By Holly Thompson
Western Australia’s school system will receive an overhaul as dramatically declining numbers are staying in school to obtain their West Australian Certificate of Education.
On Monday at the Education Awards breakfast, state Education Minister Tony Buti announced the final recommendations from a review into senior secondary pathways, the Post-School Success report.
It found that “while assessment is critical to understanding what a student has learned, it should not determine what that student should learn. Unfortunately, the Western Australian system has evolved in such a way that this is occurring in some cases”.
“I’ve been hearing of schools coaching students out of taking challenging ATAR courses because they feel the student is not performing as well as they should be and that may impact the schools’ overall performance,” Buti told the audience.
“I want our system to coach students into courses that would challenge them and allow them to reach for the stars, not coach them out.”
Despite a decline in the number of students sitting ATAR courses, the number heading to university from school has not slowed as much, thanks to an increasing number of university-developed enabling programs.
The report found the number of students choosing these programs jumped from 344 five years ago to 1700 by 2023 – another issue Buti said he found troubling.
“I know that ATAR is not the answer to everything, but I do believe ATAR courses best challenge our students, which is important preparation for those wanting to go to university,” he said
“I believe that in most cases, if a student is capable of doing ATAR, they should do it.”
Key recommendations from the report to help include enabling as many VET subjects as possible to contribute towards an ATAR, expanding the information included in the Western Australian Statement of Student Achievement to reflect a holistic picture of achievement beyond grades, and to make WASSAs available to students who leave school before year 12.
“For too long, VET has been seen as an alternative pathway, almost a poor cousin to ATAR, and this is definitely not the case,” Buti said.
The report also highlighted making the system more accessible for students with disabilities, including developing an additional level within the WACE to accommodate them.
Buti said he was hoping the report would lead to a system “catering for the diversity of students in our secondary schools.”
“It’s important students have everything they need to reach their full potential and secondary school pathways that will help them to prepare for the range of further study, training and work options available to them,” he said.
Association of Independent Schools WA executive director Chris Massey said once implemented, the outcomes of the review would represent “one of the biggest transformations of WA’s education for senior secondary in living memory”.
“This ambitious reform agenda will provide the foundations for future generations to thrive in their education and in their working life,” he said.
The number of West Australian public high school students continuing their education through to year 12 has seen the most dramatic drop out of all states and territories across the country over the past decade, WAtoday reported in May.
Buti said in parliament last week that while ATAR was the best preparation for attending university and that those with the capacity should take on the exams, the school system itself was encouraging students to avoid subjects they found more challenging and the conditions students must meet to graduate were too onerous.