A major education agreement is being signed in an attempt to improve the quality of Australia's schooling system across public and private institutions.
It will set out key funding priorities targeting better student performance and an increase in the number of kids completing high school across the country.
State and territory education ministers are demanding the federal government double its funding offer, with negotiations slow moving.
abc.net.au/news/new-school-agreement-to-be-signed-for-australian-schools/104161506 Share Share articleThe future for Australia's 10,000 schools will be set out in a new funding agreement being signed on Wednesday, with cutting the number of teenagers dropping out of school a key focus.
As well as funding arrangements for individual states, the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement (BFSA) sets out a suite of new national measures to arrest the downward trend in Australian schools.
"We have a good education system, but it can be a lot better and fairer," federal Education Minister Jason Clare said.
"The number of kids finishing high school is going backwards. In the last seven years, it's dropped from 85 per cent to 79 per cent. In public schools, the drop is even bigger, from 83 per cent to 73.6 per cent."
The BFSA, to be signed in Darwin, reveals major changes coming for all of Australia's 4 million school students.
The Commonwealth wants a series of new tests to allow earlier interventions and improve performance across Australia's 10,000 schools in return for extra money.
"I have made clear that the additional $16 billion of funding for public schools I have put on the table will be tied to reforms. Reforms that will help kids catch up, keep up and finish school," Mr Clare said.
One in three school students throughout Australia are not meeting minimum numeracy and literacy expectations, and one in 10 are so far behind they need additional support, new NAPLAN data shows.
The new agreement introduces a new national phonics check for all children in year 1 as well as plans for a similar foundational numeracy check.
NAPLAN results will need to improve with the number of students needing additional support to be cut from 30 per cent to 20 per cent.
The states will also have to increase school attendance to pre-COVID levels of 91.4 per cent up from 88.6 per cent in 2023.
Year 12 Indigenous completion rates will need to meet their closing the gap targets of 96 per cent by 2031, up from 68.4 per cent in 2021.
The report also aims to lift the number of teachers studying at university by 10 per cent and provide better support in their early years on the job.
The deal reveals the Commonwealth will double its share of NT public school funding to 40 per cent in exchange for its signature on the deal.
That means that by 2029, the territory's schools will finally hit the minimum funding levels set by the Gonski review a decade ago.
Under the previous agreement, the Commonwealth funded 20 per cent of public schools with the states paying the rest.
What does the Gonski report on school funding actually say? Find out, and then take our pop quiz.
Western Australia has also agreed to a deal that will see the Commonwealth increase its share of funding there to 22.5 per cent and that state will reach its Gonski levels by 2026.
However, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania are holding out, as they want the federal education minister to double his offer and fund 25 per cent of schools.
"Negotiations are moving slowly, but I still remain confident we will come to an agreement," said South Australian Education Minister Blair Boyer.
"We are sticking to our guns and I know I'm joined by other states and the ACT, calling on the federal government to provide the last remaining five per cent."
The Commonwealth has a blunt warning that these states risk walking away with no new money.
"The remaining states and territories have until the end of September to confirm they will sign this agreement or continue with the current funding arrangements," Mr Clare said.
Negotiations have delayed the new school funding agreement by a year and there have been more than 60 meetings with the nation's education ministers.
A further hold-up would be a blow to underfunded public schools as they lose students to independent and catholic institutions.
Critics have already said this is creating a "segregated" education system where public schools educate the most disadvantaged.
"We talk about concentration of disadvantage which is an opaque name for how complicated and complex public school classrooms are," Mr Boyer said.
"That means how many students in the classroom need some kind of additional support, it might be autism, it might be really struggling with literacy or numeracy."
Almost all private schools are already funded to their Gonski minimums, with 40 per cent over funded.
Mr Boyer said Australia's funding system had improved, but would remain unfair while public schools fell short of their Gonski targets.
"I have to give a shout-out to Jason Clare here. This is our last chance to get to 100 per cent."
The federal opposition said the government had "botched" the delivery of much-needed reforms to Australia's school system.
"Jason Clare is embroiled in a full-blown school funding war and has botched the opportunity to deliver the national reforms every child needs to reach his or her best potential," Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson said.
Senator Henderson welcomed the phonics check and other new measures, but warned that teachers may be left to design new course materials.
"Our nation's hard-working and dedicated teachers must be front and centre of further school reforms. Too often, educators are forced to work extra hours writing lesson plans from scratch when highly-effective teaching materials should be available to every school," Senator Henderson said.
The Centre for Independent Studies, a right-leaning think tank, said the government's reforms could set Australia's education system on the path to becoming high performing.
"Rather than just another funding deal, the new agreements tell the education system at large that better results and ambitious reform are expected," said CIS education program director Glenn Fahey said.
"It's been a lack of policy direction and conviction, not a lack of resources, that's been to blame for decades of education system underperformance. All state education ministers should accept the invitation to support these improvement efforts."
The Australian Education Union (AEU) criticised the federal government and called on it to meet the state government's requests to increase its share of funding to 25 per cent.
"In the lead up to the last federal election, Prime Minister Albanese promised to ensure that every public school was fully funded. This current deal on the table, of an additional 2.5 per cent or nothing, is inadequate and does not deliver on their promise," AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said.
Those called were echoed by the Greens.
"This is not a plan for full funding. This is a plan to lock in underfunding for another decade, ensuring another entire generation of public school kids misses out on the education they deserve," Greens schools spokeswoman Senator Penny Allman-Payne said.
Posted Tue 30 Jul 2024 at 6:48pm Tuesday 30 Jul 2024 at 6:48pm Tue 30 Jul 2024 at 6:48pm , updated Wed 31 Jul 2024 at 7:05am Wednesday 31 Jul 2024 at 7:05am Wed 31 Jul 2024 at 7:05am
