>
Industry boss complains Australian companies have to take over from an education system that produces kids who can’t spell or add
- Uneducated Australian kids put pressure on businesses
- Companies have to teach math and reading to kids at work
- Numerous students below standard in writing, math, and reading
An industry leader says businesses in Australia are under constant pressure to catch up children after they leave school due to unacceptable levels of literacy and numeracy.
Business Council of Australia President Tim Reed told a conference that students present a challenge for business owners entering the workforce because their reading, writing and math levels are low.
Data from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) showed that ninth graders, students now entering the workforce, were more capable in reading and math than those tested in 2022.
“It’s a real challenge for businesses that a growing part of the community doesn’t have basic numeracy, literacy and digital skills,” Mr Reed said at the Universities Australia conference in Canberra.
A worrying trend has emerged of Australian students entering the workforce with unacceptable levels of reading, writing and mathematics (file image)
“The role that businesses play is to try not to exclude people from their careers because of that,” he continued.
‘That becomes a big challenge for individual companies. But it is a reality for the community and, therefore, the industry must be part of the search and promotion of solutions”.
The declining level of education is also playing a role in industries outside of tertiary or clerical occupations.
‘From what we expected 20 years ago, there are significant literacy, numeracy and digital literacy problems in some of those [trade apprenticeship] courses that are so critical to our economy,’ TAFE Directors Australia CEO Jenny Todd told the conference.
‘A good example is the Certificate III in electrotechnology. That turns out our electricians. The people coming in now don’t necessarily have the math skills you need to be successful.’
Australia Business Council Chairman Tim Reed (pictured) says the trend of declining educational standards is putting pressure on Australian companies who have had to teach new hires as they go.
NAPLAN results show an increase in students below the national minimum standard in reading and math tests after Covid lockdowns forced students to learn online.
The percentage of students below the minimum standard in reading jumped from 8.2% in 2019 to 10.3% in 2021, and now stands at 10.4%, which means that more than one in 10 students are functional illiterates.
While it reached a high of 15.9% in 2022, the number of students below the minimum writing standard was unaffected by the Covid pandemic and has instead steadily declined from 20.5% in 2018.
“Businesses have to deal with the problems of numeracy, literacy, lack of digital skills, social exclusion,” Mr Reed told the Australian Financial Review.
‘Those who are excluded from the apprenticeship system then face the potential of being excluded from the workforce.
“It takes longer to train people just in the basics because they don’t have those foundational skills.”