PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull today warned pupils were cruising and coasting through schools run on the methods of last century.

And they risked missing out in an increasingly competitive global job market.

Over the past 15 years, Australian students had slipped from fourth in the world for reading to 16th, from 11th in mathematics to 25th, and from 8th in science to 14th.

The Prime Minister was welcoming the second report on education by businessman David Gonski, who wants changes to teaching systems and greater flexibility for teachers.

Mr Gonski today told reporters in Sydney that instead of standing still educators should be “shooting for the stars”.

Mr Turnbull said pupils should be advancing every year, and not merely maintaining the same grades, which was the way things were done in the 20th century.

“It means some kids are not getting the attention they need and some kids who are doing well, who have got a lot of ability, natural ability, are allowed to coast,” Mr Turnbull told reporters.

“There’s too much coasting and cruising. Every child should advance by a year whether they’re an A-grade student … if they’re getting As, they should be moving up to A pluses, if they’re a B, they should be moving up to As and so forth.

“Everyone should be advancing. That’s the critical thing. And this approach (in Mr Gonski’s report) I think, is one that is going to give teachers the tools to fulfil their vocation, their love for the children, their love for education, and for changing children’s lives.”

Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the report included a bell curve showing the “performance for Australian schools has shifted in the wrong direction”.

“So we have, not only more students performing at a lower level, but we also have fewer students performing at a very advanced level. We need to shift that curve back in the right direction,” Senator Birmingham said.

Mr Gonski said children should be equipped to be “creative, connected and engaged as a learner”.

He expressed faith in the teaching profession but said there should be “better esteem towards teachers and we should equip them better and indeed give them the tools to be able to do what they need to do”.

“But what we found, talking to teachers and listening to them, is if they could be given what we called a tool, which the new technologies allow, they could be, as one teacher put it, in the driver’s seat,” he said.

“So instead of, as one person put it, bowling down the middle, only looking after the middle of the class because the bright kids will look after themselves, and those who aren’t up to it — well, that’s too difficult.

“They could actually do the whole thing. Because by using the tool, they can monitor everyone.

“And if one has learning progression, one can work quietly and satisfactorily with each student to try to progress them.”

SCHOOL CURRICULUM FACES HUGE OVERHAUL

Australia’s school curriculum should be overhauled over five years to shift the focus to individual student achievements, the much-anticipated Gonski 2.0 report recommends.

Students shouldn’t just be finishing the year meeting age or year-based expectations but with a full year’s worth of extra knowledge, the report by businessman David Gonski says.

Federal, state and territory education ministers will meet on Friday for a briefing from Mr Gonski about 23 recommendations in his second education system review, released publicly today.

The federal government has given in-principle support for all the recommendations.

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham is hopeful a new reform agreement can be negotiated with his state counterparts this year, allowing changes to be implemented from 2019.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the government had implemented needs-based funding recommended by Mr Gonski in 2011 but that wasn’t enough.

“We can and must do more. We now have the blueprint to do it,” he said. “We are drawing a line in the sand to say with our record and growing funding secured, we now must focus on the reforms that improve education outcomes for all Australian students.”

Mr Gonski has said his latest recommendations are designed to be implemented together to turn around the decline in academic performance Australia has experienced since 2000.

“This is a long-term project however if we stay on course, with strong, sustained bipartisan support we will look back in a decade to a transformed school education system,” he said in the report.

Among the recommendations, Mr Gonski wants to see the national curriculum progressively revised over five years to create a road map setting out learning steps in each subject.

Teachers should also be prioritising literacy and numeracy to ensure students have the core basics before they turn eight, and there needs to be a smooth transition between early childhood learning and school.

An overarching recommendation would ensure each student achieves a year’s worth of learning for each year at school.

“To achieve this shift to growth, the review panel believes it is essential to move from a year-based curriculum to a curriculum expressed as learning progressions independent of year or age,” the report says.

It suggests new reporting arrangements focus on learning attainment and gain, noting schools with high achievers who don’t make good progress aren’t as successful as they could be.

Mr Gonski also wants an independent national inquiry into objectives, curriculum and assessment provisions for year 11 and 12 students, with findings within 12 months.

It’s to ensure students are working towards the skills needed for the future. There’s also a series of recommendations to support teachers, including the development of an online tool to allow them to track individual student progress and suggest individualised support for students.

Teachers should also receive professional development training from schools and education authorities.

Mr Gonski also wants to see the creation of a research and evidence institute to continue driving innovation and improvement.