A somewhat timely observation.
Are Australian children becoming poor white trash?
by: By Daniel Piotrowski
Former Labor leader Mark Latham has said poor kids from English-speaking children are being left behind in a new essay. Picture: Channel Nine Source: news.com.au
POOR kids with English-speaking parents are being left behind at school as Asian students surge ahead, former Labor leader Mark Latham argues in a controversial new article.
That makes a decades-old slur by a foreign leader that Australians will be the "poor, white trash of Asia" even more relevant today, the ex-Labor leader writes in this month's Quarterly Essay.
Born and bred in Western Sydney, Mr Latham argues that all parents should "follow the Asian example", as their parenting style has powered their kids to the top of the class.
"Asian parents are highly devoted to the education of their children: assisting with homework, organising extra tuition, forever encouraging excellence,” he writes, adding that Asian parents particularly focus on study at home.
But while we often hear about migrant families struggling to make their way in Australia, Mr Latham says the problem is more significant in children from poor, English-speaking families.
"Sydney's selective school figures indicate a different trend in social mobility, with Asian parents using school-aged education as a springboard for the next generation,” he says. "Their sons and daughters are moving quickly into middle-class professional jobs.”
"The problem of immobility is greater among families from an English-speaking background, especially those on low income.
"Visit any suburban public-housing estate in Australia and this debilitating trend is obvious,” Mr Latham argues. "The former Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew's prophecy about poor white trash in Australia has found a new resonance.”
The debate over Asian-style parenting has exploded over the past few years, particularly with the release of a memoir about so-called "tiger parenting”.
Chinese American parent Amy Chua sparked fierce international debate when her book, The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, a partly self-deprecating look at her own parenting style, was released.
Education researcher Kevin Donnelly says children with Asian backgrounds tend to do better in Year 12 results and in selective school tests.
"There is this Confucian ethic in terms of education which is very much about respecting authority, a willingness to work hard and focus and concentrate," Dr Donnelly told news.com.au.
"A lot of it is cultural. That's not the whole story though". Teaching style, the quality of curriculum and the quality of teaching were all essential to a child's success, he said.
Jane Caro, author of What Makes A Good School, says the issue with modern parenting is that many parents have a problem with teachers imposing discipline. "The workforce is walking away from those kids in droves," she said.
In his essay, Mr Latham argues that public education is "selling short our nation's potential". Public schools are a "production line for internationally substandard results".
He says principals should be allowed to reward parents who help kids out with class reading programs by waiving excursion fees.
Education has always been a special interest for the one-time Labor leader, who has described public education as one of the issues he cares most about, while most politicians have children in private schools.
One of the reasons cited for Mr Latham's failure at the 2004 election was the fierce public backlash against his plan to slash funding for private schools and boost funding for public schools.
A private school 'hit list' of 67 major institutions was released, fuelling worry among parents about potential fee hikes.
In his essay, Mr Latham also mocks his own party's so-called ‘Education Revolution', which included expanding access to laptop computers and the construction of new school halls, as "more like a Sunday church picnic than a storming of the barricades".
