New data shows students in New South Wales are achieving numeracy results below the national average.
Seventy-two percent of NSW students achieve the national benchmark according to the Ministerial Council on Education and Employment. That figure is 7 percent below the Australian average and 12 percent below Victoria.
Shadow education minister Andrew Stoner says the figures are alarming.
"It's unacceptable that NSW has fallen behind the rest of Australia and so far behind Victoria," he said.
"We copped it on the chin when Melbourne Storm won the rugby league, but this isn't sport, this is our children's future."
"It defies belief that the Iemma Labor government is spending a quarter of the state's budget on education but results are going backwards."
Mr Stoner said premier Morris Iemma should not be surprised by the Ministerial Council's data, because it is the same evidence presented to him by everyone else, including his own Education department.
"He has been consistently warned but he clearly lacks the strength of leadership to take action," the shadow minister said.
|