EDUCATION KEY IN CRISIS

THE past year has been one of disruption. While they are our future, school kids have effectively had the rug pulled out from under them. As their world was plunged into lockdown, restrictions, social distancing and homeschooling, parents struggled to look them in the eye and tell them everything would be OK.

We’d raised them to believe the world was their oyster, only to then say it was a dangerous place in which close physical contact came with risk. If ever there was a generation that deserves an injection of hope, it’s the COVID generation.

Of course, there has been an upside. They’ve learned to use technology in new and engaging ways to adapt to the challenges before us and many have had the added benefit of extra family time as workfrom-home or lockdowns were enforced.

But that has come at a cost. Professionals note an increase in mental health problems, such as anxiety or depression and too many others live in homes where warm meals, warm embraces and a general feeling of safety doesn’t exist – indeed for too many Tasmanian kids, school is the only escape from difficult domestic life.

We know that Tasmanian school students have had the worst post-school outcomes and the lowest literacy in the country, the second lowest attendance and retention rates and a Year 12 attainment rate well below the national average.

Lifting the collective education standards of Tasmanians has been a priority of the government and should be a priority for all in our state.

So with all of that in mind, it’s important to give credit where credit’s due.

Yesterday Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff said his government would ensure Year 12 was offered in all Tasmanian public high schools from the first term of 2022.

This issue has been a battleground in Tasmania for a decade and the Liberals went to the polls in 2014 with the promise. Instead Labor opposed the plan, describing it as “unsustainable and unaffordable”.

We don’t often get enough opportunity to say that it appears the government is on track to deliver exactly what it pledged to voters – and on time.

It’s been a massive project but we know that it will mean more students will finish Year 12 and the move has already seen results improve retention rates.

While the state has come a long way in the past decade, we know the purple patch has not benefited all Tasmanians.

This is particularly true for youths in rural and remote areas.

Education is a great equaliser. We need more Tasmanians to complete school, which in turn will lead to them becoming more skilled, getting better jobs and helping to raise the standard of living in the state.

The state government has done a good job with this policy and the benefits will be felt in years to come.