Education certainty: Minister assures Year 12 students they will not be disadvantaged by COVID-19

High school students dealing with learning and assessment challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic have been given several pathways to complete their learning.

NO student will have to repeat Year 12 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff assured Tasmania’s senior high school students they would not be disadvantaged by the learning and assessment challenges posed by lockdown measures.

Mr Rockliff met with University of Tasmania vice chancellor Rufus Black last week and announced a School Recommendation Program to enable students to apply for most undergraduate courses at UTAS.

Students will be made an offer much earlier than usual based on the recommendation of schools and teachers.

Mr Rockliff said it was nationally agreed at a special education meeting on Tuesday that certainty was needed for Year 12 students.

“More than likely, student assessments will need to be different this year and that is the work that we are doing right now,” he said.

“It is important we recognise the challenges students this year are facing and we respond in a flexible way to make sure that students are not disadvantaged while not compromising the integrity of senior secondary certificates.”

BIG CHANGES FOR TASMANIA’S YEAR 12 STUDENTS

Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff.

Mr Rockliff said flexible and alternative assessments would be required to measure the learning outcomes of subjects such as music and drama and those with a workplace requirement.

The state’s schools will remain open for onsite learning in term two for students who cannot be supported or supervised to continue their learning at home.

A Department of Education spokesperson said teachers would lead online and onsite learning.

“Teachers will be in regular contact with students to provide support for learning activities, which will be a range of online and offline tasks,” they said.

“Parents can still get in touch with their child’s teacher with questions and to discuss their child’s learning.”

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Schools will not be required to provide student reports in term two, however they will be providing informal feedback on student progress.

The spokesperson said teachers would be required to continue working onsite in term two to ensure the operational requirements of schools can be met.

There will be working from home options for teachers who fall into a high-risk category for COVID-19 due to health concerns, are the primary carer and live with someone who falls into that category, or are not require at the workplace and can perform their duties at home without affecting school operations.

The situation will be regularly reviewed based on Public Health advice and updates.

Catholic Education Tasmania announced the same arrangements for Catholic schools and colleges in Tasmania.

CET executive director Dr Gerard Gaskin said parents were not expected to be teachers, only to supervise and support their children’s learning at home.

“This amounts to seeing that they are on task and at task during the times required by their teachers,” he said.

Dr Gaskin said teachers will provide students with a learning schedule and suitable learning activities, which may be delivered and completed online, offline, paper-based or a combination of these.

The learning schedule will align with the Australian Curriculum and teachers will be in regular daily contact with their students to provide support for the learning activities provided.

“School and college working-from-home arrangements will be reviewed fortnightly to allow adjustments for supervision of students, particularly where it is expected that numbers will rise onsite for supervision the longer the government restrictions remain in place,” Dr Gaskin said.