Monday, March 07, 2016

Tas: High School Education Concerns

Tasmanian Australian Education Union state president Helen Richardson has responded to Friday's announcement from Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff that another 18 schools would join an accelerated rollout of the extension to year 12.

In the North-West, seven schools - Devonport, Reece, Latrobe, Ulverstone and Burnie high schools, Sheffield School and Yolla District High - will offer years 11 and 12 from 2017.

However, Ms Richardson says there are greater priorities than simply extending high schools.

"The Hodgman government supports Gonski, which is welcomed, but schools are not seeing the benefits such as more teachers, support staff, specialists, tools for teaching and time for learning," she said.

"We know that equipping schools to enable tailored learning is critical for a student's education success, and that is achieved through properly delivered Gonski funding, and that should be the Hodgman government's No. 1 priority."

Ms Richardson said that while the decision by some schools to strengthen and broaden partnerships with colleges may remove some obstacles to some students' further education, the biggest difference to retention in Tasmania would be made by reversing cuts to education and "delivering Gonski" into the classroom.

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