Cycle of education failure needs to be broken early

Education systems giving struggling year 12 students who fail exams and assignment passing grades in subjects such as maths, science and English are harming the students, tertiary education standards and the economy. As the government looks to more highly qualified, skilled immigrants to fill well-paid jobs, too many Australian graduates will be unable to step up into some roles without major education reform. For those who have gone through the school system or are currently in it, the risks are undermining their life chances.

State curriculum bodies are pushing down pass marks to below 50 per cent, education editor Natasha Bita reports on Monday. The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, for example, awarded year 12 students a “C” pass-mark in specialist maths in 2022 if they achieved an overall mark of 47 out of 100. In maths methods, a prerequisite for engineering, the pass mark was 45 out of 100. Physics students needed 49 per cent to pass and biology students 48. English students got through on 41 out of 100 and modern history students on 44. While a QCAA spokesman said a grade of C “matches the objectives of the course and is considered satisfactory’’, many parent, employers and university lecturers disagree.

Victoria does not publish overall pass marks but reports on “score ranges’’ for coursework and written exams for 2021 showed students in Melbourne could pass some year 12 biology, maths and English exams with as little as 32 per cent. Shortages of university-educated teachers, especially in maths and science, are being blamed for the poor results.

As The Australian has argued for years, problems with early literacy and numeracy teaching and lack of rigour in upper primary school set students up for failure in later studies and skills training.

Maths teacher Stephen Norton said many students were finishing primary school not knowing their times tables, long division, multiplication or fractions. “The biggest problem in secondary school is you get a whole bunch of kids coming to school in grade 7 with the knowledge of grade 4 or 5. For some of them, if you ask ‘What’s seven multiplied by six?’ they can’t do it.’’ Dr Norton spent 15 years teaching mathematics to trainee teachers at Griffith University before returning to the classroom this year. As he noted, high school teachers are required to follow a detailed curriculum so they lacked time to help students catch up on basic concepts.

From secondary school, the problems extend into university, affecting students preparing for high-level STEM careers, as well as the next generation of teachers. University academics are finding school leavers ill-prepared for higher education study. Jennifer Stow, a researcher at the University of Queensland’s Institute of Molecular Bioscience, said students were not being taught enough basics in maths to build on at university. They were being assessed on assignments that anyone could mark. They needed to be taught maths rules and formulae and shown how to do things.

Education Minister Jason Clare has set up a panel of experts to reform teacher training. The panel, led by University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott, has proposed that universities teach undergraduate teachers “explicit mathematics instruction’’. Given the shortage of maths specialists, that would be a start, but success would depend on whether the trainee teachers studied the subject at secondary school and had the capacity to master it. Encouraging international students to stay after they graduate and welcoming well-educated immigrants cannot solve all our skills shortages. Young Australians are not unteachable. The schools sector must lift its game.