Page 670 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 22 February 2012
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While many focus, with good reason, on the estimated $5 billion investment that the report is calling for, I am concerned that there may be some loss of focus on what it is hoped the investment will actually achieve. At first glance, the investment could be about increasing Australian funding of schools to a level closer to, but not above, the OECD average of three per cent of GDP. But this in itself does not change anything other than the numbers.
Once you read the recent research, and listen to concerns raised by various stakeholders over the previous few years, you will see that Mr Gonski has found that there has been a steady decline in student performance in Australia over the past decade. You will also see that there is a large performance gap between the highest and lowest performing students.
This issue of the educational gap based on socioeconomic status or cultural background or disability is deeply concerning and is an issue the ACT Greens have raised many times. It is why we included inquiries into the achievement gap and support for students with a disability in the parliamentary agreement.
The inquiry into the achievement gap found that on the basis of the program for international student assessment and other indicators, the ACT could be characterised as a high quality but low equity education system. There is no denying that we have excellent schools in the ACT, with dedicated and passionate educators, and on a lot of measures the ACT is doing better than the national average. We should rightly be proud of these outcomes and celebrate the positive contributions these schools make to our children and our community. But as always, there is more to be done. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels. Again, key findings from the Gonski report highlight this. Finding 19 states:
The key dimensions of disadvantage that are having a significant impact on educational performance in Australia are socioeconomic status, Indigeneity, English language proficiency, disability and school remoteness.
Finding 20 says:
There are complex interactions between factors of disadvantage, and students who experience multiple factors are at a higher risk of poor performance.
Finally, I would like to read out finding 21:
Increased concentration of disadvantaged students in certain schools is having a significant impact on educational outcomes, particularly, but not only, in the government sector.
Concentrations of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and Indigenous students have the most significant impact on educational outcomes.
Currently in Australia the majority of students from a low socioeconomic background, or students with often multiple disadvantages or learning barriers such as disabilities, are more often than not attending public schools. Of course, there are students in these
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