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Review into calls for curriculum change

A less crowded, parent friendly and back to basics approach has been recommended in the national curriculum review.

The federal government released the 288-page report by former teacher and Liberal staffer Kevin Donnelly and business professor Ken Wiltshire and its response on Sunday.

Education Minister Christopher Pyne flagged he’d like to see most of the 30 recommendations adopted.

“I don’t get a sense that this is an ideological document,” Mr Pyne told reporters in Adelaide.

There was nothing in it that would make state and territory governments baulk, he said.

However, critics have warned the report may reignite a “culture war”.

It recommends ramping up the focus on Western civilisation and Australia’s Judeo-Christian heritage and scaling back emphasis on indigenous history and Asia.

It calls for greater emphasis on the democratic underpinning of the British system of government to Australia’s development.

The report found excessive curriculum content was affecting students’ learning quality.

“We do want to see a less crowded curriculum,” Mr Pyne said.

The report also raised concerns about teachers’ poor grammar and punctuation.

“It’s hard to expect teachers who have never been taught grammar, to teach it,” the education minister said.

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