‘Alarmingly unacceptable’: MLC warns of low year 11 and 12 attendance rates
New figures have revealed a staggering number of year 11 and 12 students are failing to turn up each day, with one school reporting attendance figures of just 36 per cent.
Education
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STATE school attendance rates for Tasmanian year 11 and 12 students are at “alarmingly low” levels, opposition education spokesman Josh Willie has warned.
The MLC obtained statistics showing 2021 attendance rates had overall improved since last year, when Covid lockdowns drastically affected figures.
However, 12 government schools had even lower attendance rates at the end of term one this year compared to last year, with one school reporting only 36 per cent of its students were turning up.
Mr Willie said only two year 11 and 12 extension schools reported attendance rates greater than 90 per cent in the first half of 2021, with the vast majority showing only 60 to 70 per cent of students were showing up.
He described the figures as “alarmingly unacceptable”.
“The government cannot blame the pandemic for alarmingly low attendance when it is clear that across some schools attendance is actually worse this year than it was last year during the lockdown,” Mr Willie said.
“It’s enormously sad that Tasmanian teenagers are not finding their high school experience to be an engaging one to such an extent that they are simply not showing up.”
Mr Willie also said the Tasmanian year 12 attainment rate, and the retention rates from year 10 to year 12, were both well below national averages.
But Education Minister Sarah Courtney said according to the latest Tasmanian data, 2021 had the highest retention rates on record.
She also said the department recently launched a new website, Anything Can Happen, providing information to support students and parents in attending and engaging with education.
“The increasing number of students progressing to year 12 shows our policy to extend all high schools to year 12 is successful, and we’ll continue to do all we can to provide more opportunities for Tasmanian students,” she said.
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