Schools funding blamed for fall in performance

THE fall in the performance of school students is the fault of a system that failed, a member of the Gonski review panel says.

THE fall in the performance of Australian school students over the past decade is the fault of a funding system that failed in its objectives to promote competition and improve performance, a member of the Gonski review panel into schools funding has argued.

Ken Boston, former education department head in NSW and South Australia and former chief executive of Britain's Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, said a new model that funded schools for the job to be done, rather than funding sectors as at present, was required to lift student performance.

"The business model we developed over a period of time, and that was adopted by both Labor and Liberal governments, has clearly failed. It has not assisted us or enabled us to drive up performance," he told The Weekend Australian.

"Performance everywhere is stagnant and in some critical dimensions actually in decline and not simply in comparison with other countries but in absolute terms."

Dr Boston said in introducing the current funding system, then prime minister John Howard made the point that competition was important in driving up performance. "Clearly there has been no competition between the government, independent and Catholic schools, and there should be," he said. "There's merit in real competition but what we've had is not competition but a massive drift away from one sector. The current model has slotted everyone into a socio-economic niche and hasn't driven up performance because there is no competition."

Dr Boston said competition could not occur until schools operated on a level playing field, funded for the job they had to do rather than for the sector to which they belonged.