Consideration for students
Member for Lowan Emma Kealy has spoken of ‘pressure relief’ in a State Government decision to introduce special considerations for students studying in years 11 and 12.
Ms Kealy said she and her Coalition colleagues had advocated strongly for the considerations that would apply for Victorian Certificate of Education, VCE, Vocational, Education and Training, VET, and Victorian Certificate of Advanced Learning, VCAL, students working under COVID-19 lockdown conditions.
“After strong lobbying and support from students and educators across the Lowan region, the government announced the Consideration of Educational Disadvantage would be applied automatically to all VCE or scored VCE VET Unit 3-4 sequences in 2021 – as it was in 2020 – to make sure the disrupted school year does not unfairly impact student results,” she said.
“VCAL students will be able to apply individually for special consideration and a general achievement test due to take place next week has also been rescheduled, to August 12.”
Ms Kealy said the changes would take considerable pressure off students, their families and educators.
“While I firmly believe schools should be open in areas with no COVID-19 cases, this announcement will offer some relief for students, who have been feeling increasingly stressed about another year of interrupted
learning and the impact this would have on their learning outcomes,” she said.
“I thank all the educators who contacted me to support my advocacy for special consideration measures to be introduced.
“I also thank them for the enormous amount of work they are doing to navigate ever-changing restrictions while minimising disruption for their students.
“I also want to acknowledge the parents and carers who are supporting these students during another tough year.
“Finally, I would like to extend my thoughts and very best wishes to all students completing VCE, VET and VCAL this year – our community is behind you and we are proud of you.”