UNCC300 - Challenges and Inequity in the Australian Education System

This essay examines the challenges of the Australian education system, highlighting the significant issue of inequity in resource distribution. It points out that Australia has a highly imbalanced educational system, with factors such as socioeconomic backgrounds, lack of qualified teachers, and insufficient educational resources contributing to the problem. The essay emphasizes the impact of these factors on student outcomes, particularly in disadvantaged schools, where there is a shortage of qualified teachers, inadequate educational materials, and poor infrastructure. It references studies and reports to support its claims, including the impact of lack of resources on maths and science education and the importance of infrastructure in creating a healthy learning environment. The essay concludes by stressing the importance of equal access to quality education for all students, regardless of their socioeconomic background, to promote their mental health and ensure their access to effective skills and knowledge.

Running head: CHALLENGES OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Challenges of Educational System
Name of the student
Name of the university:
Author note

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CHALLENGES OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Education is considered as one of the major aspects among the lives of human beings
as it paves the way of acquiring educational resources and thus access fairness along with
equality in the society. However, being one of the most progressing countries around the
world, high degree of inequality can be found in the Australian educational system. Such
challenges related to inequality in education are evident in both the Australian community
and throughout the world. Among more than 35 countries, the education system in Australia
is most common across the world. Evidences are showing that Australia has secured second
position for being the imbalanced educational system across the world after Slovakia and the
marginalised community in New Zealand (Cobbold, 2018, p. 1). There are multiple factors
such as school’s socio-economic background, lack of educational resources such as teachers,
educational materials and the infrastructure of the schools, which are affecting the
educational system, in Australia.
It has been observed that lack of qualified teachers and assistant staffs is one of the
major reasons behind the poor educational system in Australia. In addition, that the ranges of
poorly qualified staffs is also affecting the education system in Australia. The statistics of
lack of ample teaching staffs is comparatively high in the disadvantaged schools rather than
advantaged schools. Cuervo & Acquaro (2018) showed that the lack of educational resources
is evident in the low SES schools. At the same time, reports are showing that most of the
teachers in such schools are teaching outside their expertise level. This affects the educational
outcome and affecting the education system of the entire country by lowering the
expectations of the students (Cuervo & Acquaro, 2018). Lack of educational material along
with the physical infrastructure is another major reason behind poor educational system in
Australia. The resources like text books, information technology equipments and lab
materials are not sufficient in accordance with the statistics of students. This is eventually
affecting the educational outcome of the students. Based on the ideology of global
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CHALLENGES OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
partnership for education, it can be said that a country should make significant investment in
strengthening the educational resources as it can largely influence future (Taboh, 2015, p. 1).
According to the report published by Australian council for educational research,
there are more than % students in the schools, who are attending that type of schools which
lack maths and science related resources. This is affecting the educational outcome for the
students. It is to note here that the schools with such lack of resources are also scoring less
than that of the schools which have ample educational resources (NSW teacher federation,
2017). Lack of the ability to provide the students with high quality of educational resources
is evident across the country. Such scenario is worst in the under-developed countries.
Moreover, the learning of the children is also affected by improper infrastructure of the
buildings of the schools. There are wide ranges of factors such as class room, school building,
laboratory equipments and educational infrastructure play a critical role in creating healthy
learning environment in the schools. It has been observed that school infrastructure
contributes 50% to the academic development of the students in UK. Researchers are
showing that light and the quality of air, the intricacy and colour and the degree of flexibility
in the learning place are the critical factors in influencing the learning both positively and
negatively (Teixeira, Amoroso, Gresham, 2017, p. 1). It is worthy to mention in this context
that the physical locations of the schools are one of the major determinants of the educational
outcome. It has been observed that wide ranges of schools are situated in the rural and remote
SES locations which are affecting the infrastructure of the schools. These are the under-
scored schools with lower educational attainment. This is one of the emerging issues in the
under developed countries in which the flow of effective good and services are lagging.
However, it has been observed that the students with ample resources are not scoring
well all the time. At the same time, they are also acquiring average national skill. Thus, every
student irrespective their socio-economic background, must be allowed to access equal
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CHALLENGES OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
education. It is imperative to protect the right to equal education in order to give the students
with effective skills and knowledge. Individual educational equity will play a critical role in
promoting the mental health of the students by satisfying their educational need.
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CHALLENGES OF EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
References:
Cobbold, T. (2015). Australia’s Education System is Nearly the Most Unequal in the
Developed World. SOS Australia fighting for equity in education. 1 - 3 Retrieved from
http://saveourschools.com.au/equity-ineducation/nearly-the-most-unequal-in-the-
developed-world/
Cuervo, H., & Acquaro, D. (2018). Attracting new teachers to country schools remains one of
the biggest challenges in Australian education. The problem with staffing rural schools,
university of Melbourne Retrieved from https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/the-
problem-with-staffing-rural-schools
NSW Teachers Federation. (2017). More than 50pc of students struggling in under-resourced
schools: report. NSW teacher’s federation. Retrieved from
https://www.nswtf.org.au/news/2017/03/15/more-50pcstudents-struggling-under-
resourced-schools-report.html
Taboh, J. (2015). Lack of Materials Hinders Student Success. University of Houston. 1 - 3
Retrieved from https://www.theodysseyonline.com/lack-of-material
Teixeira, J., Amoroso, J., & Gresham, J. (2017). Why education infrastructure matters for
learning. Education for global development. 1 - 5 Retrieved from
https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/why-educationinfrastructure-matters-learning
Vallis, J. (2016). Why Equal Education Rights are Important for a Society. Rights for
education. Retrieved from https://rightforeducation.org/2016/04/equal-education-rights-
are-important/
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