By LIAM DURKIN
TWO plus two is five.
Member for Eastern Victoria Region and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Melina Bath has raised serious concerns over declining mathematics outcomes in Victorian students.
Ms Bath, who is also a former teacher, said statistics revealed by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) were damming.
“The decline is particularly concerning in Victoria, with nearly half of our 15-year-olds unable to meet the national standards of proficiency in mathematics,” she said.
“There are fewer students taking on the higher level secondary mathematics subjects which does not bode well for Victoria’s future workforce.”
The report highlights that in 2003, Australia was ranked 11th globally for mathematics, but slid to as low as 29 out of 38 countries at the end of last year.
PISA measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges.
Ms Bath raised these concerns in state Parliament, saying the consequences would be far-reaching if not urgently addressed.
“Maths underpins many aspects of life and is essential for a wide range of careers from skilled tradespeople through to university educated professions in health care, engineering, technology and finance,” she said.
“A decline in mathematic outcomes has far reaching implications, limiting career prospects of students while hampering the state’s ability to attract and retain a competent workforce.”
Deputy Premier and Education Minister, Ben Carroll acknowledged the issue, but believed global statistics had to be put in perspective.
“Lifting numeracy attainment is a challenge across all jurisdictions in Australia,” he said.
“Victoria is not alone in this. It is still the case that Victoria consistently ranks in the top jurisdictions for NAPLAN numeracy. For example, in 2024, Victorian students achieved the highest mean score in the country in Year 3 numeracy for the third year in a row.
“We are putting in place the steps needed to improve our numeracy outcomes such as the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM) 2.0 and our investment of $36.9 million to develop teaching and learning resources, including high-quality mathematics lesson plans.”
Locally, the Express understands some high school students are performing maths at Grade 3 level, with counting on fingers still commonplace.
The teacher shortage crisis has been identified as a plausible reason for poor showings of arithmetic in some students.
While the situation is alarming, the Australian Education Union’s Victoria Branch says it is not surprising.
“Victoria is currently dealing with unprecedented teacher shortages, with unsustainable workloads and increasingly complex classroom challenges leading to many principals, teachers and support staff leaving or considering leaving the profession. This is affecting many subject areas including maths,” the union’s state branch president, Meredith Peace said.
“It is not surprising after more than a decade of state and federal government’s failing to fully and fairly fund public schools, that we are experiencing chronic teacher shortages, unsustainable staff workloads, and challenges in meeting the increasingly complex and diverse additional needs of students.
“Teacher shortages will not be addressed if governments don’t invest more in their workforce, because teachers are the best investment in every child’s future. This includes addressing workloads, increasing salaries, and providing schools with the resources needed to respond to students’ additional needs.
“To address teacher shortages, investment must be made in retaining existing staff, and attracting new staff. Support for qualified teachers teaching out of field, in areas such as maths, is needed, including addressing workloads, and financial support to upgrade qualifications.
“Victorian schools are currently only funded to 90.4 per cent of the funding standard set for all schools by the federal government, and the current offer of an additional 2.5 per cent by the Albanese government will deny another generation of students in public schools the resources they are entitled to and deserve.”
