Is Our Education System Ready for the Future?

Why Our Kids Deserve More Than Just Exams and Essays

As Australia edges toward the 2025 federal election, we’re debating housing, taxes, jobs and rightly so. But here’s the silent question no one seems to be asking:

What are we teaching our children that will prepare them to lead not just survive in tomorrow’s world?

While the world watches trade tensions between China and the United States unfold, there's a deeper truth many miss: 

China has withstood U.S. tariffs and geopolitical pressures not just because of factories but because of classrooms, labs, and relentless innovation.

Between 2000 and 2020, China increased its R&D spending by more than 15x, becoming the second-largest global spender on innovation. It now produces more STEM graduates annually than the U.S., India, and Europe combined. It leads the world in AI patents, quantum computing, high-speed rail, and robotics, and has its eyes firmly set on dominating space exploration, semiconductors, and green technology.

Meanwhile, in Australia…

• We’re still telling kids to focus on ATAR scores and memorise facts for final exams. 

• Our investment in R&D as a percentage of GDP sits at just 1.68%—well below the OECD average of 2.7%. We rank 25th globally in innovation capacity, despite being one of the wealthiest nations. 

• We’re producing fewer STEM graduates per capita than many of our Asian counterparts. And while enrolment in tech and trades declines, job vacancies in those sectors continue to surge.

We’re building a workforce for yesterday’s economy.

So What Needs to Change?

If we want Australia to be resilient, competitive, and globally relevant we must start with what we teach our kids and how early we start.

✅ Embed Innovation from Primary School Let’s not wait till university. Teach kids coding, robotics, design thinking, sustainability, and AI literacy right from Year 3. Let creativity and curiosity be core subjects not electives.

✅ Rebrand Science and Tech as ‘Cool’ Use public media, mentors, and industry partnerships to show students that science isn’t just lab coats and chalkboards—it’s drones, rockets, clean energy, food technology, and even space mining.

✅ Boost Funding for STEM and Research If China can allocate 2.4% of its GDP to research, Australia can aim higher. Let’s move past token grants and commit to long-term, strategic national investment in advanced education and innovation.

✅ Teacher Training for Tomorrow Our educators need tools and training to deliver future-ready content. Let’s empower them to inspire not just instruct.

✅ Make Innovation a National Identity Finland made education a brand. Israel made innovation a survival strategy. China made it a superpower lever. Why can’t Australia?

Final Thought: This Isn’t a Political Issue. It’s a National Priority.

Let’s not settle for slogans about “a better future.” Let’s build it starting in the classroom. No nation can futureproof itself without investing in the minds of its children. And no child should be told their potential is limited to how well they memorise answers for a test.

Let’s demand that our leaders talk about real education reform not in passing but as a central pillar of our national strategy.

The next generation of innovators, engineers, and entrepreneurs are sitting in our classrooms today. Let’s give them a fighting chance to lead Australia into the future.