There has been little improvement to reducing the city regional education gap in New South Wales over the past few decades. According to the latest Auditor General’s Report the NSW Education Department is unlikely to achieve its aim to decrease the disparities regional students experience in education and wellbeing due to flaws in its strategy’s plan and implementation. Factors such as a teacher shortage crisis and a lack of services to assist student health and wellbeing contribute to regional schools performing worse than their city counterparts. 

Image: Image: Shutterstock

Produced By: Tahlia Kraefft

Featured In Story: Professor Hernan Cuervo, University of Melbourne and leader of specialist interest group in rural education at the Australian Association for Research in Education, and Professor Kim Beswick, Director of the Gonski Institute of Education and Head of the School of Education at the University of New South Wales

First aired on The Wire, Tuesday 19 September 2023