Federal and State Education Ministers have agreed to develop ‘clear targets and better mechanisms’ for tracking school performance to achieve the 2025 national goals in a meeting in Sydney last week.

Federal School Education Minister Peter Garrett said that the meeting was a key step in developing the National Plan for School Improvement, which forms a key element of the Government’s response to last year’s Gonski review of school funding.

“I made it clear today that the Gillard Government is prepared to invest significantly more in our schools, but only if we can be sure the money is being used effectively, and is delivering results,” Mr Garrett said.

“This was a non-negotiable element of our school improvement plan. It is significant progress that all Ministers have agreed to work together to improve how we collect national data, and to set targets which will help achieve our goal of taking Australia’s schools into the top five in the world by 2025.

The Minister also provided an update on progress towards developing a new school funding model. The most recent data on student characteristics and school finances will be available this month, after which the settings of the proposed model will be finalised.

Ministers also agreed to continue working together on the other key features of the plan, including quality teaching, greater power for school principals, and a new, needs-based funding system that delivers more support for schools and students that need it most.