Education
Breaking
Education
Tangara school to close for two weeks after second student tests positive
A second student at Tangara has tested positive for COVID-19, with the school now shut for two weeks and HSC trial exams thrown into chaos.
- by Jenny Noyes and Pallavi Singhal
Latest
Opinion
Opinion
UNSW freedom of speech saga reveals danger of sector's reliance on China
The dependency of Australian universities on Chinese money has left them compromised and the pandemic has made them desperate and the saga involving a UNSW article last week proves it.
- by The Herald's View
Education
Lockdown legacy: senior Trinity students get lesson-free day each fortnight
The Summer Hill private school has introduced a fortnightly lesson-free Monday, so students can make their own learning decisions.
- by Jordan Baker
High school
'Restless and unsettled': The pandemic is taking its toll on students
The lost year is taking its toll on the usual progress that schoolchildren make.
- by Jordan Baker
Opinion
Opinion
These are dark days for Australia's universities
Our seats of higher learning are running low on public trust at the same time they’re tussling with a largely hostile federal government.
- by Julie Szego
Exclusive
University Of Sydney
'Entitled, defamatory and deceptive': student rebellion at St Paul's
A standoff between students and management at Sydney University's St Paul's College - once infamous for sexism and hazing - led to claims of entitlement, deception and intimidation.
- by Jordan Baker
China
'Go for the whole hog': MPs push for parliamentary probe into CCP influence at universities
There is growing appetite across the major parties and crossbench for increased scrutiny of universities' reliance on China.
- by Fergus Hunter and Eryk Bagshaw
Schools
Stop press: young journos hit beat for statewide student news site
Students across the state will write, film and record their views and ideas for a new, NSW Department of Education student voice hub.
- by Jordan Baker
Schools
Four hundred schools sweating on news of airconditioning
Before the election, the airconditioning approval process took three months. Now, schools are waiting 15 months.
- by Jordan Baker
Exclusive
University
Human Rights Commission urges 'rigorous' defence of free speech at unis
The intervention from human rights commissioner Edward Santow comes amid growing concerns about Beijing-linked efforts to police dissent in Australia.
- by Fergus Hunter and Eryk Bagshaw
University Of Sydney
Hackers hit university online exam tool
A data security breach involving an online exam supervising tool used by Australian universities is now being investigated.
- by Anna Patty
Primary school
Too many children leave primary school unable to read, campaigners warn
Education ministers have been urged to ensure no child leaves primary school unable to read, but critics warn there is no silver bullet to fix the "literacy emergency".
- by Jordan Baker
Courts
Quaden Bayles sues Miranda Devine for suggesting bullying was 'scam'
A nine-year-old Indigenous boy with dwarfism is suing News Corp columnist Miranda Devine over tweets suggesting he pretended to be a bullying victim.
- by Michaela Whitbourn
University
'The fear is real': Chinese students in Australia dread reprisal from Beijing
Chinese students in Australia are scared of speaking out about Hong Kong as the Chinese Communist Party ramps up new online portals for reporting dissent.
- by Eryk Bagshaw and Fergus Hunter
Health
Hundreds exposed, but NSW schools have 'extremely low' COVID-19 infections
The world-first investigation of COVID-19 transmission rates challenges recent US research that suggested infected young children carried ten to 100-fold greater amounts of the virus.
- by Kate Aubusson
Exclusive
University
'I'm now thinking of retraining': Uni fee hike could see social worker exodus
Proposals to increase fees for social work degrees is prompting community service workers to retrain as teachers or nurses.
- by Anna Patty
Opinion
Opinion
Critical test of academic freedom for Australian universities
The ferocious reaction from pro-Beijing students to my post criticising China, and the UNSW's feeble response, will discourage others from expressing themselves.
- by Elaine Pearson
Opinion
Opinion
Millions of children may never return to school after lockdown
The #EndCOVIDForAll campaign aims to help poorer nations deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
- by Julia Gillard
MyCareer
Students shape own curriculum in 'new generation' of vocational schools
Seven Hills High School will be among the first to provide students with dual HSC and vocational qualifications, and curriculums designed "to suit the students".
- by Anna Patty
Exclusive
Primary school
School principals want more alternatives to suspending students
A report into behaviour management in schools also looked at how teachers and support staff felt about discipline.
- by Jordan Baker
Opinion
Opinion
Australia's problem with 'try hards' at heart of selective schools coaching criticism
Few look at a star football player and remark bitterly: “Well, his mother was taking him to training since he was four.” But when it comes to academic performance, it's a different story.
- by Rosalind Walsh
Letters
Opinion
Supermarkets can’t mask their own store frailties
The supermarket giants want all customers to now wear face masks but their own in-store pandemic controls appear to have slipped.
Opinion
Selective schools
Chance to ensure selective school places go to those who deserve them
The key problem with the selective high school test in NSW is that it is not identifying the students with the most potential.
- by The Herald's View
Exclusive
Bullying
Forty per cent of NSW teenagers report experiencing sexual harassment at school
Male and female teenagers are equally as likely to experience sexual harassment in NSW high schools, with male students exposed to more forms of harassment behaviour.
