Victorian students face prospect of repeating
Victorian students could be forced to repeat the year of school they are currently in, under a worst-case scenario the government is desperately trying to avoid. But with a return to regular term two unlikely, the situation could be an inevitable one.
Education
Don't miss out on the headlines from Education. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Victorian students could be forced to repeat the year of school they are currently in, under a worst-case scenario the Morrison Government is desperately trying to avoid.
Senior state and federal government officials are working with teachers’ unions to work out a plan for comprehensive distance learning, without which a year 13 would be created.
President of the Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals, Sue Bell, said that the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority were discussing contingency plans, but schools were in need of some certainty.
“What we need for year 12s is some sort of certainty … Even if that certainty changes down the road,” she told 3AW.
“Schools want to know what [the VCAA’s] plans are and when those trigger points kick in.
“Whether it’s moving exams back, not doing internal assessments … I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to deliver something earlier than [pushing assessments into next year].
“What year 12s are aiming for is an ATAR, an Australia-wide qualification we need to actually work with other states as well and that’s why it’s taking a little bit longer to come to an agreement.”
Ms Bell said that teachers are planning for all sorts of scenarios.
“I think teachers are ready to work remotely, and we’ve been planning furiously for this,” she said.
“I think probably that is going to be the most effective way of working at the moment, rather than what we were doing before when kids were still meant to be at school but teachers were planning for remote learning.
“I think we’re ready to deliver on it.
“Whether the delivery of lessons is online through computers, or through hard copy work that schools have developed … It would be one or the other depending on the level of technology they have.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has repeatedly raised concerns about the impacts of school closures on Australian children.
“On the other side of school holidays, the education ministers around the country will be working with the medical experts to further inform how the rest of the school year can be conducted,” Mr Morrison said last week.
“We do not want our children to lose a year of their education.”
Schools across the state are expected to reopen after the holidays with a skeleton staff so they can still provide lessons for the kids of essential workers and vulnerable families.
The Victorian government plan for schools – to be announced within days – is tipped to include provisions for year 12 students to sit their final exams in early 2021.
“It is my aim that they can get an ATAR, if not within this calendar year, then very soon thereafter – we’ve got six or eight weeks at the end of the year that we can catch up with when school was scheduled to finish,” Mr Andrews told the ABC.
“And when we get to that sort of Christmas holiday, we’re in conversations with universities, with TAFE. We’re talking to other states and territories and, of course, the Commonwealth.
“I know it’s very frustrating, including in my household. I can’t give [my son] Noah who is in year 12 all the answers he wants, but as soon as we can, we will.”
Students not being able to complete year 12 on time would have a flow-on effect for the struggling university sector, which will need a normal domestic intake of students in 2021 after losing thousands of international students this year.
The education disruption for final year students was now on the top of the priority lists of state, territory and federal ministers, according to federal education minister Dan Tehan.
“There are a lot of parents out there at the moment, especially those that have Year 12 students who are contemplating what their VCE is going to look like this year and what that will mean for pathways into work, into vocational education, into university next year,” Mr Tehan said late last week.
“This is the next on our list of priorities. Obviously there are numerous issues that families are facing, but this is one I’m getting a lot of feedback, which is of concern and we will be addressing this in the coming weeks.”
State Education Minister James Merlino will announce more detail in coming days.
“School is going to look different, day one of term two but the exact nature of that will be the subject of announcements,” Mr Andrews said on Sunday.
“We will give parents as much notice as we can.
“Some kids will be in school, some will be learning at home.”
Opposition leader Michael O’Brien has called on Premier Daniel Andrews to ensure year 12 students finish school this year.
Mr O’Brien said today it was imperative the school year didn’t run into 2021.
“My sympathies are with year 12 students and their families, it’s a stressful time anyway,” he said.
“I encourage the government, in fact all governments across the country to work together. I think we need to try and see an outcome in 2020 for these year 12 students.
“I don’t think students or their families want to see it spilling over into next year.”
With schools set to return next week, the government is yet to detail how that will occur.
Mr O’Brien said students couldn’t be put back in schools until it was safe for them to be there.
“We’re going to have to use remote learning, we’re going to have to use technology to try and give those students the learning that they need,” he said.
“If the Premier believes that it’s important some students are at school depending on what their parents jobs are then he has to come out and explain why.”
Mr Andrews has said schools could utilise the period before Christmas, when school was scheduled to finish, to make up for lost time.
“And when we get to that sort of Christmas holiday, we’re in conversations with universities, with TAFE. We’re talking to other states and territories and, of course, the Commonwealth,” he said.
“I know it’s very frustrating, including in my household. I can’t give Noah who is in year 12 all the answers he wants, but as soon as we can, we will.”
MORE NEWS: