The NAPLAN results are in for this year and the report card is less than glowing, with a third of Aussie school kids who sat the test failing to meet basic maths and English standards – and almost 400,000 children needing extra support. Around 1.3 million students sat the exams across years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in March, returning scores on par with those from 2022/23. The results show a trend in migrant students overtaking the results of Aussie-born children, while 4 times as many Indigenous kids are falling behind than non-Indigenous. Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said Australia’s education system could be “a lot better and a lot fairer”. He’s pushing for state governments to commit to classroom “reforms” like phonics/numeracy tests and catch-up tutoring in return for $16 billion in funding. “Your chances in life shouldn’t depend on your parents’ pay ­packet or the colour of your skin, but these results again show that’s still the case,” he said.