Student outcomes cannot improve without more federal funding according to state education ministers after national tests showed one third of children are failing to meet basic literacy and numeracy standards.
Federal ministers were also batting back calls for the Commonwealth to direct funding towards public schools after the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results showed wide disparities among disadvantaged groups.
Almost 1.3 million students in years three, five, seven and nine received their results on Wednesday (August 14). Across every year group, about one in three fell short of expectations and roughly one in ten needed additional support.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said all governments had a responsibility to improve student performance. “These are alarming results and we certainly need to do better with states and territories,” he said.
The Australian reports that: “Federal Education Minister Jason Clare will use the dire results to strongarm stubborn state governments to commit to “practical reforms” such as phonics checks and numeracy checks, evidence-based teaching and catch-up tutoring”
Mr. Clare declared: “Your chances in life shouldn’t depend on your parents’ pay packet or the colour of your skin, but these results again show that’s still the case. [They] show why serious reform is needed and why we need to tie additional funding to reforms that will help students catch up, keep up and finish school.’’
The Commonwealth has urged all states to sign onto its Better and Fairer Schools Agreement which will provide support and an additional $16 billion in funding over the next decade, with the aim of increasing the number of year 12 finishers. The Northern Territory and West Australian governments have agreed, but other jurisdictions are holding out as negotiations continue over the funding needed to reach the Schooling Resource Standard. The measure, recommended by David Gonski in his 2011 review of the Australian education system, estimates how much total public funding a school requires to meet its students’ needs.
NSW is hoping the federal government will increase its contribution to 25% from its offer of 22.5%, claiming that without this lift, the state government cannot scale up pre-existing programs that help students, such as small group tutoring. “The Commonwealth government is not doing its bit and we need them to do that in order for us to roll this out everywhere to kids that need it and deserve it,” explained NSW Education Minister Prue Car.
Queensland students received the poorest NAPLAN scores of any mainland state for the second year in a row, with 38.4% failing to meet national standards for literacy and maths compared to the national average of 32.9%. Thousands of Queensland parents had refused to allow their children to sit the controversial exam in a growing trend not seen to the same extent interstate.
The Queensland Teachers’ Union has long campaigned against NAPLAN, calling on the state and federal governments to abolish the test in its current form. In March, president Cresta Richardson reminded parents “they can withdraw their children. This choice is being made to avoid the high levels of stress and anxiety experienced by students in this high-stakes, but low-value testing model.”
In 2008, when the test was introduced, Queensland students had the highest participation rate in the country (97%). Withdrawal rates have since soared, particularly in older age groups. A Queensland Education Department spokeswoman pointed out the state’s NAPLAN participation remained low and caution should be used when comparing results across states and territories.
The national curriculum was revised in 2022, but Queensland has given schools to 2027 to adopt the changes, which focus on phonics-based reading. Despite the poor results, Education Minister Di Farmer said that after extensive discussions with teachers, principals, and education unions, Queensland was taking a “phased approach” to implementing version nine of the curriculum “allowing greater flexibility for schools to manage workload’’.
More government funding should also be directed at public schools, rather than their private counterparts, said Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll. The Commonwealth’s proposed deal would only offer Victorian public school students about $1000 each. “If we are going to fulfil the dream of Gonski and have a needs-based education system, we need the Commonwealth to put a lot more funding into public education,” Mr Carroll added.
Tasmanian Education Minister Jo Palmer hailed what she called her state’s “promising” results, but said the test was not the only benchmark for learning, while South Australian counterpart Blair Boyer said promising trends were beginning to emerge.
The 2024 outcomes show no significant difference in average scores compared to the year before, but significant demographic gaps remain. Girls outperformed boys in writing, with 73% testing at “strong” or “exceeding” levels, compared to 58% of boys in year seven. Boys performed better in numeracy compared to girls, with fewer girls in years three and five achieving the “exceeding” levels.
In both reading and numeracy, about one in three First Nations children tested in the “needs additional support” proficiency level compared to one in 10 non-Indigenous students. A divide between urban and rural schools also emerged, with 24% of students from very remote schools being rated as “strong” or “exceeding” compared to 70.7% of students from major city schools.
Australian Education Union federal president Correna Haythorpe said the results were a damning indictment on the failure of governments to fully fund public schools. “Australia cannot close achievement gaps without closing resourcing gaps,” she said.
Federal opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson said reforms were urgently needed. “We have to get back to basics in the classroom with evidence-based teaching methods. Every Australian child deserves no less.”
With Australian Associated Press (AAP)
