An Australian student spent 11,000 hours in class over the period from primary to lower secondary (the first three years of high school), which was double the number of hours a student in Poland spent in school. Polish students performed slightly better than Australian teens in mathematics in the latest round of international tests.
The report noted the salary cost per student in primary education in Australia was $US4958, which was $US965 higher than the OECD average.
“This difference reflects the combined effects of several factors: above-average teachers’ salaries increase the cost by [$US1118]; above-average instruction time adds [$US1021],” the report said.
Conversely, the above-average number of hours that a single teacher taught and above-average class sizes reduced the total salary costs by a slightly lesser amount, it said.
“Higher levels of expenditure on education cannot automatically be equated with better performance by education systems,” the report said.
It noted structural factors such as demographic changes, different policies and teaching time.
When it came to university studies, 20 per cent of Australian university graduates have a degree in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, below the OECD average of 23 per cent.
Loading
While completion rates dropped around the world, the report said that in Australia, bachelor degree completions during the pandemic increased substantially from 33 per cent to 48 per cent.
Across OECD countries there was substantial growth in the share of international students between 2018 and 2023. Such students now make up 7.4 per cent of all students. Australia’s proportion of international students increased slightly to 27.2 per cent of all students.