Education Minister Jason Clare to create teaching super group to reverse dropout rate in public schools

Education Minister Jason will consider establishing a super education body to help boost rates of public school students finishing year 12. Under targets set by the Better Fairer Schools Arrangement (BFSA), which states and territories must aim to meet to receive increased federal funding, high school finishing rates should increase by 7.5 per cent on 2022 rates by 2030. There must also be improvements in priority cohorts, including students in regional and remote communities and students of low socio-economic status. Mr Clare used a speech at Curtin University’s Australian Student Equity Symposium, Mr Clare said the “heavy lifting” to increase year 12 completion rates is in the hands of public schools. While completion rates were either “high and are either stable or going up” in independent and Catholic schools, he said the “challenge” was in public schools, where levels had dropped from “about 83 per cent to as low as 73 per cent” in the past decade. “The schools that play an outsized role in educating some of the most disadvantaged children in this country,” Mr Clare said. “Children who we know are more likely to start behind or fall behind through no fault of their own. “This funding is tied to reforms to help them catch up, keep up and help more young people finish school.” He outlined proposed reforms which will put four education agencies, ACARA, AITSL, AERO and ESA, which separately manage the national curriculum and testing, teaching quality, teaching resources and education services, “under one roof”. The proposed Teaching and Learning Commission will also work to implement the targets under the BFSA, which Mr Clare warned was “not a blank cheque,” with the money “tied to reform”. “A new Teaching and Learning Commission that would maintain and protect the critical work that these organisations do now and improve co-ordination,” he said. “But in addition to that, help us to implement the reforms and hit the targets we are all committed to and oversee and drive the reforms we are making to initial teacher education to help build the workforce we need and help raise esteem for what I think is the most important job in the world.” State and territory education ministers have also been invited to suggest ways to streamline the work of the four bodies at an upcoming education ministers’ meeting on October 17. AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said input from teachers and their unions needed to be “central to the development of any proposals”. She said the biggest issue facing the workforce was hiring and keeping teachers in jobs. “The reality for teachers on the ground is that they are facing a recruitment and retention crisis, escalating workloads and increased complexity of student needs,” she said. “The question we have is whether the national education architecture is fit for today’s teaching and learning needs.