Primary schools want curriculum focus

CANBERRA, Australia, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The Australian Primary School Association wants to concentrate on fundamentals, arguing manners, animal care and nutrition are sucking up time.

In a draft charter, the group said the four main subjects should be English, mathematics, science and history. Sports, music, technology and languages would fall into a second tier of learning, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The association says half of class time is now used to ensure children can deal with language and numbers. The other half includes a broad range of subjects such as financial literacy and drug education.

"They're fairly time consuming if you do them properly," said Leonie Trimper, the group's president. "The charter would give schools permission to say 'no'."

Geoff Scott, a principal who heads the association in New South Wales, said parents expect students to get the basic subjects.

"We can't just go down this track every time a politician thinks it's a good idea," he said.