Education Reforms to Improve Australian Education

Question: Discuss about theEducation Reforms to Improve Australian Education. Answer: Introduction Australia is embracing the need to have improvements on education sector (PWC, 2017). Education has been taken to be a great driver for economic growth. The performance of students in Australian schools has depreciated over time and this has created a need for educational reforms. There are many challenges facing the education industry leading to its poor quality of education (OECD, 2011). This paper will show that the government could implement various reforms that could offer much benefits to this industry. Economies with more advanced levels of education are well positioned in terms of social success, literacy level and economic growth. This study will be useful to other developed and developing economies to raise their need for education reforms. The reforms not only are intended to improve the education quality, but also to increase the accessibility and affordability (Acedo, Adams and Popa, 2012). Thus the paper will be useful in instilling confidence on parents about the futur e of their children. Most people in Australia fail to seek education to high level because of insufficiency of funds. We shall consider the various reforms the government has taken against this challenge so as to improve affordability. The paper will also create awareness to all the Australian schools to understand that they are supposed to receive funds for developing their education attainment. This would help them in making such a claim in case it fails to be delivered. Economic Analysis The article The quality reforms needed to get all Australian students ahead by Malcolm Turnbull and Simon Birmingham written in 2016 noted that this is a generation where excellence is required in the Australian schools. In some years to come, the quality of education in Australian is projected to rise and the government has committed a package towards this achievement. In order to achieve this plan, there is $73.6 billion budget meant for driving this excellence. The article noted that there are many parents who are needy and thus have no peace that their children are going to get the necessary education. Towards addressing this challenge, the government has planned to set aside an additional $1.2 billion as from 2018 to 2020 that will be dispersed on a needs-based (Goss, 2016). This will assure the parents that their children will access the necessary education irrespective of their income level; affordability will be improved. This will help in eliminating the income inequality ch ild which makes the high income group children to achieve higher quality of education and a low quality for the low income group. The article also noted that the costs of delivering education are rising every year as the economy is changing towards embracing the world globalization (OECD, 2011). This has created a rationale for the increment in funding for the Australian education sector year after year (Hewett, 2016). If extra funding will prove to raise the Australian education quality, Turnbull and Birmingham (2016) pointed out that this will be an assurance that every year the funding will be increased. Its also noted in the article that in an international assessment basis that spending by Australian on education is much higher compared to economies like Poland and the Korea. Irrespective of the high funding level, its performance has lagged behind compared to those with a lower spending (Boston, 2017). This is questioning how the extra funding is used in driving quality education. What the additional funds are used for determines the effectiveness of increased funding (Turnbull and Birmingham, 2016). This explains why the enrollment has remained low even with increased funding. The funding is lower in non-government schools but their enrollment is higher as shown below; Fig: Funding and enrollment in Australian schools. Source: ISCA (2017) It was also noted in the article that funds are used for inappropriate purposes. The student in schools have generation deficiencies that should be addressed with the available funds (Goss, 2016). The heads of schools are using the funds in developing the schools (like building pretty school gates) whereas the school could be deficient in resources necessary to promote education attainment. Recommendations to Policy Makers and Key Players The lower performance in Australian education irrespective of the increased funding is evident that the funds are not allocated to the areas where they are needed most. The action of the government on raising its funding to drive excellence is under sound intentions, but it should also ensure that the money is directed towards solving the various challenges facing this industry. Most importantly it should focus on the challenge of increasing affordability on a needs-based. Countries like Sweden and the US has a great spending per child but their performances low. They should use the argument of this paper in their allocation of funds. In order for the governments policy reforms to be effective, the problems of each child should be addressed differently; this is by collecting information on every student. The reforms would only be effective if more investment was made on research and development that would help in identifying the areas where child development is required mostly. When the government is providing funds to the Australian schools, it should specifies the primary purpose for the funds and follow up to ensure that purpose has been satisfied. The government should also audit the schools spending to ensure that the funds are not lost through greedy and corrupt school heads. Conclusion Higher funding could be a great driver of excellence if the funds are accessed on the areas that were much improvement is required. Otherwise, increased funding wont be able to achieve the governments objective. There is misallocation of funds in the Australian schools that is hindering its development. The government is not efficient in ensuring that the funds are used effective purposes only. While the government is increasing the funding, some schools may still not be able to receive the funds because of the presence of corrupt leaders. The needs-based funds are the best package that is surely expected to drive excellence in the Australian schools. References Acedo, C., Adams, D. K., Popa, S. (2012). Quality and qualities: tensions in education reforms. Rotterdam, Sense Publishers. Boston, K. (2017). Our school funding system is unfair and holding Australia back. Here's how to fix it. [Online] ABC News. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-13/our-school-funding-system-is-unfair-and-holding-australia-back/8435300 [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017]. Goss, P. (2016). Let's meet in the middle on schools funding, not continue the trench warfare. [Online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/lets-meet-in-the-middle-on-schools-funding-not-continue-the-trench-warfare-65894 [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017]. Goss, P. (2016). Three schools reforms that will lift student outcomes. [Online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/three-schools-reforms-that-will-lift-student-outcomes-61808 [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017]. Hewett, J. (2016). Fronting up to tertiary education reform. [Online] Financial Review. Available at: https://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/fronting-up-to-tertiary-education-reform-20161116-gsqshs [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017]. ISCA (2017). Recurrent funding. [Online] Independent Schools Council of Australia. Available at: https://isca.edu.au/about-independent-schools/recurrent-funding/ [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017]. Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. (2011). Establishing a framework for evaluation and teacher incentives: considerations for Mexico. Paris, OECD. PwC. (2017). Education Reform. [Online] Available at: https://www.pwc.com.au/education/education-reform.html [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017]. Turnbull, M. and Birmingham, S. (2016). The quality reforms needed to get all Australian students ahead. [Online] Liberal Party of Australia. Available at: https://www.liberal.org.au/latest-news/2016/05/01/quality-reforms-needed-get-all-australian-students-ahead [Accessed 24 Apr. 2017].