2017-08-02
The Australian Greens say today’s NAPLAN results shine a light on a glaring missing part of the puzzle in setting up Aussie kids for success in the classroom: investing in quality teaching.
“It’s clear from today’s NAPLAN results that we need a focus on placing greater value on teaching as a profession; attracting the best and brightest, and keeping them in the profession,” Greens education spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
“In 10 years since the first tests, NAPLAN has failed to deliver any meaningful change. It creates unnecessary stress for students, parents and teachers and pits schools against each other.
“If we're going to make sure that all Australian children are given the best possible chance at success, we must ensure that we properly respect our teachers and attract the cream of the crop to the noble profession. We need to be looking at how we teach our teachers to teach and how we ensure that our children have the desire to learn.
“It is staggering that in Australia, half of our teachers leave the profession within their first five years in the classroom.
“In the upcoming new Gonski review, it is vital we look at why teacher retention rates are so dismal, and how we can support teachers being the best they can be, to give our kids what they need to succeed. Simply judging standardised test results without making meaningful changes in the way we teach our kids is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result.”
Media Release Education