Released 25/07/2017
The 2017 Report on Government Services confirms the ACT Labor Government commitments in education, including a strategy for the future of our schools and a focus on improving access to early childhood learning.
In school education, the report reiterates the strong performance of the ACT in three major assessments released at the end of last year.
Canberra school students continue to perform well in national comparisons in NAPLAN, particularly in reading, grammar and punctuation and numeracy. The ACT was also the highest performing Australian jurisdiction in scientific literacy, reading literacy and mathematical literacy as reported in the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment, achieving significantly higher than the OECD average in each domain. In the 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study the ACT is reported at generally higher or equal to other Australian jurisdictions in mathematics and science for both years 4 and 8.
The ACT’s success is based on the work of our dedicated teachers. Their commitment to providing quality teaching is clear in our results, and the ACT Government is focused on supporting teachers in their work. Canberra public schools have the second lowest students to teacher ratio in the nation, at 13.1 compared to the national average of 14.2, and we are committed to ensuring that this translates into giving teachers time to teach, prepare, and maintain and grow their professional expertise.
The report also shows that the ACT has the highest proportion of children from 0 to 5 years of age attending an Australian Government approved childcare service at 53 percent compared to the national average of 43 percent. Similarly, a high proportion of ACT children are accessing preschool.
Research is making it is increasingly clear that success in school education, particularly for disadvantaged children, is founded in quality early childhood education and care. The ACT Government will continue to provide free public preschool education for every child in the year before they start formal schooling and lobby the Commonwealth Government to make a financial contribution to preschool provision. We will also continue with targeted programs, such as our Koori Preschool Program and Early Years Engagement Officer.
Renewed attention on the future is required so the ACT can continue providing all children and young people with a good start to a decent life.
The government has begun work implementing our platform of investments to maintain and improve our quality education system, including:
- a community-wide consultation and policy development process to map out the school education system we want for the future
- an early childhood strategy to look at ways we can improve equity and access to education in the critical early learning years
- 100 scholarships to train teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as more support for teachers.
The 2017 Report on Government Services provides yet another reminder that our community needs a constant focus on equity, fairness and universal access to education.
- Statement ends -
Yvette Berry, MLA | Media Releases
Media Contacts
| Name | Phone | Mobile | |
|---|---|---|---|