Report on follow-up during 1981 of the report of the Committee of Inquiry into Education and Training (Williams report)

This report on follow-up during 1981 of the Williams Report proposals is the second to be made since the Government announced its decisions on the Williams Report in November 1979 (indexed at TD/LMR 85.677). The Williams Committee examined possible developments in the provision of education facilities and services and in the relationship between the education system and the labour market to the year 2000. Overall the approach advocated was that future development should be a matter of evolving adjustments rather than major structural change. This evolutionary approach is reflected by the...  [+] Show more

This report on follow-up during 1981 of the Williams Report proposals is the second to be made since the Government announced its decisions on the Williams Report in November 1979 (indexed at TD/LMR 85.677).

The Williams Committee examined possible developments in the provision of education facilities and services and in the relationship between the education system and the labour market to the year 2000. Overall the approach advocated was that future development should be a matter of evolving adjustments rather than major structural change. This evolutionary approach is reflected by the developments which have occured during 1980 and 1981. The Williams Report covered a broad spectrum of education and training issues, many of which are matters for bodies other than the Commonwealth and its agencies. This report focuses upon the major issues in which the Commonwealth has a direct interest. The Commonwealth decided that seven policy objectives would guide its responses to the Williams Report. Part A of this report is confined to developments in respect of these objectives. Part B summarises the developments which have taken place to the end of 1981 in respect of each Williams Report recommendation. For completeness Part B includes those recommendations, which have been fully dealt with or superseded by later developments. Over 50 of the recommendations in the Williams Report were referred to the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission (CTEC). Others were referred to the National Inquiry into Teacher Education (NITE) and the Committee of Inquiry into Technological Change in Australia (CITCA). CTEC responded in its Report for the 1982-84 Triennium (Chapter 7 of Volume 1 Part 1 and Appendix G of Volume 1 Part 5). NITE made no specific response other than that it had taken account of the Williams Report recommendations specifically relating to teacher education and the roles of teachers. In responding to NITE the Government consulted the States. At the Australian Education Council (AEC) meeting of February 1981, Council accepted that, since the quality of school education is in turn dependent on the quality of teachers, teacher development should be a continuous process of pre-service education, induction and in-service activities. Although implementation of most of the NITE recommendations is the responsibility of employing authorities and tertiary education institutions, the Commonwealth continued to provide for professional development programs for teachers in 1982, including grants to education centres within the Commonwealth Schools Commission's program. CITCA expressed concern at the levels of literacy and numeracy among school-leavers and in the adequacy of education for providing work-related skills. It noted that a number of matters including improving the teaching of basic skills, facilitating the transition from school to working life, and the appropriate balance between general education and vocational education were being taken up by the Government in its response to the Williams Report. CITCA also noted the development of the Australian Mathematics Education Program. Its recommendations included increased support of programs for national monitoring of literacy and numeracy.