We're failing at preschools. OECD says

AUSTRALIA lags well behind the best-performing OECD countries in preschool education, with only 42per cent of children aged three to four in formal programs.

AUSTRALIA lags well behind the best-performing OECD countries in preschool education, with only 42per cent of children aged three to four in formal programs.

By comparison, more than 90per cent of children in Belgium, France, Germany and New Zealand attend preschool. Besides preschool, only one-third of Australian children aged under five attended a commonwealth-approved childcare facility, and in some states and territories, such as Western Australia and the Northern Territory, the rate was 27per cent.

The OECD's Economic Surveys Australia 2008 report, released last night, also shows Australian reading scores falling significantly, in a statistical sense, between 2003 and 2006, "reflecting mainly a decline in the scores of high achievers".

It says Australia is the only country among those with above-average performance that experienced such a strong deterioration in students' reading performance. The mathematical skills of Australian girls also slipped.

The report says that teaching quality "constitutes a very important determinant" of student outcome, and it laments the fall in average teacher pay in Australia between 1983 and 2003.

It says the rise in pay in non-teaching occupations has "played a significant role in the deterioration in teacher quality" as talented teachers leave schools for more lucrative positions.

The report is critical of the Australian system of allowing no rise in pay after 15 years of experience. "Salary progression of public school teachers reflects the length of teaching tenure, rather than performance," it says.

"Teachers reach the top salary band within nine years after graduation. Subsequent promotions usually involve administrative and management roles, reducing the attractiveness of becoming a teacher."

The report characterises successful education systems as ones where schools are accountable for the performance of their staff, and where principals have autonomy over staffing and curriculum.

"Accountability, autonomy and choice have been shown to be strongly associated with student achievement," it says.

"Moving to less centralised management is indispensable to increase school autonomy and choice."

The report says children with a disability and those from non-English-speaking backgrounds "are significantly under-represented in both childcare and preschool services, and fewer than half of all indigenous children receive an early-childhood education".

It says the total public and private education expenditure on education institutions "increased by 46per cent between 1995 and 2005, somewhat faster than the OECD average".

Spending on education accounts for almost 6per cent of GDP. "While these figures do not take into account more recent spending initiatives, especially those included in the latest budgets, it is clear that Australia spends less than the countries that invest most in education," the report says.

"A distinguishing feature is the low level of expenditure on pre-primary education, which accounts for only 0.1per cent of GDP compared to the OECD average of around 0.5per cent.

"Spending on primary and lower secondary education, on the other hand, is well above the OECD average, while tertiary spending is around the area average."

The report says Australia nevertheless performs "significantly better than expected" on the basis of spending levels alone.

It notes a rise in graduation rates, probably because of "the well-designed income-contingent loan scheme for students".

The percentage of the population that has attained tertiary education exceeds the OECD average.