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Freedom of speech
Academic freedom on trial as sacked professor asks High Court to decide
Professors and their colleagues enjoy a right to challenge norms and question orthodoxies. But to what extent?
- by Michael Koziol
Exclusive
Primary school
One in three schools agree to phonics reading check as critics sound alarm
Hundreds of schools have signed up for a controversial check of students' reading ability using a method that has divided education experts.
- by Jordan Baker
Education
Can you game the ATAR?
The ATAR occupies a fraught place in education debates, in part due to a question that often arises: can you game it to receive the highest possible rank?
- by Natassia Chrysanthos
Spotlight
Sign of the times? More people put their hands up to learn Auslan
Since the recent bushfires, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of people studying sign language.
- by Amanda Hooton
Exclusive
Schools
Girls, disadvantaged students under-represented in selective schools
The number of students with disabilities being offered places at selective schools tripled this year, but, like other disadvantaged groups, they remain under-represented, new figures show
- by Jordan Baker and Nigel Gladstone
Exclusive
Schools
Selective school tests go digital in biggest shake-up in 30 years
English company Cambridge Assessment will write the new selective tests, which will be delivered by Janison in a $5.5 million, five-year deal.
- by Jordan Baker
Coronavirus pandemic
'Quite serious': International student visa applications plummet
New government figures reveal that international student visa applications from China were down by 20 per cent while those from Nepal fell 61 per cent and those from India dropped by 47 per cent in the past financial year.
- by Anna Patty
Naplan
NAPLAN, attendance and aspiration best indicators of HSC results
Researchers have developed a system that predicts students' HSC marks with more than 90 per cent accuracy.
- by Jordan Baker
Bushfires
'Look past what you're facing right now': Advice for the HSC class of 2020
Kalisha Glover completed her HSC as bushfires raged near her home at Lake Innes last year. For this year's HSC class, whose studies have been impacted by COVID-19, her message is simple: this will pass.
- by Mary Ward
Josh Frydenberg
Treasurer defends JobKeeper payments to leading private schools
The federal government has defended JobKeeper payments to leading Sydney private schools unable to house boarders during the COVID-19 lockdown.
- by Michael Evans
Coronavirus pandemic
It's masked, monitored and sanitised, but life is returning to Sydney's university campuses
Lectures will continue to be held online but many tutorials, seminars and small group activities will be held in person.
- by Jordan Baker
Coronavirus pandemic
Most expensive private schools qualify for JobKeeper
Boarding schools such as The King's School in Parramatta have qualified for the government wage subsidy after hits to their revenue of 30 per cent or more.
- by Jordan Baker
Features
Play us a song? I'm not a piano man – yet
Learning Beethoven’s famous Moonlight Sonata is a tough call at the best of times – even more so when you’re in your late 50s and have never played the piano.
- by Alan Attwood
HSC
Call for 'learner profile' of students to end dominance of ATAR
School students should curate an education passport that focuses on skills and knowledge instead of worrying about how to lift their ATAR, a new national report says.
- by Jordan Baker
Freedom of speech
Hong Kong security law presents free speech test for Australian universities
The sweeping legislation reaches beyond China's territory and academics warn it could put Hongkongers at Australia's universities at risk.
- by Fergus Hunter
China
China overtakes US to become Australia's leading research partner
Experts warn a looming university funding crisis could make Australian scientists more reliant or Chinese resources, or leave them behind.
- by Jordan Baker
Exclusive
University
Beijing's crackdown drives surge in Hongkongers seeking Australian visas
Australian universities are experiencing a "significant" increase in interest from Hong Kong citizens seeking to leave the former British colony.
- by Fergus Hunter
Schools
Students head back to school amid coronavirus nerves
Health authorities are confident in schools' hygiene and distancing guidelines as students return to class amid a new outbreak of COVID-19.
- by Jordan Baker
Coronavirus pandemic
Study visas to resume amid fears overseas students will turn to other countries
The federal government has moved to reassure overseas students amid fears that Australian COVID-19 restrictions will make other countries appear to be more appealing options.
- by Jordan Baker
Coronavirus pandemic
'Not immune': Universities prepare for more job losses
Thousands of university staff across Australia are bracing for further job losses in the coming months as the sector grapples with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
- by Anna Patty
Opinion
Opinion
Why the uni fee hike makes no sense
If the government wants to prime the economy with more teachers and mathematicians, there's a better way than punishing humanities students.
- by Maxwell Yong
Education
'Bold vision': Benefits and risks in ACTU push for free childcare
The union movement's proposal would supercharge economic output and boost children's education but there are risks, experts warn.
- by Fergus Hunter
HSC
Chapter 1: Essential HSC information
In this chapter: messages from the NESA chief executive and Minister for Education; key dates for major works and exams; understanding moderation; and disability provisions.
HSC
Chapter 2: New in 2020
In this chapter: What has changed due to COVID-19; what to expect if you are doing a new maths course; and meeting the HSC minimum standard.
HSC
Chapter 3: Top tips from top students
In this chapter: Top students in English, mathematics, science, history, languages, PDHPE and construction tell how they aced their exams.
HSC
Chapter 4: Staying healthy
In this chapter: Healthy vs unhealthy stress; managing stress, the importance of practising, and where to get support.