Struggling students to get free tutoring

Free tutoring at school for students struggling in maths and Eng­lish has won support from federal Education Minister Jason Clare.

Students struggling in maths and reading will be offered small-group tutoring at school, under reforms championed by federal Education Minister Jason Clare. ​

Free tutoring at school for students struggling in maths and Eng­lish has won support from federal Education Minister Jason Clare, who plans to pin extra funding to reforms that make a “real difference’’ to children’s learning.

Mr Clare has asked his panel of education experts reviewing the national schooling agreement to look at small-group tutoring in reading and maths to help students who are falling behind.

In remarks certain to upset teacher unions, Mr Clare will on Friday spell out his concept of “fair funding’’ that is tied to “things that will make a real difference’’, such as teaching quality and the ­curriculum.

Warning that more teenagers from government schools or poor families are dropping out of school, Mr Clare will champion the better targeting of education funding.

He will tell school principals that children from a poor background or living in remote and regional areas, as well as First Nations children, are three times more likely than other kids to fall behind at school. “This can’t just be about closing the funding gap,’’ Mr Clare will tell the NSW Teachers’ Federation Principals Conference in Sydney on Friday.

“It’s also got to be about closing the education gap.

“This is what I want fair funding to fix – funding tied to the things that will turn this around.’’

Teacher unions have been demanding the government speed up increases to education spending so that every school meets the full Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) immediately – the equivalent of $1800 in extra spending for public school students every year.

Mr Clare will tell teachers that it is important to get every school to 100 per cent of its SRS funding – a model devised by businessman David Gonski a decade ago.

“Getting every school to what David Gonski called the full Schooling Resource Standard is important,’’ he will say in his speech. “But what is even more important is what that funding does, the difference it makes.’’ Mr Clare will highlight the fact that eight-year-old children from poor families have fallen two years behind kids from wealthy families in reading, with the gap doubling over the past 15 years.

“If you start behind, or if you fall behind, it’s hard to catch up,’’ he will say. “More often the gap gets bigger and bigger with every year at school. And if you are a child from a poor family and you go to a school where there are a lot of other children from disadvantaged backgrounds, well that’s even more likely.’’

Mr Clare will raise concerns that more teenagers are dropping out of government schools – only 76 per cent finished year 12 in 2021, compared with 83 per cent in 2017.

In private and Catholic schools, the retention rate has remained stable at 87 per cent.

Among students from wealthy families, nearly 85 per cent finished year 12 in 2021, compared with 74 per cent of students from poor families.

“We have the best education system in the world, but not for everyone,’’ Mr Clare will say.

“Remember what finishing high school means – in the world we live in today, it’s your ticket to the show. Nine out of 10 new jobs require a TAFE qualification or a univer­sity degree.’’

Mr Clare has angered teacher unions by ordering a one-year extension to the National School Reform Agreement, which sets out education targets and responsibilities between the federal, state and territory governments.

The deal was due to expire this year but Mr Clare wants more time for a panel of experts to recommend evidence-based reforms to lift Australia’s falling educational standards.

The SRS is a base rate of funding per student, with extra money allocated for students from poor families, for those with a disability, or for those from an Indigenous or migrant background.

Base funding this year will be $13,060 for primary students and $16,413 for secondary students.

Under the so-called Gonski model, funding is gradually being redirected from wealthier schools to poorer schools.