Fair Tradi ng Fa,r Trading

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

(UD HR) articulates in Article 26(1) chat it is a basic entitlement that all children receive an education at least in the 'elementary and fundamental stages'. ln Australia, this aspect of the universal right is left ro the mainstream schooling sector. Article 26(3) states tl1ac pa.rents have the prior right to choose the kind of education diat shall be given to their children. Private tutoring and other personal educational choices e.xercised by parents fall into d1is category of hLu11an rights.

An issue inherent in the use of private tutors is that of the commercial imperative associated with the tuition providers. The providers are businesses and the main aim of businesses is to generate profits. Profits are best earned when costs or expenses are minimised and when income is maximised. This can lead to compromises that affect the 9ualiry of the service being provided. Issues of rights arise for parents and their chi ldren, when the focus b y private tutors is too srrongly on the commercial and not enough on the educational.

In every national jurisdiction where there is a p rivate mtoring sector, common issues arise i n regards to the accountability of tutors to fair trading, consumer protection and educational laws.

The SW government bas been particularly proactive in assisting the private tutoring sector to improve accow1tability for nirors. Annually, the Office of

Fair Trading through die releva.nr

.i\.finisrer and the Commissioner of Fair Trading, i ssue a warning to parents in regards to the use of tuto ring services. This year, in a notable initiative, Stuart Ayres, Minister for Fair Trading has made it a priority co reach out co vulnerable communities where the use of pri vate tutors is on the rise. Most notable of t hese are die Indian, Chinese, Korean and Arabic-speaking communities

It is well known <liar education is highl y valued amongst lndians across the world. fodi.a.n families are classified as 'aspirational' and man y families prioritise study at school and at ll.Iliv ersity, for dieir sons and daughters. In such a conrext, che Indian community use private tutors and value additional or supplementa ry education. This makes me Indian comm1UI.ity vul nera ble, particularly if d1eir rights in regards to die provision of mtoring services, are not weU understood.

On February 6, Ayres and Member for Parramatta Geoff Lee, inv ited a.round 30 attendees o f the Indian media to a function at the new Office of Fair Trading (O PT) in Patra.matta. The purpose was to advise the media about d1e rights parents have when they take

''TI1e OFThas had reievanr documems relr1ting to the Jaw translated lnto Hindi, wimarilyto c1chieve the purpo s~ of protecting the lOl!1munity and educating parent s about th eir rights reganJiny iutorir,g servtce providers on private mtors for the ir children.

The Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe, ministerial staff and several media gro ups were also in attendance.

The OFT has had relevant documents re lating to die law trans lated inro Hindi, primarily to achieve the purpose of protectin g die commw1ity and educating parents about their rights regarding tutoring service providers. The Ausrralian Tutoring Associatio n (ATA) has also realised the immense importance of having its Code of Conduct u·ansl ated, and this is now available in Hindi fn the next fe,,•

''weeks, it will also be translated into Telegu and Gujarati.

"

\Xie encourage parents ro seek only J\TJ\ mtors and we support a self- regulation model," said Ay res fo tbe first instance, the OFT recommends that parents only take on mtors who a.re registered \vith the ATA and are accredited. ln chis way they can ensure best practice standards a.re being upheld and that they have an avenue of support in the event o f an issue aris ing from the standard of servi ce being prpvi ded.

It is extremely important diat all parents understand their rights and ensure that they seek proper in formation and accountabilities from prh7ate mmrs. Parents can go to W\V\\'1:tta.edu.au a nd \VW\\, fa.irtrading com.au to .find useful fact sheets.

Brother-sister duo Arnita and Akshay Rao impress in debut performance

To hear abouc the nuances of classical Indian music in t:be words of young ones, is always a p leasure for connoisseurs of tbe a:rt.

As Amica Rao spoke abom the purpose of ragas in Indian classical music, you c o uldn't help thinking about what other girls her age spend their rime listeoing to.

As Akshay Rao spoke about alaaps and how they prepare the listener to receive the emotions from die singer, you goc a sense of die man y Saturdays spent in practice.

Despite hectic school and universicy studies (A l;:shay is a commerce-law s tudent ar universicy and Amica, a Year 12 student), the brother and si ster duo prese nted a commendable show in their debut performance i n m id -J anua ry W i th Sanskrit prayers, Tagore compositions, ghazal.s, mgc,- based film songs and Marathi and Kannada creations, the singers show- cased their repertoire in elegant style.

Bod1 singers presented the traditional invoc ation to Lord Gauesha in the Sanskrit Aja111 Neervi .Kalpa111. Amica impressed just as much w ith her Bengali A11lara !Vf.ama, a compo sition widi underpinning of m ysticism and sp irimalit:y, as she did with the ghazal Aq;jaane ki zid in rag,1 Ya1na11 Kabm1. In Bo/ere prippi hara she managed to keep all the ornameutacions intact, and she tackled the popuhr song Di/ cbeez l;,ya bai with careful and smooth navigation, especially widi die very high notes in the third anh"a. lvfadbuban mei11 radhika in raga F-Ia111invas t he concluding so ng for the evening and there was no sign of weariness as Akshay delivered the classic Mohammad Rafi song wbicb was quite challenging in rerms of tam11as and the sargaJJ/_S involved. As d1ey sang o ne composition after anorner, diere was no doubt di ar born had a firm contro l on t he notes and rhythm. A great connection was builc between the audience and the artistes as introduction was g iven abom each song including mga and /tJti/by die artistes d1emselves. Tbe brilliant, lively tahlr1 accompanimem b y Abhi jic Dan and die perfect h.armooium support by Med ha Padiak uplifted the atmosphere. The sound, managed b y Abdul Sajwani ensured a well-balanced output.

Akshay Hrutred his stuff with Poocho 11a kaise 111ai11 11e in raga Ahir Bhaimv, inducing the right moods associated w irn ch is raga i.e peace, sadness and love. He also showed off his nuanced n,ga Ya111t111 Kabm1 (Mana 1·e) and raga Khtwuy (/ /yo kaba11 se Gha11sqya111).

The Marntb i duet Nt1111agetba and A.mita's Kannada compositi o n Bandaalo 11a1m11a 111anege were also well received by t:be audience.

Earlier in the evening, Aksbay and Amita to uched the feet of d1eir reacher, d1e eminent Medha Padiak, as well as the musicians on stage, to seek their blessings. The proud teacher was seen nodding ber head in appreciatio n as her smdencs delivered some very challenging compositions, sharing d1e srnge with her Parents Hema and Sudhakar welcomed me guests and Sudhakar spoke about his children's desire to demonstrate d1rough a performance, d1e knowledge that they had acquired during their pursuit in music. He also acknowledged music personalities Pushpa J agadish, Aparna Nagashayana and Avijit Sarkar for their mentoring of Aksbay and Amira during their journey ill mUSIC.

Poornim a Bhat