NATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY TESTS STILL SHOW TOO MANY STUDENTS FALLING BEHIND
The Member for Berowra, Philip Ruddock stated that results of this year’s long-awaited national literacy and numeracy tests reveal that too many students are still not meeting minimum standards in key areas.
“This year’s first national tests were introduced by the former Coalition Government to replace the range of individual state and territory based tests which were previously used to formulate the national benchmarks,” Mr Ruddock said.
The tests were conducted in May and were planned and designed so that the results could be made available to schools and parents within weeks – not months.
The Government’s delay means that in many states, these results are being delivered to schools just before or right in the middle of term three holidays, meaning they will be of no use to teachers until term four.
As a result of the delay, schools have been denied time to assist those students needing extra help
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These results also show the Rudd Government was wrong to scrap the $450 million Even Start Programme which provides $700 tutorial vouchers to students who fail to meet the national literacy and numeracy benchmarks.
This year 150,000 students in years 3, 5, and 7 are receiving the vouchers.
This makes no sense. If the Government is serious about assisting those students it should admit her error and reinstate these vouchers.