SA Education Department documents reveals dropout rates from public high schools

ONLY 60 per cent of all public students complete their SACE, including just one in three from the most disadvantaged schools, according to an Education Department document.

• More than one in three students fail to finish SACE

ONLY 60 per cent of all public students complete their SACE, including just one in three from the most disadvantaged schools, according to an Education Department document.

Experts say the figures show the need for a major overhaul of secondary schooling towards personalised learning for each student.

The former Labor government and the department had insisted they did not have firm data on SACE completion.

Despite repeated requests from The Advertiser since 2016, all Labor provided on the eve of the March state election was a rough estimate of 75 per cent across the public and private sectors, by comparing birth rates with SACE completers.

But the department document, obtained by The Advertiser and citing SACE Board figures, suggests a more complete picture was known.

It compares numbers of public students who did the Personal Learning Plan subject in 2013 - the first subject of the SACE, usually done in Year 10 - with the later completion rates for those students.

The rates ranged from 34.5 per cent for the schools in the lowest of seven categories of disadvantage, up to 75.1 per cent for the most advantaged.

Separate documents, obtained by Flinders University’s Andrew Bills and UniSA’s Nigel Howard under Freedom of Information, show completion rates for students in “flexible learning options (FLO)” programs for at-risk teens are as low as one in 20. More than 21,000 students have been involved over the past decade.

The Education Department document says only 60 per cent of all public students complete their SACE.

Dr Bills said both sets of figures demonstrated the need for change, citing Mitchell Institute research that found each student who fails to finish high school ends up costing the economy $1 million.

Dr Bills said one of the original aims of FLO had been SACE completion, but the 2016 department report he obtained was a “very soft review” that focused on social and emotional support, while playing down the goal of academic achievement as unrealistic.

He understood another report was “scathing” of FLO outcomes, but he was denied access to it because it was a Cabinet document.

Dr Bills said grouping FLO students in special centres deprived students of access to experienced teachers and a full curriculum, concentrating disadvantage and making academic achievement less likely.

Former Labor minister and now Opposition education spokeswoman Susan Close said it was unsurprising public schools in poorer areas fared worst in the completion rates and they should not be demonised because they had the toughest job.

Opposition education spokeswoman Susan Close said public schools in poorer areas had the toughest job. Picture: AAP / Morgan Sette

She said the department had likely been “holding off” releasing figures until it had more accurate numbers and better understanding of factors behind them.

“(As minister) I was very interested in SACE completion and wanted to have a lot more understanding of when we lose kids,” she said.

A department spokesman said such accurate reporting would require “tracking individual students to account for movement across sectors and interstate”, and “these figures have not been subjected to that level of analysis”.

Executive director of partnerships, schools and preschools Anne Millard said changes were being made to the FLO program in response to the 2016 report, including a centralised reporting system on student progress.

“However, evaluating the program is complex because there is wide variance in when individual students engage, the length of their engagement and the number of times they engage with the program during their schooling,” she said.

Education Minister John Gardner said the Liberals had announced a review of the SACE and were offering employers $3000 bonuses for every apprentice who also completed their SACE.