A skilled and adaptable workforce is a core driver of productivity — but the share of students leaving school with strong foundation skills is not improving. Analysis & Policy Observatory That is the blunt opening assessment of this Productivity Commission inquiry, handed to the Australian Government in December 2025 as part of a five-pillar national productivity agenda.
The inquiry’s schools chapter makes a case that will resonate with anyone working on student engagement. Many students are leaving school without strong foundation skills in reading, writing and mathematics — and teachers are under pressure to produce quality materials for students with a wide range of academic abilities while performing many other non-teaching tasks. Productivity Commission The Commission’s response is practical: a single national platform giving all teachers access to high-quality, curriculum-aligned lesson planning materials, a coordinated national approach to education technology including AI, and better support for flexible learning pathways. The underlying argument is that when teachers spend less time producing and checking materials, they spend more time actually teaching — and students benefit.
The report’s broader lens is the connection between what happens in schools and what Australia needs from its workforce over the coming decades. The inquiry proposes reforms to secondary and post-secondary education and to occupational entry requirements to build a more skilled and adaptable workforce — an essential pillar of a growing economy. Analysis & Policy Observatory For educators and policymakers in Victoria, this report is significant because it positions school-level instructional quality, equity of access to resources, and flexible student pathways not as educational ideals but as national economic necessities. The stakes of disengagement in the middle years, seen through this lens, extend well beyond the individual student.