THE Federal Government has released the long-awaited findings of an inquiry into school funding.

The Review of Funding for Schooling is the first of its kind in nearly 40 years and found that current funding arrangements are not adequate for Australian schools, resulting in student achievement falling over the past few years.

In 2000 Australia ranked fourth in the OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) which measures the reading performance of 15-year-old students, however in 2009 it had fallen to seventh place.

Meanwhile Korea, Hong Kong and Japan had all improved their standings with Korea moving up four spots to take first place in 2009.

The panel of experts led by David Gonski has recommended the need for a new standard to base government funding for schools labelling the current systems as “unnecessarily complex, lack coherence and transparency, and involve a duplication of funding effort in some areas”.

The report recommends a “significant increase in funding is required across all schooling sectors, with the largest part of this increase flowing to the government sector due to the significant numbers and greater concentration of disadvantaged students attending government schools”.

The Gillard Government has said they will consider each recommendation of the report and implement a nation-wide consultation process with Australian families, teachers, principals and the wider community.

This will include a public forum in Canberra on February 22 which will stream live across the country.

In an interview with ABC Radio National Minister for Schooling and Early Education and Youth, Peter Garrett said the government must work to improve educational standards now to ensure future national success.

“I do think that we are at a stage where we have to recognise that, if we're going to be a successful nation in the future, we need to meet the educational needs of our students now,” he said.

The performance of Australian students since the decline in 2000 has recently started to improve.

“In terms of the schools where we applied investment for literacy and numeracy, over 70 per cent of those schools are starting to see improvement in literacy and numeracy in the NAPLAN testing,”said Mr Garrett.

He said the review will be important for paving the way for the future of Australian schooling.

“We need to make sure that the way in which we're investing in education is delivering the right results for kids, in terms of their educational achievement.”

“Today is a big day for education in Australia...our future as a country depends on us continuing on this reform.”

The full report and the Government’s response can be found at www.schoolfunding.gov.au 

Image source www.whps.act.edu.au