My School website poll

The My School website has now been launched and while the Federal Government is committed to publishing information about schools on the website, education unions and experts are concerned that the website will allow schools to be compared unfairly across Australia.

The website, which was launched on 28 January, provides information on the 10,000 schools across the country giving details on the number of students, the number of teachers, attendance rates and the school's socio-economic profile. It also include results from the National literacy and numeracy tests (NAPLAN) allowing for the performance of a particular school to be compared to similar schools and to the national average.

While Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the Federal Government’s My School website will bring greater transparency to a significant number of , educationalists, principals, teachers, education unions, and even some parents disagree.

The Australian Education Union, among other groups, has campaigned strongly against the website over concerns it will allow for schools to be unfairly ranked in leagues tables. Others believe the ‘disadvantage rating’ given to schools and published online will be ineffective and the website is essentially ‘naming and shaming’ less advantaged schools.