State and Territory Education Ministers have delivered a strong endorsement of the Malinauskas Labor Government’s South Australian education reforms to address inequity in schools and to focus on teacher recruitment and retention.
At today’s Education Ministers meeting in Sydney, Ministers identified a series of priority reforms that will result in better academic outcomes for students through setting clear goals of equity and excellence, wellbeing, and workforce for the next National School Reform Agreement.
The Federal Education Minister and States and Territories endorsed getting all schools to 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard – which would equate to around $190m extra each year for South Australian public schools.
As part of the discussion around the next National Student Reform Agreement, all Education Ministers are committed to closing the gap in educational outcomes, and delivering an education system that supports young Australians of all backgrounds to achieve their full educational potential.
Full funding for every school is crucial to achieving a more equitable education system with South Australia focused on ensuring the next Gonski Agreement will fund public schools at 100 per cent – with the Federal Government funding the 5 per cent shortfall.
South Australian Education Minister Blair Boyer also expressed the need to ramp up the teacher workforce work to ensure states and territories can attract and retain the teachers needed.
As a state, South Australia has already taken action to deliver on the National Workforce Plan, including:
- Launching the national teacher campaign with South Australian teacher Stacey Frogley
- A new Enterprise Agreement including significant workload reduction and extra support to make teaching a more attractive profession
- Autism Inclusion Teachers in primary schools
- A $50 million investment in mental health practitioners
- 400 new teaching scholarships in addition to the scholarships on offer as part of the national teacher plan.
Ministers also endorsed improvements to teaching qualifications to ensure graduates gain the knowledge and skills needed in the classroom – including stronger expertise in literacy and numeracy, better behaviour management knowledge and skills, and more effective teaching practices that understand how students learn.
Quotes
Attributable to Blair Boyer
An equitable education system is critical to ensuring our students get the best start in life.
That’s why funding of public schools to 100 per cent is critical.
For South Australia, that would mean an extra $190 million per year that we can invest into the things that matter – such as wellbeing for learning and engagement. It would mean we would have the appropriate resources to support our students when they need it the most.
I am proud to have worked with colleagues to ensure the next agreement focuses on the three areas that will result in better student academic outcomes: equity and excellence, wellbeing, and workforce.
We’re focusing on these areas because we know that a great teacher makes a massive difference. We know that if your mental health isn’t in good shape you won’t perform well academically. And we know that too often your postcode determines your education outcomes.
Focusing on these areas will transform lives and lift student results.
We are being incredibly innovative here in South Australia with the introduction of Autism Inclusion Teachers in primary schools and a $50 million investment in mental health practitioners and I’m pleased to see my state and territory colleagues looking at the work we’re doing here and using it as an example for better education outcomes.
