The Federal Government has endorsed the Bradley review’s
recommendation for two ambitious national targets: at least 40% of 25-
to 34-year-olds having attained a qualification at bachelor level or
above by 2025; and a 20% share of undergraduate enrolments for people
from low socio-economic status backgrounds by 2020.  Meeting these
targets will require a radical rethinking of many of the assumptions
that underpin secondary and tertiary education in Australia, including
curricula, pathways and selection practices.  In this seminar two
experts will focus on the cross-sectoral challenges in developing
education systems geared to social-inclusion and universal
participation in tertiary education.  What might the school-higher
education interface look like in the future?  How will VET relate to
higher education?  Do we need to make key changes in policy and
practice?

Professor Richard Teese is Director of the Centre for
Post-Compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of
Melbourne.  He is an international expert on the unequal operation of
school systems and the social processes underpinning inequality in
education.

Professor Peter Dawkins is Secretary of the Victorian
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.  He joined the
public service from the University of Melbourne, where he was Director
of the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research and
a prominent public policy analyst and advisor to federal and state
government committees.

The seminar will be Chaired by Professor Elizabeth Harman, Vice-Chancellor, Victoria University.