Author(s): Tom Greenwell, Chris Bonnor

Current Affairs

Why is education in Australia failing?Where did we go wrong, and how do we fix it?The Gonski Review appeared to represent a breakthrough. Commissioned by Prime Minster Julia Gillard and chaired by leading businessman David Gonski, the 2010 review made clear that school education policy wasn’t working, and placed a spotlight on the troubling and growing gap between the educational outcomes of disadvantaged children and their more privileged peers.Gonski proposed a model that provided targeted funding to disadvantaged students based on need, a solution that promised to close the gaps and improve overall achievement. Over a decade later, the problems have only worsened. Educational outcomes for Australian schoolchildren continue to decline, and there is a growing correlation between social disadvantage and educational under-achievement. So why didn’t it work, and how can we change this? Written by teachers Tom Greenwell and Chris Bonnor, Waiting for Gonski examines how Australia has failed its schools and offers inspired solutions to help change education for the better.