Is Australia's School Curriculum Preparing Students for Future Success?
As the new school year approaches, parents and educators across Australia are reflecting on whether the education system is truly setting students up for future achievement. The time, resources, and effort invested in classrooms must be optimised to benefit both learners and teachers effectively.
Australia's future prosperity hinges on getting education right in 2026 and beyond. While economic challenges like low productivity growth and high inflation dominate national discussions, the connection between education outcomes and economic performance is undeniable. Teachers facing excessive workloads understand that working smarter to achieve better results is essential.
Examining Education System Productivity
First, consider the productivity of Australia's education system: the relationship between inputs and student outcomes. Unfortunately, trends are moving in the wrong direction. Despite increased funding through initiatives like the Gonski plan and recent national agreements, student performance has declined.
Approximately one in three Australian students fails to meet proficiency standards in NAPLAN testing. This figure rises to nearly one in two for regional and remote students. For First Nations students or those from families where parents didn't complete high school, only one in three achieve proficiency.
According to OECD's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), today's 15-year-old Australian students have regressed compared to previous generations. This decline is more severe than in almost any other developed country.
The Link Between Education and National Productivity
Second, education significantly contributes to national productivity. OECD research indicates that about one-sixth of the productivity slowdown across developed economies stems from declining human capital quality. Australia mirrors this pattern, with observable economic consequences.
Students lacking foundational skills face constrained future opportunities, while employers report that up to 88 percent of workers demonstrate poor literacy and numeracy skills. This inevitably undermines workplace productivity and economic growth.
Pathways to Improvement
The solution begins in the classroom. Addressing Australia's education and productivity challenges requires ensuring all students learn more each year through enhanced teaching quality and improved curriculum resources. Policymakers must focus relentlessly on reforms that boost student learning outcomes.
Several key reforms are currently underway but require political courage for full implementation.
Accountability Through Targets
The new national funding agreement includes important targets: increasing the percentage of students proficient in literacy and numeracy as measured by NAPLAN, and halving learning gaps for disadvantaged groups by 2031. However, these targets need genuine accountability.
Performance must be tracked transparently, publicly reported, and directly linked to future funding decisions. There must be clear consequences if states and territories fail to use additional funds to measurably improve results.
Enhancing Teacher Training
The government must complete reforms in teacher training and practice. Education Minister Jason Clare's "Strong Beginnings" review introduced new content requirements for teaching degrees, including additional practical experience and instruction in the science of learning.
The challenge lies not in setting new standards but in enforcing them. If universities struggle to meet these requirements, allowing non-university providers to offer teacher education—as successfully implemented in England—should be considered.
Reforming Professional Standards
Federal agencies must leverage reforms in other education areas. The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers should be revised to reflect the same evidence-based approach to learning and teaching that underpins the Strong Beginnings reforms.
Current professional standards fail to specify the knowledge and practices required for effective teaching, nor do they enable evidence-based differentiation between teachers of varying skill levels.
Curriculum Refinements
Minister Clare's announcement of "keyhole surgery" on the mathematics curriculum for early primary years is a positive step. This review should draw on international examples and the hierarchical nature of mathematics to define what students must master before entering middle primary.
Critically, the curriculum must be informed by evidence regarding number sense and fluency. Developing fluency in maths facts and number knowledge requires deliberate targeting and sequential integration into the curriculum. A clear, well-structured curriculum provides teachers with the guidance needed to build strong foundations for future learning.
Education is often treated as a social policy issue separate from economic growth engines, but this perspective is flawed. Australia's prosperity and that of future generations depends on getting education right in 2026. Implementing these reforms with determination and transparency is essential for creating an education system that truly prepares students for success in an increasingly competitive world.
