2 weeks Ago 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, Education Minister Tony Buti announced the final recommendations from a review into senior secondary pathways, the Post-School Success report. “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,” he 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.” Key recommendations 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.
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