Education, Skills and Innovation Task Force

WORDS FROM THE TASK FORCE CHAIRMAN

We are inspired that Australia ranks sixth of 57 countries for the average reading literacy of our 15-year-old students.

We won’t accept that more than 300,000 Australians aged between 15 and 25 are not fully engaged in either education or the workforce, and less than half (54 per cent) of Australians aged 15 to 74 years have the literacy skills needed to meet the complex demands of everyday life and work (Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, 2006).

– MICHAEL ANDREW, AUSTRALIAN CHAIRMAN, KPMG AND CHAIRMAN, BCA EDUCATION, SKILLS AND INNOVATION TASK FORCE

Joining Michael on the task force are the following BCA members:

Gavin Bell Freehills
Paul Dougas Sinclair Knight Merz
Craig Drummond, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Tracey Fellows Microsoft Pty Ltd
Stephen Fitzgerald, Goldman Sachs JBWere
Rob Priestley JPMorgan Australia and New Zealand
Matthew Quinn Stockland
Michael Rose Allens Arthur Robinson
Ian White Oracle Corporation Australia Pty Limited

Professor Geoff Masters, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Council for Educational Research, is an Honorary Member of the task force.

In a world where education and training play a greater role than ever before in determining a country’s economic success and the wellbeing of its citizens, we believe Australia can and must do better.

Our Education, Skills and Innovation Task Force influences and informs policy reform to improve the quality of school education in Australia. Our research and advocacy focuses on strengthening school leadership, the teaching profession and the curriculum.

We also work to influence reforms that will give adult Australians ongoing learning opportunities in a world-class tertiary education system and skills development throughout their working lives.

For the business sector, top-quality education and training is the foundation for top-quality research and innovation that will keep Australia and Australians ahead of the game internationally.

Priorities for 2010

• Inform and influence continued reform in school education with an emphasis on attracting and retaining excellent teachers and giving principals the authority to appoint teachers and make the changes needed to improve student learning.
  
• Continue to advocate the importance of achieving better education outcomes for all young people, emphasising the need for a broad education that includes both the foundation skills and also wider knowledge and capacity.
  
• Identify priorities for higher education reform that further improve the quality and job-readiness of graduates by measuring performance, and encouraging better teaching and more relevant course content.
  
• Encourage private sector innovation by improving the capabilities of the current and future workforce, and increasing the level of collaboration between the private and public sectors. 

The BCA Secretariat contact for this task force is Patrick Coleman, Director Policy.