State comparisons of education, health, or jobs figures nearly always show Tasmania to be at the bottom of any rankings.

If we are not at the bottom, we are nearly always second last, with the Northern Territory left holding the proverbial wooden spoon. Tasmania is Australia’s smallest state, we have the least population but with a relatively large geographical mass.

It is roughly the same size as Scotland, but where the Scots have five million people, Tasmania has just shy of 500,000.

However, it’s important to note about 50 per cent of the smallest island’s land mass is national park, with no one living there at all, so it goes to show all things are relative.

In the education space, Tasmanian students have often been criticised as being far behind their mainland counterparts, especially when comparing standardised test results such as NAPLAN.

NAPLAN, as controversial as it can be, has been the benchmark for all students to compare their performance, as well as the performance of their school.

However, despite how dire Tasmania’s results may have seemed, a new report by the Grattan Institute has turned those results on its head, and added much needed context.

The report, published on Tuesday, compares states with and without a vital index – the index of community socio-educational advantage. With ICSEA taken into account, the Grattan report showed Tasmania’s educational outcomes are not lagging as far behind their mainland counterparts as much as first thought.

This report is a huge win for Tasmania’s teachers, who work in one of the most challenging industries.

It shows their hard work and dedication is being rewarded with tangible results, and that Tasmanian students are bridging that socio-economic gap.

On Wednesday, teachers will join their public servant colleagues in stop work meetings and rallies across the state. 

In light of these results, the state government should give teachers a fair go and negotiate a fair wage increase.