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The establishment of the Christmas Island Area School: a public policy analysis

In 1974 the Australian Government decided that from 1975 all education on its Territory of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, would be integrated into a single service. It further decided that all schools would be
staffed by Australian teachers from its recent1y established
Commonwealth Teaching Service and would implement a curriculum closely reflecting those on the Australian mainland. These were decisive shifts
from the previous system of separating the 'Asian' education system from the 'European' (Australian) system. This thesis sets out to find the
reasons for these decisions and the expectations, or objectives, of those who made them.
The changes to education had many Impacts on the Christmas Island community - both intended or unintended. These impacts are used to assist in evaluations of the policy objectives. The thesis uses the methodology of public policy analysis to examine the links between the government's education policy and its other broader policies regarding the Island. It thus examines operational decisions in the context of strategic considerations.
The mid 1970s saw rapid changes in many Australian Government policies.
Its new Christmas Island policies were responses to a range of complex,
interrelated problems which emerged in the early 1970s - only 15 years
after it assumed sovereignty. At the centre of these policy responses
was Resettlement. The government's education decisions are examined in
the light of the objectives and implications of its Resettlement policy
as well as other inputs to the policy problem.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/218643
Date January 1990
CreatorsFoster, Ian D, n/a
PublisherUniversity of Canberra. Education
Source SetsAustraliasian Digital Theses Program
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Rights), Copyright Ian D Foster

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