Study gives nod to ceremonial Sikh dagger (Kirpan) in school

At least the kirpan is a genuine religious requirement, unlike the various forms of garb that Muslims sometimes adopt. I personally know Sikhs well and see no danger in it. Like most Indians, Sikhs would rather talk than fight -- and give me Guru Nanak in preference to Mohammed any day. "Sikh" means "student" and Sikh Gurdwaras (temples) are open to all, regardless of religion, background, caste or race. I actually have a very pleasant young Sikh living with me in my house so I put my money where my mouth is



SIKH students would be allowed to carry small daggers to school under a plan that has outraged teachers and principals. A Victorian parliamentary committee has also given the green light for Muslim students to wear hijabs in the state's classrooms. The inquiry into uniforms found all schools should accommodate clothing or other items that are religiously significant. The Education and Training Committee report recommended that schools should work with the Sikh community to allow male students to carry a kirpan - a small, curved ornamental steel dagger carried by all initiated Sikh men.

The committee found there were concerns from principals and teachers about students carrying the kirpan - which is hidden under the school uniform - but the item was important to the Sikh community. Victorian Association of State Secondary School Principals head Brian Burgess said kirpans should not be allowed in schools. "It is potentially very dangerous and should not be brought to school," he said. "If it was misused, it could hurt kids. And it may not be the students that bring it to school but others who know about it and misuse it." Mr Burgess said other weapons were not allowed on school grounds and the kirpan should not be the exception.

The Sikh Interfaith Council of Victoria did not want to comment but previously told the committee that only a small number or Sikhs have been initiated and an even smaller number of students carry the kirpan. The kirpan, carried in a sheath and worn on a strap, is one of five articles of faith that initiated Sikh males have to carry. It is not allowed to be used as a weapon. The council rejected suggestions by the Department of Education that students carry a replica or pendant to school

Source






US envoy gets on well with Rudd's team

THE top US government representative to visit Australia since Kevin Rudd's election has welcomed the Prime Minister's promise of continuing close co-operation on global and regional security issues, including Iraq and Afghanistan. US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said yesterday he had "excellent discussions" with senior ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon.

"We are very much looking forward to working with this Government. The alliance with Australia for the US is one of our greatest international priorities," Mr Burns said after a breakfast meeting hosted by US ambassador Robert MacCallum at the embassy in Canberra. "I think we are going to work very well with this new Government. We look forward to constant interaction with the new Government. These are very impressive people, very skilful."

Mr Burns's three-day visit is focused on the latest round of the Trilateral Security Dialogue involving US, Japanese and Australian officials, as well as bilateral talks with Australian ministers. Mr Burns said Washington was well aware of the Rudd Government's commitment to withdraw Australia's battle group from southern Iraq by mid-2008. "Those specific discussions about timetables and so on are ahead of us, but obviously there's a continuing job that needs to be done," he said.

"There is the priority effort of trying to help support the Government of Iraq to develop its capacities of governance and to deal with all the significant issues that the Government in Iraq has to deal with. "There's the effort to give political support ... to give economic support, to see greater support from the Arab countries as well as European countries."

Mr Burns said he had discussions with Mr Fitzgibbon and Mr Smith about what Australia and the US could do to assist the Afghanistan Government. "We're working well together on the military side. I also sense in the new Government a great interest in working with the Afghan Government," he said. "I sensed in our conversations over the past two days a great interest by Australia in maintaining its military commitment, but doing a lot on the economic side as well, and we welcome that."

Source





Conservatives slam Leftists for education buckpassing

The Opposition yesterday accused Education Minister Julia Gillard of taking the lazy option of blaming Howard government neglect for Australia's fall in international reading and maths tests, instead of holding state Labor governments accountable. Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop, the former education minister, said Ms Gillard had to recognise state governments ran schools and set curriculums and as a result were responsible for educational standards. "If Ms Gillard continues to refuse to recognise that state governments are responsible for standards in their schools, then standards will go backwards," she said. "If this is her best response, it's a warning sign that Ms Gillard is not up to the task of managing her own super portfolio."

Ms Gillard said on Tuesday that the decline in Australia's international standing in reading and maths tests reflected the decade of neglect by the Coalition government. Her comments were in response to the OECD's latest Program for International Student Assessment of 15-year-olds in 57 countries, which showed reading and maths skills among Australia's top students were falling.

Ms Bishop said the Coalition government had provided $1.8billion to the states and territories since 2005 to improve literacy and numeracy standards. "It's critical Ms Gillard ask state governments to account for how they have invested that $1.8 billion," she said. Ms Bishop said teacher unions and professional associations had some responsibility for falling educational standards. "Over the past 20 years, the influence of the education unions on school curriculum has led to the embrace of fads and political agendas rather than on the core skills of literacy and numeracy," she said.

But teachers' organisations blamed the falling standards on the Coalition government, accusing it of a decade of underfunding public schools compared with private schools. The Australian Association for the Teaching of English said the PISA results should be welcomed by parents and teachers because Australia's overall position remained high. AATE president Karren Philp said: "Care needs to be exercised in how the PISA test data is interpreted. It is wrong to immediately assert the results indicate declining standards of literacy in this country."

Ms Philp said the test results backed Australia's approach in the teaching of literacy rather than the "back to basics" initiatives adopted in Britain and the US, which rank well below Australia. She told The Australian the fall in performance among top students was of concern, but she was not sure if it represented a drop in standards. "I'm not sure yet. We're going to look very closely at the report," she said.

But the Australian Education Union, representing government school teachers, and the Independent Education Union, representing teachers in the private sector, agreed the results suggested a decline among top students. AEU acting federal president Angelo Gavrielatos said yesterday: "Based on the results released by the OECD, we have been overtaken, and we are at risk of seeing our international education ranking decline." Asked if he stood by earlier comments on standards made by AEU president Pat Byrne, Mr Gavrielatos said: "Teachers have always been and will always remain concerned about standards in our schools. We don't get into hysterical and deceitful debates advanced by the previous government wanting to divest its funding responsibilities."

Source





Murdoch glorified at the Sydney Morning Herald

Praise for a media genius in an unlikely place



NEWS Corporation chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch has taken over The Sydney Morning Herald. In the latest hilarious stuff-up at its so-called "newsroom of the future", the Herald has installed massive pillars at its new Pyrmont office depicting a huge etched image of the News Corporation chief. And the fractious Herald staff, whose dislike of Mr Murdoch - who owns News Limited - is eclipsed only by their hostility towards their own bosses, Fairfax and Rural Press, are furious.

There are about 25 of the Murdoch pillars throughout the editorial floor, where Herald managers are making much of the company's attempts to become an integrated media company. The company spent millions on its move from Darling Park to Pyrmont, and one source said outside consultants were paid "a vast sum" to design the pillars to "make some sort of statement about modern media." The broadsheet ran a cocky editorial last month where it invited Mr Murdoch to visit the Herald while he was in Sydney to see what an integrated newsroom looked like.

Now the joke is on them, with Mr Murdoch keeping a watchful eye over everyone from David Marr to Adele Horin. "It's just typical of this place at the moment with Rural Press, the whole thing has been a disaster," a source told The Daily Telegraph. "The new building is a joke. It's got no public transport, there's no mobile reception, none of the staff were asked about any of the changes, and now we've got these Rupert Murdochs all over the place."

Source