2015-11-10
Ms PENNICUIK (Southern Metropolitan) — My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, Mr Merlino, and it is in regard to the services provided by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority relating to national assessment program — literacy and numeracy (NAPLAN) testing. This was the subject of questions I asked in the last sitting week of the Minister for Training and Skills, Mr Herbert, as the representative in this house of the Minister for Education. The questions I asked related to whether the company NCS Pearson is the sole provider of NAPLAN services to the Department of Education and Training. The written answer from the minister was that NCS Pearson currently holds the primary contract for a range of services associated with the delivery of NAPLAN testing in Victoria.
I also asked a supplementary question as to whether any of NCS Pearson's commercial products available on its website as effective teaching resources for NAPLAN preparation had been purchased by any Victorian schools.
The answer to that was:
Neither the Department of Education and Training nor the VCAA hold any data regarding specific materials purchased in schools.
The brief background to this is that there have been concerns raised in New South Wales, where Pearson holds a $41.6 million contract for providing NAPLAN marking and other services, and it has held that contract since 2011. There have been concerns raised about the potential conflict of interest in holding such a large contract for the provision of these NAPLAN services. As I pointed out in my question, the company is privy to a lot of information and raw data with regard to student and school results, and at the same time another arm of the company is involved in selling textbooks, both online and in hard copy, about various subjects — how to prepare for NAPLAN et cetera.
In the Sydney Morning Herald of 7 September this year questions were raised by the New South Wales Teachers Federation and University of Queensland Professor Bob Lingard, who said 'the contract potentially amounted to state-sponsored market research'. I would like the minister to follow up and do some research as to whether NCS Pearson, which he says holds the primary contract, is selling any of its related publications in Victorian schools.