Score boost for HSC students to cover coronavirus concerns
With education bosses unsure whether schooling will return to normal before term three, a plan is afoot to artificially boost HSC scores to avoid students having to repeat their final year of secondary studies.
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School students in NSW will not have to repeat the year, even though the vast majority have been forced to learn from home during the coronavirus pandemic.
The state government has categorically ruled out keeping every student back a grade to repeat the year’s lessons face-to-face with a teacher, partly because there are not enough teachers or classrooms to accommodate an extra year group.
The state's tough social-distancing restrictions will not be lifted until the final week of Term 2 at the beginning of July, at the earliest, and it is still unclear schools will return to normal for Term 3 which starts on July 21.
“I have no expectation that COVID-19 will bring any fundamental change to the way students progress through schooling,” Education Minister Sarah Mitchell told The Sunday Telegraph.
“We will be working with teachers to help them assess student progress as learning takes place from home.”
Students who have missed large chunks of classes because of illness or absence will still have to repeat the year, as per normal.
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Education ministers are also considering a plan in which all Year 12 students would have their subject scores artificially boosted to reflect the disruption the pandemic will have on their final year results.
The could be rubber-stamped as early as Tuesday when state and territory ministers meet for National Education Council.
With travel restrictions hurting the higher education sector, universities have also pleaded with the government to make sure domestic students whose studies and exams have been disrupted enrol in courses next year.
Unsure whether schools will resume after the Easter holidays, parents and school principals have raised concerns about the impact coronavirus will have on the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) results which determine which courses students are accepted into.
Late last month Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan met with his state and territory counterparts to discuss the possibility of adjusting university admission processes to reflect the impact of the coronavirus.
The Sunday Telegraph understands the proposal has widespread support from the states and territories, which want to incentivise students not to repeat.
Under the plan, the subject scores of all students would be lifted by the same amount, so top-performing students would still received top marks, even if they perform worse than students in previous years.
A similar system is currently in place for students whose study is interrupted by ill health, allowing teachers to give an estimate based on year 11 results.
Mr Tehan said he didn’t want Year 12 students to miss out on starting university, vocational education or work next year.
“We want Year 12 to go ahead and to get as many year 12s through in whatever shape of form,” Mr Tehan said.
“What we do not want to see is this generation suffer a lack of opportunities.
“This generation coming through is the generation that will be fundamental to rebuilding our nation in the years ahead.”
Universities Australia Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said universities were aware of the potential impact of COVID-19 on school examinations and were developing contingency plans.
“Universities use a range of criteria as part of their admittance processes,” she said.
In a statement, the Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admissions Centres (ACTAC) which assesses university admissions said the ATAR ranking method already provided a reliable comparison of students compared to their age group, regardless of different circumstances.
“Any changes to such processes will be accommodated within this existing framework to provide certainty and consistency for both students and tertiary institutions.”