This weekend 60 Minutes has just two stories.
Spitting the Dummy
You don’t need to be Einstein to know there is something wrong in our classrooms. But we might need an Einstein to fix the problem. That’s because when it comes to quality education, the United Nations says Australia has free-fallen to 39th in a list of 41 advanced countries. The embarrassing fact is that if you want your kids to be smarter, they’d be better off studying in Lithuania, Slovakia or Kazakhstan. Much of the blame is directed at the controversial NAPLAN tests for primary and high school students. The results of this year’s exams will be released later this month, but one outcome is certain about NAPLAN: it’s causing more and more pupils – and teachers – to be stressed out and anxious. On 60 Minutes, Tom Steinfort investigates why and asks if now is the time to spit the dummy and demand a change.
Reporter: Tom Steinfort
Producer: Alice Dalley
Unpleasantville
Perris used to be an unremarkable middle-class suburb in southern California, full of streets of identically anonymous homes. But in January this year its inconspicuousness was blown when police received an extraordinary 911 call from a 17-year-old girl. She claimed she and her 12 brothers and sisters, who ranged in age from 29 to 3, had for years been held against their will in the family home. She said they had been chained up, tortured and starved. Worst of all, she accused her parents of being responsible for the abuse. Following the emergency call, police and welfare authorities raided the home and rescued the children. They also arrested the parents, David and Louise Turpin. As Liam Bartlett reports, the mistreatment the 13 Turpin children endured is now considered to be one of the worst cases of child neglect and abuse in American history. But even more shockingly, he discovers the shameful family secret that started this nightmare.
Reporter: Liam Bartlett
Producer: Stefanie Sgroi
8:35pm Sunday on Nine.
