SA Education Department carrying out ‘preliminary’ investigation into moving Year 7 into high school
THE Education Department is undertaking “preliminary” investigations into moving Year 7 to high school.
THE Education Department is conducting “preliminary” investigations into moving Year 7 to high school, while the Opposition says the state’s latest international test results prove the change must happen.
It is the first time the department has looked into the move in several years.
The State Government has repeatedly rebuffed calls to bring SA in line with other states, arguing there is no evidence of educational benefit to justify the $300 million cost it estimated four years ago.
Education Minister Susan Close told The Advertiser on Wednesday she remained unconvinced but had always kept “an open mind” and supported the department’s investigation.
Chief executive Rick Persse told a parliamentary committee this week that the question of moving Year 7s had “come on to my agenda” since he took up the role in June.
“We are doing some very preliminary work investigating what the implications are of that,” he said. “I sought what I would have thought was reams and reams of research which said why it was either a very clear good idea or a very clear bad idea, and what is interesting is that there is no conclusive view.”
Mr Persse added: “We have started a little bit of internal work in terms of that, but it is very early days and it will be something that will need to go to Cabinet.” The SA Catholic system is moving Year 7 to high school from 2019 and many independent schools have already made the change.
Opposition education spokesman John Gardner said the results of the Program for International Student Assessment, which tests 15-year-olds in maths, science and reading, showed public schools must follow suit.
While the state’s 2015 results were similar to 2012, they were well behind those recorded in 2006 in maths and science.
“The national curriculum has a focus on specialist maths, science and English teaching for Year 7 students. Moving Year 7 students into high school would ensure that our students are not left behind their interstate counterparts,” Mr Gardner said.
However, Dr Close said the Liberals’ “obsession” with moving Year 7 had “blinded their ability” to assess the PISA results, saying South Australia ranked third among all states overall. That put SA “equal or above” other states and territories where Year 7 was in high school, she said.
Dr Close backed the department’s investigation because it had to assess the impact of the Catholic system’s move on public schools, but said “where 12-year-olds are taught” was a less pressing issue than funding negotiations with the Federal Government.
