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For Victorian high school students Sahana and Amara, class isn\u2019t always over when the school bell rings.<\/p>\n
The sisters have been attending extra tutoring sessions in English, maths and science at Topscore Education in Box Hill for several years.<\/p>\n
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Sisters Amara (front) and Sahana have been taking additional classes for years.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Joe Armao <\/cite><\/p>\n Tutoring services have been in strong demand across the state since the pandemic, and recent consumer spending data reveals that extracurricular support is one area where families are refusing to cut back.<\/p>\n Sahana, who is going into year 11 next year, said the extra tuition helped her get ahead in some subjects, gain a new perspective on subject content and keep up in areas she found challenging.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m looking for next year to do a bit of tutoring in chemistry. I struggle a bit in chemistry, so I want to try to improve that without lagging behind in classes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Amara, who completed year 8 this year, said science tutoring had helped her build a strong foundation for a subject she didn\u2019t know much about.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess tutoring gives a lot of one-on-one help \u2013 they can personally reach out to you as an individual, instead of teaching the whole class and giving everyone the same information,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Another Topscore student, Isaac, said he had been doing after-school tutoring for nine years and it had helped him at school. \u201cI feel like I also need the help, so I\u2019m more than willing to take a class like science or English,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The latest OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) \u2013 which tracks 15-year-old students across the world in maths, reading and science \u2013 shows that across the country many students are struggling to meet proficiency standards in these subjects. Close to half are failing to show more than elementary skills for their age group.<\/p>\n The results show that while Australia\u2019s performance has stabilised compared with recent years, just 51 per cent achieved the national proficiency standard in maths, 58 per cent in science and 57 per cent in reading.<\/b><\/p>\n Tutoring student Isaac and sisters Sahana and Amara with English tutor Colin Turner at Topscore Education. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Joe Armao<\/cite><\/p>\n This year\u2019s figures also continue a trend of students born overseas or with parents who were born outside Australia outperforming their locally born peers.<\/p>\n Fewer Australian-born students achieved the national proficiency standard compared with foreign-born students and first-generation students in each subject.<\/p>\n Juliette Mendelovitz, head of the assessment and psychometric research division at the Australian Council for Educational Research, said this trend had been visible since the start of the PISA testing program, though determining the reasons behind it were complex.<\/p>\n Factors including parental engagement with education could have an impact, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, people who change countries can be quite aspirational about their children\u2019s education.\u201d<\/p>\n Sahana said her parents \u2013 who were born in Sri Lanka \u2013 had always had a focus on education and encouraged additional activities such as tutoring, but she and Amara did not feel pressure to achieve.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a pressure [to do well], it\u2019s more encouragement,\u201d Sahana said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n