If you only read the headlines, you’d think Australia’s education system is on the brink of collapse. Recent headlines include: “Six ways Australia’s education system is failing our kids,” “One-third of Australian children can’t read properly as teaching methods cause ‘preventable tragedy’, Grattan Institute says,” and “Why Australia’s students keep falling behind.”
The news is full of grim stories about teacher shortages, curriculum reviews, and classroom behaviour problems. But here’s a reality check: Australia’s education system is doing just fine. In fact, by several measures, it’s thriving. It’s time to ignore the catastrophisers and focus on the facts. Let’s get one thing straight: no education system is perfect. Every country faces challenges, and Australia is no different. But if we zoom out from the doom-and-gloom headlines, a different picture emerges—one of resilience, progress, and success.Australia’s performance is solid; we’re not breaking any records, but we’re doing. If you were to focus on the headlines, you’d think we were near the bottom of the OECD rankings, and that is simply not the case. PISA, conducted by the OECD, measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics, and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges. In the latest results, Australian students performed above the OECD average in reading and science. If we look closer, we can see that Australia ranked 11th out of 85 countries overall. In Math, Australia ranked 16, Science 10th and Reading 12th. Overall, our score fell by five points between 2018 and 2022, but our ranking rose from 18th to 11th.
These aren’t the rankings of a system in crisis. These are the rankings of a country holding its own on the global stage despite the hurdles. While this may not be a cause to celebrate, it certainly isn’t reminiscent of headlines telling us we are falling behind. Falling behind who?
If we want to dive deeper domestically, NAPLAN, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy, also shows a positive trend in most areas. NAPLAN tests students across Australia in years 3, 5, 7, and 9. The 2023 NAPLAN results showed a positive trend: significant improvements in reading and numeracy for certain year levels. If we look at national minimum standards, we have at least 90% of all students, on average, across all grade levels meeting the minimum standard in a given discipline. There are areas where results have fallen over the past five years, but the results are cohort-specific. The facts are that reading levels have improved over the past five years for all but year 9. In writing, all cohorts have improved over the past five years. In grammar, again, there were mostly the same or slight improvements for all cohorts except year 9, which fell a few percentage points. In numeracy, we’ve had steady results with minimal improvement but a strong showing, with approximately 95% of students at all year levels meeting the minimum standard. Again, while 90% of children meeting minimum standards isn’t something to hang our hats on, the top end of results is also showing improvement. In 2023, 64% of Yr 9, 67% of Yr 7, 68% of Yr 5 and 65% of Yr 3 had ‘Strong’ or ‘Exceeding’ results in numeracy and the results were similar for other categories, such as Reading.
These results are a testament to the hard work of teachers, students, and parents nationwide. They show that despite the challenges, Australian education is performing well.
Teacher Shortages: A Global Issue, Not Just Australia
We’ve also heard plenty about the teacher shortages, haven’t we? I’ve written about them for years and addressed it in a previous post. Yes, teacher shortages are a problem, but they’re not unique to Australia. This is a global issue exacerbated by the pandemic and changing workforce dynamics. Despite my punditry, Australia is tackling this head-on with initiatives to attract and retain teachers. These include incentives for teachers in rural and remote areas, professional development programs, and a focus on mental health and well-being for educators. Will it work? Who knows? One thing I do know is that if we keep catastrophising the profession or education more broadly, it certainly isn’t going to help.
Yes, another curriculum review. Here, I have to say I am not a fan of another review. Not because reviews are necessarily bad, but rather because those reviews are premised on the perception of a broken system (see my post here on curriculum reviews). However, in reality, curriculum reviews are often a sign of progress. Reviewing and updating the curriculum is essential to ensure that students learn the skills they need for the future. The recent changes in the Australian Curriculum, which emphasise critical thinking, digital literacy, and Indigenous perspectives, are steps forward, not backward.
Behaviour problems in classrooms are another hot topic. I dedicated two posts recently to the subject (Here and Here). Those two posts in a nutshell – kids are kids. Tackling behaviour is a perennial problem and not one exclusive to Australia. Yes, Australia has a severe problem with classroom behaviour, which the media have captured, and it’s easy to sensationalise these issues. But the issues are nuanced, and it’s more productive to address the root causes. Once again, Australia is moving in the right direction here with steps to ensure schools have mandatory minimum requirements for behaviour. While I have been dismissive and critical of a behaviour curriculum, I thought the premise of the policy was misconstrued, not the proposed outcomes. The truth is that many schools are implementing positive behaviour support programs, focusing on creating inclusive and supportive learning environments and starting to implement those minimum behaviour requirements. These programs show promising results, improving student behaviour and the overall school climate. Under the new policies, we should see even more rapid improvement.
For every negative headline, there are countless untold success stories. There are students excelling in STEM programs and winning international science and mathematics competitions. There are schools pioneering innovative teaching methods and integrating technology in ways that enhance learning. There are teachers in every school who go above and beyond, inspiring their students to achieve their best, but we never hear these stories. Instead, negative stories often dominate headlines, capturing more attention due to their sensational and clickbait nature. News outlets frequently focus on crises, failures, and controversies within the education sector, overshadowing steady progress and positive developments. This skewed representation can distort public perception, making it seem like the education system is constantly in decline. When a bold headline declares: Australia’s Students are Falling Behind, it is bound to get more clicks than: Australia’s students making slow but steady progress. However, numerous success stories and significant advancements in Australian education deserve recognition.
It’s easy to get caught up in the negativity. Fear sells newspapers and drives clicks. But when it comes to education in Australia, we must embrace the facts, not the fear. The data from PISA and NAPLAN show that our students are performing well, and the system is, on average, continuously improving. Could it be better? Of course, and we should continue to strive to make it better. In the meantime, let’s celebrate the successes, acknowledge the challenges, and work together to keep improving the system. Let’s ignore the naysayers and look to the future with confidence, knowing that Australia’s education system is thriving.
Next time you see a headline predicting the end of Australian education as we know it, take a moment to dig deeper. The facts tell a different story—one of success, improvement, and hope. And that’s the story worth telling. The sky isn’t falling. In fact, it’s full of potential.
Maximising Student Potential 