Nelson Mandela

Modern education is the foundation block upon which we shall build the future peaceful world federation. Our vision and efforts will enable a dramatic improvement in our understanding of the world, its history and future. Special attention will be paid to peace education and alleviation of the old colonialist and imperialistic doctrines. They shall be replaced by a new culture of non-interference and co-operation, aimed at international partnership and not confrontation or leadership. Peace Research Centres will play an important role throughout Australian universities and other institutions. Our Aboriginal and European heritage shall blend with liberal amounts of multiculturalism reflecting the cosmopolitan character of our society and the future world federation.

The above goals shall be reflected in the following:

• Language shall no longer be used as a means of political, economic, cultural or any other form of dominance. We believe the well-known artificial international language Esperanto is a perfect official second language alternative to the countless variety of languages and associated cultures, as well as a future official international language. Its knowledge will enable people from different nationalities to communicate on an equal basis (i.e. it will eliminate many unfair advantages that established languages give to their native speakers) and help overcome many other language-related obstacles. We believe that Esperanto can be an additional and compulsory foreign (LOTE) language in schools – a great investment towards better understanding of the wider world.

• It is a pity that substantial part of our education system (esp. non-government schools) is still clouded by obsolete religious dogma dating back thousands of years. This is hardly compatible with modern science and seriously impairs our children’s abilities and understanding of their own responsibilities. While we respect religious freedom we shall also encourage many of our teachers and principals to be more open about these delicate matters. Our children need to know all alternatives (from Allah and Buddha, through to Darwin and modern genetics) and be able to make their own decisions based on unbiased knowledge and not undercover evangelism or brainwash. Many religions offer valuable moral and ethical foundation for our children’s characters, but science and progress don’t always agree with the holly books.

• Our new peaceful foreign policies and multicultural traditions coupled with modern education facilities and methods can make Australia a global educational centre. Soon after we implement our doctrine we can envisage a big increase in foreign students and the benefits of improved education will be tremendous. This will be our contribution to the peace and progress of all countries from our region and beyond.

• We shall greatly improve the teaching of Australian and world history in schools and universities around the country. This shall give our children the chance to learn and understand our true history and avoid many mistakes we made in the past. We surely remember many important dates, events and people in our history, but often seem to forget many other facts which are equally important (although not so glamorous).

• We shall also provide equal funds for every student in any school and every state. Each one of our children will be entitled to the same amount of government funds – be it in the poorest industrial suburb or the ritziest upmarket neighbourhood, dearest private college (where you’ll still have to pay the tuition fee difference) or just an ordinary state school.

• Free textbooks shall ease the burden on many students and their families. This small expense will pay much greater dividends in terms of knowledge and academic achievements of the whole generation.

• Foster national and international competition and cooperation amongst all schools by providing accurate and unbiased academic achievement and other data, available to any parent or education professional and published on the www. Nationwide school tests shall be carried out once every year (the test shall be carried out on the same date and time for all schools and grades). The test material for each grade shall be the same for all schools and jointly developed by Department of Education and other independent organisations (national and international).The top 10 schools and students shall be awarded (at a special ceremony not less spectacular than the Oscars) academic and other prizes worth not less than Olympic medals!

• Eradicate the appalling temporary/mobile classrooms and build modern school facilities capable of providing world class education.

• Establish and implement national standards limiting the class sizes (for any level and any school) providing optimum conditions for all teachers and students.

• We shall develop and implement a new national curriculum based on the above principles, which will provide a solid foundation for further studies and meaningful life.

• Build canteens in all government primary schools and provide free, healthy and nutritious meals and drinks for all students.

• Reschedule school holydays  for all government schools (and also encourage private schools to do the same) in order to ease the burden on resorts, tourism and other facilities, as well as reduce the astronomic peak prices many parents have to pay in order to share holydays with their children. In this way every school shall have its own holyday schedule and school holyday season shall last year-round.

• Provide free pre- and after-school care (from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.) for all children whose  parents both work and have no one else to care for them.

• The sad reality in many schools now is that just a handful of difficult pupils can often ruin the good efforts of both teachers and other classmates. We shall endeavor to strengthen discipline in all government schools by adopting a new code of conduct  preventing bullying and other forms of inappropriate behavior. Parents shall be entirely responsible for the behavior of their siblings and liable for heavy fines if their children still cause problems after appropriate notices and warnings. If none of these measures helps, the principal shall be able to expel the troublemakers, who may also be refused enrolment in other government schools (on the discretion of the principal).

 Also see: Families and children