Rebecca Barrett

A national numeracy program for three and five-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds dramatically improves their maths skills before they start school, an evaluation of the program finds.

A Gallup poll surveyed 7,300 students across the country and found thousands are not hopeful for the future and are not confident of getting a good job.

A group of university students protesting outside a Sydney building where Education Minister Christopher Pyne delivered a speech were pepper-sprayed by police.

Thousands of TAFE students with disabilities are "stunned" and confused after being sent letters setting out course fee costs when they thought they were exempt.

Educators argue for creativity to be taken as seriously as literacy and numeracy in the national school curriculum.

Many of the 75,000 NSW students receiving their Higher School Certificate results on Wednesday are the first in their family to complete high school.

A meeting of education ministers in Canberra has agreed to refer recommendations from the national curriculum review to the body that oversees the curriculum.

HSC markers in New South Wales have finished marking exams ahead of schedule but year 12 students still have a three-week wait to get their results.

Parents are concerned a plan for Sydney's Catholic schools to dump specialist aides for children with hearing and vision impairments in favour of regular teachers will leave students worse off.

Lawyers for suspended Sydney University professor Barry Spurr have told the Federal Court he is collateral damage in a political attack on the Federal Government by the New Matilda website over the national curriculum review.

A leading charity has warned that increasing numbers of children are set to fail at school unless more is done to prepare them in the years before they reach school age.

A new schooling approach that does away with the six-period timetable is credited with improving the confidence of students and reducing disciplinary problems at a Western Sydney high school.

A senior Sydney lawyer has been granted conditional bail after appearing in court charged with selling drugs to undercover police.

A senior Sydney lawyer has been granted conditional bail after appearing in court charged with selling drugs to undercover police.

More than half of Australian students lack the skills to deal with life's difficulties, a survey has found, with many citing depression, stress and a lack of confidence. The study of more than 1,600 students in years 4 through to 12 by Resilient Youth Australia, a not-for-profit organisation promoting the mental health of young people, found a third of girls felt unhappy, depressed and lacking in confidence. One in three boys reported that they were constantly under strain, while a quarter had issues with confidence.

The inquiry into children in immigration detention has heard evidence alleging a Government cover-up about the scale of mental health issues among child asylum seekers. Psychiatrist Dr Peter Young was the director of mental health services at detention centre service provider International Health and Mental Services (IHMS) for three years until earlier this month. He said figures showed significant mental health problems among child detainees, and the response from the Immigration Department upon being told was "negative". Gasps were heard in the gallery as Dr Young said the department "reacted with alarm and asked us to withdraw the figures from our report".

NSW principals have reacted sceptically to calls from the new president of the Business Council of Australia (BCA) for the education system to be overhauled to create a stronger economy. BCA president Catherine Livingstone has called for "nothing short of a very major intervention in our education system".

Police say the shooting of a man in a carpark at Woodcroft in Sydney's west may be related to Sydney's gang war. The man, 32, was shot in the back of the head and shoulder and is now recovering in hospital. Police are looking for two gunmen and say the victim is known to them. Detective Inspector Paul Tickner says the shooting could be related to Sydney's ongoing gang war. "The motive behind the shootings at this stage we haven't established," he said. "There maybe possibly two [gunmen] involved. "That is unconfirmed. We are still speaking to a number witnesses."

Many parents worry about the addictiveness of computer games but are their fears justified?

The family of Thomas 'TJ' Hickey will today demand an apology from the NSW Parliament over the teenager's death, 10 years after he crashed his bicycle into a fence. The 17-year-old's death sparked a nine-hour riot in Redfern which captured international attention. His family believes police were responsible for the death, despite a coroner's findings to the contrary, and have campaigned for years for a fresh inquest. At today's rally TJ's mother will carry a controversial plaque the family wants to install at the site where he died.