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Educational opportunity in Australia

28 October 2015 by News Desk

edu_student01Australia is a fair and egalitarian place in which opportunities exist for all to get ahead and succeed in life.

Education is one of the main vehicles through which this happens. But to what extent is this true of modern Australia? To what extent are the benefits of success available to all?

A new report by the Mitchell Institute shows the number of young people succeeding and missing out at each stage of education and training. They show about six in 10 or more of all children starting school get through early and middle childhood with the kinds of academic and social skills needed for later success. The same proportions complete school and are fully engaged in education or work by their mid-20s. For this large group of young Australians, school works well and they succeed across all stages. They make the most of the opportunities our education and training system provides.

Some children begin school not developmentally ready and remain behind across all stages. Our estimate is that this affects up to 10 per cent of the population. Between entry to school and Year 7 one in 10 remain behind.

Roughly this number are behind at the beginning of secondary school and do not complete Year 12 or equivalent, and the same proportion remains marginalised at age 24, not able to secure full-time work or be in study or training. This proportion misses out across all stages and is not gaining the preparation needed to take up later opportunities in life.

Helping young people who are falling behind to catch up and take advantage of opportunities over later stages is no easy task, because they are disproportionately likely to be from disadvantaged backgrounds. Success at each stage varies by indigenous status, language background, region and gender, and markedly by the socio-economic status (SES) of students.

But what we learn from the patterns is that young people who are missing out can recover and gain ground. Being behind at any point need not be a life sentence, even for the disadvantaged, though even here the chances of recovery and of gaining ground are still in favour of students from more advantaged backgrounds. The most advantaged learners are not only less likely to fall below expected standards in the first place but more likely to catch up again if they do.



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