An article published in today's edition of The Age newspaper, “Possible 'misuse' of school data forcing rewrite of rules,” refers to the intention of education ministers to alter protocols informing the release of school performance data developed in July 2008 ("Principles and Protocols for the Collection and National Reporting of MCEETYA Key Performance Measures for Schooling in Australia").

The redrafted protocols will be considered at tomorrow's MCEETYA meeting.

As reported, a point of significant difference in the new draft set of protocols when compared to the July 2008 document is the omission of the following “ethical principle”:

The avoidance of harm to members of the community: this could occur where the privacy of individuals would be compromised or where the reputation of an institution or group of people would be damaged through the publication of misleading information or stereotyping.

It is the view of the AEU that the reported intention to omit this principle exposes that statements by ministers in opposition to simplistic league tables are disingenuous and fraudulent.

“This is an admission on the part of the education minsters that there will be 'harm' as a result of their actions and there's nothing they can do to avoid 'harm' caused by the creation and publication of league tables.

“We want the best education policies for our students. Policies, which based on international research and evidence, will assist in improving educational outcomes.

“It beggars belief that a government that constantly talks about evidence based policy would continue blindly down this path,” AEU Federal President, Angelo Gavrielatos said.

For more information, please contact: AEU Federal President, Angelo Gavrielatos on 0488 012 045 or Kate Rielley on 0414 873 625.