Kingy, I am an extension 1 and 2 maths teacher and you are right. Nothing easy about it.
But you say "reason is that private education is failing Australian students", this is crap.
Private schools outperform all government (non selective) schools by a long shot.
I have a few theories. One is that these days it is discouraged to leave school early, when clearly it is the best option for some kids. The end result is that around 10 % of senior students are not suited to school and cause a disruption.
Also, in my day at school, if I were to in trouble, I was equally afraid of what my parents would do. These days, when it comes to discipline, teachers are afraid of what parents will do, not the kids.
Also, we have some very average teachers in the system. teaching is very easy to get into at uni, with some universities (Lismore) an an ATAR of less than 70. The problem here, is that to get an ATAR of 70, you just need to show up. When I did my HSC, you would have to work your tail of for a UAI of 70, these days, no one is a failure. People who scored under 15 were given a 'Pink Slip'. Not anymore. sit the paper and you are guaranteed to get over 50. Even before me, the TER was even harder to do well in.
Now the real issue is, that we have many below average intelligence teachers just entering the system (good pay, great holidays). We will need to wait for these teachers to retire. Its also known that these are the teachers that enter the PUBLIC schools, as its far easier to secure a position there.
We seem to unable to tell students they have failed. I once (recently) heard some academic claiming teachers should no longer mark in red pen, as its not good for the children's self esteem. This in no way resembles real life.
Back to parents. Perhaps it is because many children have both parents working, but parents rarely help them with homework. There is a huge differential in performance with high/low socioeconomic regions. One reason is the schools they attend, but secondly, these students almost all have tuition as well. Something that is not available to the latter group, and the parents can rarely afford to get help, or lack the time (and skills) to help themselves.
Finally, there is so much crap in the curriculum. A student in yr 8 will study over 10 subjects, this limits the time available to study core subjects. Schools are now forced to offer ridiculous subjects, and the board of studies is no help, do you know you can do 2 unit customer service as a subject in the HSC (unsure if it counts to ATAR). Now that's a student who should leave early.
Contrast the amount of rubbish students do at Australian schools with that of Singaporean schools, and you will understand why our performance is slipping. While you are at it, contrast the parents attitude to schooling too. You will find that Australian parents largely view schools as babysitters.
