The South Australian Government will provide a $67.5 million funding boost to public school students to help lift numeracy and literacy results.
It comes after the latest NAPLAN results, which showed South Australia to be the worst performing mainland state across most categories.
The Government believes students who are not achieving expected standards will benefit from dedicated intervention funds provided to their school.
Under the four-year $67.5 million Literacy and Numeracy First plan, schools will use extra funds on high-impact teaching strategies to lift student achievement.
Schools will use a range of evidence based teaching strategies, including extra teachers, literacy and numeracy coaches or targeted programs. Improvement strategies will be overseen by a newly-established independent panel of education experts.
While the NAPLAN results show there has been improvement in numeracy across all year levels in the state, the Government said more work is needed to see growth in other learning areas.
Education and Child Development Minister Susan Close said the targeted funding – for students in public primary schools – is designed to lift achievement and modernise the state’s public education system.
Other NAPLAN results released today for SA show:
- Year 3 numeracy saw the greatest increase since testing began
- Reading increased for years 3, 5 and 7
- Year 9 reading decreased (consistent across Australia)
- South Australia’s ranking compared to other jurisdictions ranges from fourth to seventh
The results of public primary school students in South Australia will be analysed and used to direct extra funds, which will include using NAPLAN and other Department of Education and Child Development data.
“Because the State Government has stuck to the Gonski deal, we have extra funding that we can spend on literacy and numeracy. We are embarking on an unprecedented agenda to modernise our education system and lift improvement at every level of public education,” said the Minister for Education and Child Development Susan Close.