16/02/2020 Educational goals

National Report on Schooling in Australia 2009

National policy context

1.1 Educational goals

The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians articulates nationally consistent future directions and aspirations for Australian schooling agreed by all
Australian Education Ministers.

The Melbourne Declaration has two overarching goals for schooling in Australia:

Goal 1 Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence

Goal 2 All young Australians become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens

Commitment to Action
The Melbourne Declaration includes a Commitment to Action in the following eight interrelated areas in order to support the achievement of the educational goals:
developing stronger partnerships

supporting quality teaching and school leadership

strengthening early childhood education

enhancing middle years development

supporting senior years of schooling and youth transitions

promoting world-class curriculum and assessment

improving educational outcomes for Indigenous youth and disadvantaged young Australians, especially those from low socioeconomic backgrounds and

strengthening accountability and transparency.

The Melbourne Declaration is supported by the MCEETYA¹ four-year plan 2009–2012, which was endorsed by Education Ministers in March 2009. The plan identifies key strategies
that Australian governments will undertake in each area of action and is aligned with key Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and other national agreements. Progress in
implementing these strategies is outlined in the National initiatives section of this report.

National Education Agreement

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Education Agreement (NEA) articulates the commitment of Australian governments to ensure that all Australian school
students acquire the knowledge and skills to participate effectively in society and employment in a globalised economy.

The agreement details the roles and responsibilities of the Australian Government and the States and Territories and a comprehensive and rigorous framework for performance
reporting. These, along with agreed policy and reform directions, are designed to help in achieving the following outcomes:
all children are engaged in, and benefiting from, schooling

young people are meeting basic literacy and numeracy standards, and overall levels of literacy and numeracy achievement are improving

Australian students excel by international standards

schooling promotes social inclusion and reduces the education disadvantage of children, especially Indigenous children

young people make a successful transition from school to work and further study.

The reporting agreed by all governments includes the following elements:

streamlined and consistent reports on national progress, including an annual national report on the outcomes of schooling in Australia (this report) and the biennial COAG report
Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage

national reporting on performance of individual schools to inform parents and carers and for evaluation by governments of school performance

provision by schools of plain language student reports to parents and carers and an annual report made publicly available to their school community on the school’s achievements
and other contextual information.

Under the provisions of the Schools Assistance Act 2008, the accountability framework for non-government schools and school systems is consistent with that of the NEA.

Achievement in 2009 against COAG outcomes and targets for education is reported in the National Education Agreement: Performance report for 2009 by the COAG Reform Council.

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16/02/2020 Educational goals

¹ The Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) replaced the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth
Affairs (MCEETYA) in July 2009.

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