Australian Schools Failing our Children

Australian 15-year-olds rank ninth in the world for reading and science and tenth in the world for maths, but almost half still failed to reach national standards in those subjects. (https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/what-does-australias-education-system-need-to-do-differently/284877)

Norman at Trinity Bay High School

The Australian Council for Educational Research found “A staggering 70% of students from disadvantaged backgrounds failed to meet the National Proficiency Standard in maths, and Indigenous students were found to be around four years behind non-Indigenous students. Another worrying trend that persists is regional students performing worse than their metropolitan peers despite an increasing focus on addressing this gap in recent years.

A recent study from the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) found that teaching courses in Australian universities are ‘setting students up for failure’ by spending too much time focusing on woke issues and activism and not enough on core literacy and numeracy skills.” (https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/how-should-australia-reverse-its-longterm-decline-in-student-outcomes/283783)

I stand for:

• Increased funding for schools and students in disadvantaged areas

• Reassessment of the education system to improve educational outcomes for students to help them reach national standards of proficiency and make them more competitive internationally

• Teacher training at universities should focus on how to teach literacy, numeracy and other core subjects instead of making undue emphasis on woke issues and activism

• Children should not be indoctrinated but taught to think, question and inquire.

• Students and staff should not be intimidated in schools or tertiary institutions for being Jewish or any other ethnicity or religion.