About half of students in NSW’s remote schools will fall below minimum education standards, an audit report has found.
The NSW Audit Office report focused on the state’s Department of Education’s approach to ensuring equal access for rural and remote students and their metropolitan counterparts.
It found 52% of remote students were above the national minimum standards for numeracy in 2022 and 54% of remote students were above the standards for reading.
Further, just 52% of regional and remote students were on track for the five Australian Early Development Census domains in 2021.
“The department is not addressing the complexities of delivering regional, rural and remote early childhood, school education and skills pathways,” the report said.
“There are a range of programs targeted to overcoming challenges of remoteness, but the department does not monitor data to determine whether these programs are sufficient to close the persistent gaps in access and outcomes for regional, rural and remote students.”
Students in regional and remote areas were also found to be less likely to make it to Year 12 than urban and suburban peers.
The audit was heavily critical of the Rural and Remote Education Strategy (2012-24). It said it was unlikely to address longstanding issues in regional and remote schools, with the audit office recommending a new strategy be developed.
“Shortcomings in the design and implementation of the strategy have meant there is little to report on its impact after more than two years since its release,” the report stated.
Education accepted that recommendation partially, with the department conducting an internal review of the existing strategy.
All of the report’s other six recommendations were accepted in full, including putting in place key performance indicators for rural students, collecting data to classify remoteness, and implementing governance arrangements.
The deadline for the recommendations is February 2025.
NSW Education secretary Murat Dizdar welcomed the report, calling it an opportunity to ensure the same quality of education between metropolitan and rural areas.
“The department has already begun considering the opportunities presented, and is committed to making significant progress on each of the recommendations in the nominated timeframes,” Dizdar said.
NSW education minister Prue Car said as a result of the report, the government has asked the department’s senior executives to “reprioritise our students in the bush, with a keen focus on pieces that will deliver the biggest impact”.
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