THE reading, writing and numeracy skills of Tasmanian school students have dropped in key areas in the past year, prompting fears they are falling further behind the rest of the country.
Education Minister Nick McKim has described the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy summary results for 2011 as not meeting expectations.
However, Mr McKim ruled out placing a quarantine on budget cuts for schools as a way of turning the figures around.
Opposition education spokesman Michael Ferguson yesterday questioned how results could improve now that school budgets had been slashed.
And leading economist Saul Eslake said Tasmanian schools were not efficient enough and the Government needed to seriously consider closing and amalgamating schools.
The NAPLAN results released yesterday show the state has improved in some areas.
But students have gone backwards in nine key areas.
Key findings show:
• Tasmania is below the national average in all 16 categories.
• With the exception of the Northern Territory, Tasmania consistently ranks as one of the poorest performing states.
• Tasmania’s performance this year is consistent with the poor results of the rest of the country.
• The number of students reaching the minimum standards for key subjects has dropped across nine areas.
• Improvements have been made in seven areas.
Mr McKim said the results for Tasmanian schools did not meet expectations despite the hard work of teachers and school leaders.
