Improving the Literacy and Numeracy Skills of Young Australians - A National Plan

The Hon. Dr David Kemp MP, Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training, has called for a national effort to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of all young Australians.

Research has shown that:

young people’s participation in education, the workforce and society is influenced significantly by their level of ability in literacy and numeracy;
the early years of schooling are vital in providing children with the necessary foundation blocks for developing appropriate literacy and numeracy skills;
if children have not met appropriate literacy and numeracy standards by the end of primary school, they are unlikely to make up the gap through the rest of their schooling.

A National Plan

Commonwealth, State and Territory Education Ministers have agreed to a national literacy and numeracy goal: That every child leaving primary school should be numerate, and able to read, write and spell at an appropriate level. Ministers have also adopted a sub goal: That every child commencing school from 1998 will achieve a minimum acceptable literacy and numeracy standard within four years.

The goals will be achieved through a National Plan focussed on the crucial early years of school. The plan means that all students will be assessed by their teachers in their first years of schooling. This will enable action to be taken so that every child’s numeracy and literacy needs are addressed. The plan provides for early intervention strategies for those students having difficulty.

It is important that students’ progress can be measured. This will be done by setting agreed benchmarks against which all children’s achievement in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 can be measured. These results will be reported in a way that makes sense to parents and the wider community as well as to teachers and students.

The Commonwealth government believes that parents must be fully informed about their children’s education. All State and Territory Ministers have agreed to work towards national reporting on student achievement against the benchmarks.

Implementing the National Plan will require education authorities to provide support for teachers in their task of identifying children not achieving adequate literacy and numeracy skills and intervening as early as possible to address their needs.

Commonwealth’s support for national literacy and numeracy goals

The Commonwealth’s role in achieving the national numeracy and literacy goals includes promoting national collaboration and coordination to achieve overall improvements in literacy and numeracy levels among Australian school children. The Commonwealth will:

work with States and Territories to develop literacy and numeracy benchmarks in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9;
fund literacy and numeracy education research; and
provide seed funding for literacy and numeracy related professional development activities.

The Commonwealth government makes a significant contribution to improving literacy and numeracy learning outcomes of Australian students through grants of more than $3 billion a year for schools. The Commonwealth provides $153 million a year under the Literacy Programme, which includes $7 million over three years for professional development activities.

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