According to recent research made by the Australian Education Research Organization (AERO), a significant proportion, namely one-fifth, of secondary school students in Australia confront challenges in attaining rudimentary levels of literacy and numeracy.
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On the date of Monday's publication, AERO disclosed a finding indicating that a significant 20% of students embark upon their secondary school education with elementary-level proficiency in domains of both English and Mathematics that surpass three years prior to their current academic level.
According to surveys conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the AERO, half of Australia's secondary schools provide additional aid to learners struggling with fundamental literacy and numeracy skills.
However, the studies reveal that forty percent of educators and school administrators remain skeptical of the efficacy of such support measures.
Based on the statistics provided by the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy, there is an increase in the proportion of students who fail to meet the minimum reading standards from the initial year of secondary education (year seven), with17.9%, to the third year of secondary education (year nine), with 25.4%.
According to the AERO research conclusions, secondary school educators are insufficiently equipped in terms of formal training and temporal availability to assist students in bridging any gaps in their understanding and knowledge.
"You've got students who just can't read and write, so they can't engage in lessons at school, and it translates into behavioral problems or leaving school early," said Jenny Donovan, AERO’s chief executive.
Donovan also stated that "It is a problem that high schools don't necessarily see it as their task to teach literacy and numeracy, even though the ability to read is necessary for students to access the rest of the curriculum."