Grey Gurus for 2020 Portal

A recommendation from the Productivity (Education, Skills, Training, Science and Innovation) group at the 2020 summit, which has received some publicity is:

Business – school connections

Creating a coordinated partnership program between Australia’s top 100 companies and schools. This program could also include universities and vocational education and training institutions

The idea of businesses adopting schools is hardly new. It has been evolving in Australia for more than 30 years and is well and truly alive. Every new education minister seems to rediscover this idea as their own. Julie Bishop did the same. One longstanding program is Adopt a School. Certainly we should be trying to extend these initiatives.

I like the next suggestion:

Golden Guru: retired people acting as mentors in the workplace

Grey guru in my case. I recommend the Indigenous Community Volunteers as a starting point for those interested. This program is open to young and old.

The Artists in Residence idea from the Creativity mob isn't new either.

Bring art into our schools by introducing ‘practitioners in residence’ via a national mentoring plan funded by philanthropic funds and tax incentives

Artists in Schools, from the Northern Territory, is just one such program.

This isn't meant to be nitpicking. They are good ideas and programs that need more publicity and support. Perhaps a Golden Guru or two at the new 2020 website and the proposed government portal would help a lot.

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