Improve school retention for happier, healthier community

IT

is universally accepted a person’s level of education is a key factor in determining their success in life, whether that is career advancement, contribution to the community, income, health or even general happiness.

This is why the Hodgman Liberal Government continues to prioritise education with a record investment in school infrastructure, more teachers, more support staff, reinstating school nurses and extending all high schools to years 11-12

Jeremy Rockliff

to improve retention and educational attainment.

Our long-term plan is to lead the nation in education and we want to help all students experience success, reach their potential and lead happy and productive lives.

The policy to extend high schools to years 11-12 has been a centrepiece of this term of government. Providing more opportunities and choices, and working with communities, are at the heart of the policy and crucial to its success.

We set a target of 21 school extensions but because of community demand we have extended 30 schools, with eight more from the start of 2018. Five have already put up their hand to extend in 2019 — five schools at risk of not having that opportunity under a Labor/Green Government.

We have invested $110 million upgrading tired and dated infrastructure around the state, the biggest in school infrastructure in decades, and we have bold plans like a $22 million new kinder-12 Sorell School and a $20 million kinder-12 Penguin District School because we know students learn better in contemporary classrooms.

Extending schools to year 12 is working. The facts are in. By giving students the opportunity to study closer to home, retention has risen to 73.4 per cent, up more than 6 per cent compared to the dark days under Labor in 2012.

The Tasmanian Certificate of Education achievement rate is 56.4 per cent, up almost 10 per cent since Labor was in charge.

Enrolments at year 11-12 extension schools have continued to rise, with 533 students enrolling in extension schools in 2017, a 58.3 per cent increase in the first 12 schools to extend since 2014.

It’s not just about numbers, it’s about sending a message to all Tasmanians that a good education is valuable, and it doesn’t end at year 10.

A re-elected majority Liberal Government has set a bold target of increasing the retention rate of year 10-12 students from 73.4 per cent to at or above the national average by 2022. Currently it stands at around 80 per cent. Further, we want to see 75 per cent of students achieve their TCE by 2022.

To help achieve these

targets, we have announced we will extend all remaining Tasmanian high schools to year 12 by 2022, and we’ve provided over $30 million to deliver it.

This will support up to 70 more teachers, better facilities at high schools, and provide an opportunity for students to stay in high school no matter where they live or what their circumstance. In particular, it will make it easier for those who would otherwise finish at year 10 to stay to year 12.

As I have repeatedly said, this isn’t about closing the colleges, it’s about getting more students to compete year 12, and it’s about providing genuine choice for students to either stay at their local high school or move into the college system, or a mix of both — a good example being the teggana Collective, a partnership between high schools on Hobart’s Eastern Shore and Rosny College.

It is disingenuous for Labor to keep peddling their line about closing colleges. Nothing could be further from the truth and I’m genuinely disappointed the Labor Party continues to oppose our year 11-12 extension policy, and will roll it back if elected into a minority government with the Greens.

The Labor Party don’t see the same need for change, their faith is firmly planted in the past, and their past is ugly, including attempts to forcibly close 20 schools and dismantling colleges and TAFE.

The question we should be asking ourselves is: why would we want to go back?

There will be a clear choice on election-day in 2018. The certainty of a Hodgman Liberal Government which is totally committed to funding and improving educational outcomes for all Tasmanians; or another Labor/Green minority that is stuck in the past with no policies, no vision, no targets and no initiative.

Tasmanian Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff is Minister for Education and Training.