Students’ academic results stagnant despite billions of dollars in funding

A scathing assessment of the education system found widening gaps in learning and little progress made in the past decade.

One third of Australia’s most struggling students have not improved despite billions of dollars in increased funding for education, a new report has found.

Total spending on schools nationally has been confirmed to reach $319bn by 2029.

This is despite damning new findings from the Productivity Commission that results have “not materially increased in either the government, Catholic or independent sector” over the past decade.

Nearly one in 10 year 9 students don’t meet standards in either numeracy or literacy, the commission found.

The commission on Wednesday will release a scathing assessment of the standards of schools. Rather than narrowing, gaps in learning are widening and little progress has been made over the past decade, with some students up to five years behind their peers.

The commission concludes that many state governments don’t know “where schools spend money”.

Victorian students did NAPLAN digitally for the first time this year. Picture: David Caird

One fifth of all students are still not meeting international standards and one third of students aren’t regularly attending school, the report reveals.

The data shows only 71 per cent of students nationally went to school 90 per cent or more of the time in 2019, even before Covid hit.

The interim report from the commission puts governments on notice: funding will continue but standards need to improve. The commission’s highly critical 263-page report said governments and agencies should be held to “account for the outcomes they commit to achieve” and stop relying on “perverse” ways to reduce the risk of losing funding.

Under the commission’s plan to boost student performance, teachers will be freed from low-level administrative tasks to spend more time teaching, and there will be more focus on wellbeing.

Total spending on schools nationally has been confirmed to reach $319 billion by 2029. Picture: Josh Woning

NAPLAN would also be changed to remove confusing learning bands in favour of clearly understood standards.

Commissioner Natalie Siegel-Brown said schools “must do more to prevent students from falling behind and help those who are struggling to catch up with their peers”.

“Unfortunately, we persistently fall short of the ideal of an equitable education for all students,” she said.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the report “makes it clear there is more work to do to help kids who are falling behind”.

One fifth of all students are still not meeting international standards, the report reveals. Picture: Brendan Radke

State Education Minister Natalie Hutchins said she was “working through the findings of this interim report and welcome opportunities to collaborate nationally on student outcomes, student wellbeing and supporting hardworking teachers”. The commission has called for responses to the interim report by October 21 and will be preparing a final report for consideration by ministers by December 31.