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<font face="Calibri">I love the line... </font><br>
<pre wrap="">Ms Pike said the project
would still be delivered within the original budget of $60.5 million and
the original timeframe of the third quarter of 2010.
Firstly the "original" timeframe was the second quarter of 2008, that's why all the ultranet coaches were appointed at the end of 2007 to start at the beginning of 2008. Ms Pike's version of "original timeframe" is the timeframe which they rejigged after the first tender process went down the drain.
Secondly, considering that all those Ultranet coaches will have been paid LT rates for two years before it is even rolled out how could it still be on budget?
They would be better putting the money into creating moodle blocks to do the extras that they want, and teacher education in the use of ICT's. 60.5 million is a damn lot of money that could be much better used in a 1000 different ways. But instead we will end up with something that is probably irrelevant to our needs, a resource hog, etc etc.
Why isn't the government looking at Open Source software?? Or are the kickbacks too much of an enticement??
But we have been through all of this before on the list *sigh*
Cheers
Ros Meadows
Bentleigh SC
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<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:stephen@melbpc.org.au">stephen@melbpc.org.au</a> wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:20090226124211.60DFB951@eagle.melbpc.org.au"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">not really new news, certainly good news
giving other states something to aim for :)
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/news/mediareleases-education.htm">http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/news/mediareleases-education.htm</a>
>From the Minister for Education
FIVE VYING FOR VICTORIAN SCHOOLS ULTRANET TENDER Friday, 14 Nov 2008
Five software companies are vying for the $60.5 million Ultranet project
as part of a selective tender process announced today by Education
Minister Bronwyn Pike ..
"The Ultranet project provides an exciting glimpse of what education will
look like when teachers, students and parents have a single information
point and access to vital information 24 hours a day, seven days a week,"
Ms Pike said..
"We know that children perform better at school when their parents are
involved and interested in their education, so in line with the
directions of our recently released Education Blueprint, the Ultranet
will help facilitate a greater engagement of parents with their child’s
education.."
The shortlisted companies are Blackboard Australia Pty Ltd, Desire2Learn
Incorporated, Microsoft Australia, Oracle and RM Asia-Pacific.
They were selected in accordance with strict probity requirements, based
on their individual merits and following a global search for companies to
meet the needs of such a large-scale IT project. Ms Pike said the project
would still be delivered within the original budget of $60.5 million and
the original timeframe of the third quarter of 2010.
--
>From the Minister for Education
VICTORIA AMONG AUSTRALIA’S BEST IN SCHOOL TESTING Friday, 19 Dec 2008
More detailed results from Australia’s first national school testing
shows that Victoria’s Indigenous students and those from non-English
speaking backgrounds are among the country’s best.
Education Minister Bronwyn Pike said the 2008 National Assessment
Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) Stage 2 Report results released
today showed Brumby Government’s investment in initiatives to improve
literacy and numeracy are having a positive impact.
The latest figures breakdown Victorian student performances into
categories of gender and geographic location and also look at the
specific performances of non-English speaking students and Indigenous
students.
Ms Pike said the report was good news for parents who can be confident
that students are gaining vital skills as they move through the various
stages of their schooling.
“The results are great news for Victoria’s education system, but more
work is needed to help some students who may be falling behind,” she said.
“We are continuing to invest in a range of strategies and programs to
ensure students develop these vital skills and have every opportunity to
thrive, learn and grow.
“We are serious about closing the gap for Indigenous students and believe
our initiatives including 15 new literacy improvement specialists for
Koorie students and introducing individual education plans for every
Koorie student will lead to even better outcomes for Koorie students.”
Ms Pike said the Brumby Government’s Education Strategy for Koorie
Students – Wannik: Learning Together, Journey to Our Future – was focused
on delivering a better deal for Victoria’s Koorie students.
Another Brumby Government initiative to ensure every child has every
opportunity regardless of their circumstances is the package to support
refugee students, announced in this year’s State Budget.
It includes support to coordinate homework programs run by volunteers at
schools, libraries and community locations across Victoria and funding
for professional development for teachers, counselling support in schools
for students and helping schools to access a range of specialist agencies
and resources.
This is in addition to a package including new purpose built relocatables
for intensive language classes, more money for transition programs and an
after school hours learning support program in Melbourne’s West.
Stage one of the NAPLAN report was released by the Ministerial Council of
Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in September.
That report found Victorian students at Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 were
significantly higher than the Australian average in reading, writing,
grammar, punctuation and numeracy and significantly higher than the
Australian average in Years 3, 5, and 7 in spelling.
Performance of students with a Language Background Other than English
(LBOTE)
• The average scores for Victorian LBOTE students are higher than for
Australian LBOTE cohort in all domains for Years 3 and 5, and for Years 7
and 9 Writing.
• Victorian results are similar to the Australian LBOTE average in all
other domains for Years 7 and 9.
Performance by gender
• Both male and female students in Victoria achieved higher results
than their counterparts in Australia in all domains for Years 3 and 5.
• Male students achieved higher results than their counterparts in
Australia in all domains for Years 7 and 9, except for Year 9 Spelling,
and Grammar and Punctuation, where their results are similar.
• Female students achieved higher results than their counterparts in
Australia in all domains for Years 7 and 9, except for Years 7 and 9
Spelling, and Year 9 Grammar and Punctuation, where their results are
similar.
Performance of Indigenous students
• The average scores for Indigenous students in Victoria are higher
than those for the Australian Indigenous average scores in all domains
and for all year levels.
• The proportions of Victorian Indigenous students achieving at or
above the national minimum standard are higher than those for the
Australian Indigenous average in all domains and for all year levels,
except for Year 9 Spelling and Numeracy, where the results for Victoria
are similar to the Australian average.
Student performance by geographic location
The average scores for students in metropolitan areas:
• The results for Victorian students are above the Australian average
in all domains for Years 3 and 5, in Writing for Years 7 and 9 and in
Grammar and Punctuation for Year 7.
• The results for Victorian students are similar to the Australian
average in all other domains for Years 7 and 9.
The average scores for students in provincial areas:
• The results for Victorian students are above the Australian average
in all domains and for all year levels, except for Years 7 and 9 Spelling
and Grammar and Punctuation, where Victoria’s results are similar to the
Australian average.
For the proportion of students in metropolitan or provincial areas
achieving at or above the national minimum standard, the results for
Victoria are either similar to or above the respective Australian average
in all domains and for all year levels.
--
Cheers,
Stephen
_______________________________________________
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