Business Council says career counsellors in every school will help address skills shortages

Claire Halliday

The nation’s productivity and profitability will be better maintained if a move to place careers counsellors in every Australian school is implemented.

That’s the call from the Business Council of Australia, who say the country’s education standards must improve.

With the pre-Federal election temperature rising, Business Council chief executive Bran Black says industry has growing concerns over falling reading, science and mathematics standards in schools.

The concerns have risen from what is perceived as the lack of “foundational skills” needed for Australia’s economy in the future workforce – an issue the Business Council believes will further exacerbate skills shortages in sectors that include energy, housing and the digital economy.

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Black says that one key measure – a careers counsellor in every secondary school – would ensure students access up-to-date advice on the career and educational pathway opportunities available to them, especially regarding jobs of the future and sectors dealing with skills shortages.

“Every student should have access to a careers counsellor, and advice must be modernised, standardised and accessible to help students identify future job opportunities and equip them with knowledge about the skills they might need to have the best shot at success,” says Black.

As students in some states and territories begin heading back-to-school this week, Black says there is also a need for new national targets to see Australian students back in the top 10 in the OECD across the key learning areas of maths, science and reading.

Australian students fell from sixth position in the OECD in both science and reading to 10th and 12th respectively in 2022. In maths, Australians dropped from eighth spot to 16th.

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The lobby group is also calling for measures to address the nation’s year 12 retention rates, which are currently at the lowest rate in more than a decade. Last year, only four-fifths of students completed the final year of secondary school.

Black says that, if not lifted, the slipping school retention rate poses a key concern for Australia’s future economic prosperity and jobs pipeline.

“The BCA is calling for new education targets to be set with the goal of returning student results back to the OECD top 10 rankings for each of reading, science and maths,” says Black.

“We can’t be a leader in AI, digital skills and a developer of new technologies in advanced manufacturing if we’re not equipping our students with the basic skills and education required to take on those jobs.”

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Claire Halliday has an extensive career as a full-time writer - across book publishing, copywriting, podcasting and feature journalism - for more than 25 years. She lives in Melbourne with children, two border collies and a grumpy Burmese cat. Contact: claire.halliday[at]educationdaily.au