HSC students deserve a fair go

After more than six weeks of lockdown in Greater Sydney, one of many problems confronting the Berejiklian government is ensuring that HSC students facing acute disadvantages, especially those living in Covid-19 hotspots, receive the support they need to prepare for upcoming exams. As reported on Monday, groups such as Humanity Matters street youth services point out young people in Sydney’s west and southwest struggle with access to reliable internet at home. For affected students, that is a serious problem after the decision they will have to complete HSC trials at home.

The Berejiklian government’s vaccination drive for Year 12 students in hotspot areas is also being derailed by booking system glitches and last-minute transport disruptions, sparking concerns that the mass immunisation of 24,000 students could take much longer than the six days scheduled. On Friday evening, eligible students were sent a link to individually register and book their vaccinations after NSW Health officials backflipped on an original proposal to transport the students by bus, with their classmates, to the vaccine centre at Olympic Park, which has the capacity to provide 4000 vaccinations a day.

School communities have been at the epicentre of recent outbreaks of the Delta variant not only in NSW but in Victoria and Queensland. Vaccinating senior students and maximising use of home internet for online teaching, study and exam preparation is vital. But provision needs to be made for students facing technical and transport problems. Individual schools must be alert to their students’ difficulties. As NSW Secondary Principals’ Council president Craig Petersen said, the decision to scrap the buses and remove each school’s allocated vaccination times had come as a shock. “We are concerned that for some of our disadvantaged communities, and those who have English as a second language, it may be impossible to get out there.’’

More broadly, the interests of students, like the rest of the community, are best served by building momentum with vaccinations. The rollout will be boosted by the Therapeutic Goods Administration being on track to approve the Moderna vaccine within a fortnight, giving Australians a third option to Pfizer and AstraZeneca. The first million doses are expected to be available next month. NSW is on track to reach six million vaccinations by the end of this month, with the state looking to ease some restrictions in September if it meets a threshold of 50 to 60 per cent of the population vaccinated.