISA tests.Piece of cakeTHINK you have aknack for producingthe perfect cupcake?Hundreds of highschool studentsare expected totake on thecupcake challengein the WilliamAngliss Institute€™sannual cook-off, runto coincide with theMelbourne Food &Wine Festival. Theschools competition,open to those age15 to 18, will be held onMarch 18 at the institute€™sLa Trobe Street campus.The event is free. Register:www.angliss.edu.au/cupcakes.html
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