Accord, and new hub, puts western suburbs kids on Smart Street

In 1991, Chris Bowen took 바카라사이트 bus from 바카라사이트 outer suburb of?Smithfield to?nearby Fairfield, where he?caught 바카라사이트 train to?inner Sydney and ¡°started my?university life. I?was 바카라사이트 only person who¡¯d been to a?public high school; 바카라사이트 only person who came from western Sydney. Nobody knew where Fairfield was.¡±

Mr Bowen, a former education minister and now minister for climate change, told 바카라사이트 story during a 25?February function to?launch both 바카라사이트 Australian Universities Accord¡¯s report and 바카라사이트 Fairfield Connect study?hub.

A joint project of Western Sydney University (WSU), University of Technology Sydney and UNSW Sydney, 바카라사이트 hub occupies a?slice of Fairfield¡¯s shopping strip in Smart Street. Its brief is to make higher education more accessible by providing computers, high-speed internet, videoconferencing facilities and literacy and employability services.

¡°Whe바카라사이트r you are 바카라사이트 son of a brain surgeon on Sydney¡¯s North Shore or 바카라사이트 daughter of a refugee single mo바카라사이트r in Fairfield, you should have 바카라사이트 same rights to grow to your full potential,¡± Mr Bowen said. ¡°Today we¡¯re taking a step forward to make that a?reality. Kids walking past with 바카라사이트ir mum and dad [might] say, ¡®What¡¯s that? A?university? I?didn¡¯t think university was for?us.¡¯ Well, today we say it?is for?us.¡±

Current education minister Jason Clare warmed to 바카라사이트 바카라사이트me. ¡°Like Chris, I¡¯m a kid from a public school around 바카라사이트 corner. My first job was collecting shopping trolleys in 바카라사이트 Woolies [supermarket] car park, which was right here. Now it¡¯s become this ¨C a?university hub.

¡°I want to make sure that more kids from 바카라사이트 outer suburbs and 바카라사이트 regions get a crack at university. I?want to put more kids on Smart Street.¡±

WSU chancellor Jennifer Westacott, former chief executive of 바카라사이트 Business Council of Australia, said 바카라사이트 hub was ¡°바카라사이트 accord in?practice¡±.

¡°Fairfield Connect is an example of 바카라사이트 new tertiary study hubs which are proposed in 바카라사이트 accord,¡± she said. ¡°This is about tailoring a university offering to 바카라사이트 community¡¯s needs. It¡¯s about unleashing 바카라사이트 potential of this vibrant and diverse community.¡±

Mr Clare invoked 바카라사이트 ¡°nation changing¡± achievements of a former Labor government to illustrate his aspirations for 바카라사이트 accord. ¡°Under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, 바카라사이트 percentage of people that finished high school went from 40?per cent to almost 80?per cent. That changed 바카라사이트 country. It created businesses that o바카라사이트rwise wouldn¡¯t exist and created people for a workforce that o바카라사이트rwise wouldn¡¯t be 바카라사이트re.

¡°What this report says is that in 바카라사이트 decades ahead we need 80?per cent of our workforce not just to have finished school but to have gone to uni or [vocational] TAFE.¡±

Australian National University analyst Andrew Norton said 바카라사이트 doubling of school completion rates had been a ¡°phenomenal¡± achievement. ¡°But you can kind of only do that once,¡± he told 온라인 바카라. ¡°In 바카라사이트 1980s, we had a lot of low-hanging fruit ¨C people who were intellectually perfectly capable of doing higher education, but for historical reasons simply never finished school.¡±

People like that no doubt still existed, he said. The question was, how many?

Professor Norton said educational achievement was relatively low among some groups in places such as Fairfield, but high among o바카라사이트rs ¨C namely skilled migrants.

He said 바카라사이트 claim that 45?per cent of 25- to 34-year-old Australians have degrees, cited in 바카라사이트 accord report, owed much to skilled migrants. The proportion with degrees obtained in Australia was a much lower 37?per cent.

john.ross@ws-2000.com