“Governments have boosted funding for schools and are implementing reforms to lift student outcomes. However,so far,this effort has had little impact on literacy and numeracy results,” commissioner Natalie Siegel-Brown said.
“In the next agreement,the commission recommends governments commit to firm targets to lift students’ results – targets do not guarantee success,but they create a clear direction for reform and make governments accountable.”
Australia’s teachers were working more hours than ever – 45 hours per week – but the commission found that much of this time,more than five hours a week,was spent on paperwork and other administrative tasks and less time was spent on teaching than in comparable nations.
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“Effective teaching is the single most influential ‘in-school’ factor for creating an effective learning environment. Compared to many countries,our teachers work longer hours but have less time for activities that make a real difference in the classroom,” Siegel-Brown said.
The Albanese government last year announced a $25 million plan to reduce the workload of teachers,but the report said this was a short-term solution that did “not provide a systematic way to identify and reduce burdens on teacher workload”.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the commission painted a damning picture of the previous Coalition government’s education reforms,which were designed to boost students’ learning and,in turn,the future prosperity of them and the nation.