Student civics scores drop amid teaching crisis, underfunding of the education system, and broader deprioritisation of the humanities

Social Education Victoria’s response to Civics and Citizenship sample assessment results released by ACARA

20 February 2025

Earlier this month ACARA released a report that shows dropping Civics and Citizenship achievement against pre-pandemic levels, and indicates that 70% of Year 10 students are not meeting the expected level of Civics Knowledge for their year level.

There are parts of this story that are specific to Civics and Citizenship, and some that are shared across the humanities. First and foremost, this is a story about the predictable results of an ongoing teaching crisis, a drastically underfunded education system, and cohorts of students and teachers who have suffered through a global pandemic.

Education in the humanities is by turns ignored or used as a political football, frequently switching between these states at breakneck speed. We, as humanities educators, need to constantly defend ourselves against shortsighted accusations of irrelevancy, and advocate so hard within our schools to just get these subjects taught, whether mandated or not, in any form. When a report like ACARA’s is released in such a context, our humanities teachers are caught in the crossfire of blame games and panic-inducing headlines.

It might surprise people outside of the education sector to learn that there are no ongoing government-funded Civics and Citizenship professional learning programs in Victoria. This leaves organisations like Social Education Victoria, a small non-profit professional association for teachers, to cross-subsidise Civics and Citizenship professional learning offerings as a service to our community using returns from other areas of our work. Many of our professional learning experiences in Civics and Citizenship are developed and hosted by teachers who have invested their unpaid overtime to build expertise. We salute those teachers who are doing an amazing job.

While the ACARA report gives an indication of student achievement, the recent Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM) From Classroom to Community report provides more useful context and some insight both into the ‘why’ and the ‘where to from here’. In its foreword, this report states that:

‘There are many hard-working and passionate teachers in our schools, but they need to be better supported to deliver quality civics education through improved professional development and high-quality, nationally aligned teaching resources.’

We recommend anyone joining this conversation to have an in-depth read of this report.

We can all agree that STEM subjects have gotten a little more attention and resourcing than the humanities in recent years. We hear regularly from teachers that Civics and Citizenship is not given adequate time in the school timetable, or in initial teacher education.

So what needs to change? Here are SEV’s recommendations, in short:

1.  Invest in teacher support and professional development. Governments should direct more funding to subject and teacher associations, particularly in targeted professional development programs, to help better equip educators with the necessary tools and knowledge to effectively teach civics and citizenship.
   
   
2. Cultivate experiential learning opportunities. Schools must provide resourcing and ongoing support to initiatives such as visits to parliamentary institutions, the establishment of and participation in student governance in schools, and community engagement projects to provide students with practical and meaningful early experiences in civic participation.
   
   
3. Improve assessment and feedback mechanisms. We need to implement regular and holistic assessments to monitor student progress in civics education, and use the data to inform instructional strategies and curriculum adjustments at a school, system, state and federal level.

SEV looks forward to continuing the national conversation around Civics and Citizenship education, as well as driving support and advocacy for Victorian teachers and students to be well resourced and empowered as active and informed citizens through quality Civics and Citizenship education.

For questions, comments or more information on SEV’s work, please contact our Executive Officer, Laura Newman, via .