Parliamentary Committees

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE: SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION

The Hon. P.L. WHITE (Taylor) (11:12): I move:

That the 27^th report of the committee, on an inquiry into the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE), be noted.

As members know, the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) is the common certificate of achievement for high school education in this state. It is also currently used as the basic requirement for entry into a range of higher education institutions. The Social Development Committee's inquiry came about from a motion moved by the Hon. Stephen Wade MLC in another place as a result of the recent reforms announced—and in process—to senior secondary school education, as proposed in the final report of the SACE review, called 'Success for All'.

To recap, for members' benefit, in February 2004, when I was education minister, I set up a review of the SACE, headed by the Hon. Greg Crafter, a former education minister and the very same minister who had introduced the current SACE 20 years prior. Also on the review panel were Dr Patricia Crook, representative of Business SA, and Professor Alan Reid from the University of South Australia.

The review report, which was released in March 2006, recommended that a single new qualification be formed, and had 26 recommendations about ways to reform the current certificate. It was recommended that, while the current certificate had served South Australian students well over those 20 years, we drastically needed to improve school retention rates (even though, since the election of the current government, those have been improving), and that it was necessary to revamp the certificate; indeed, after 20 years, that should be no surprise.

There were over 200 meetings across the state. Over 1,600 individuals, including not only South Australians but also people from both interstate and overseas, contributed to that review, and 1,200 pages of text were reviewed by that exercise. There were 600 responses to an online survey, for example, so consultation was quite extensive. The review report was released in March 2006, and our committee conducted this inquiry.

As is often the case when a committee conducts an inquiry about a review of something that is still in the process of being formed (as it was then), we found that some of the issues raised at the beginning of our evidence had changed as time went on. Subsequent to the review and the initiation of our inquiry, the current education minister (the Hon. Jane Lomax-Smith) responded to the review team's recommendations, accepting most recommendations but rejecting or amending some.

That is for information as to the context of this inquiry. Members should also realise that the new SACE certificate has not yet been introduced. Next year, year 10s will begin the new SACE, so the first graduates of the new SACE certificate will be in 2011. While the new SACE is intended to build upon some of the positive features of the current certificate, the inquiry heard that it will have greater flexibility and provide the opportunity for students to undertake in-depth study of subjects that are of particular interest to them.

There are a lot of great new initiatives. I will not take the house through those because there are published reports that can be studied by members in detail. Before I go further, I would like to thank my fellow committee members for their contribution: my colleagues in this place, Mr Adrian Pederick and Ms Lindsay Simmons and, from the other place, the Hons Ian Hunter, Dennis Hood and Stephen Wade. I also acknowledge the very valuable and dedicated contribution of the staff of the Social Development Committee.

Our committee was keen to make sure that any concerns about the new SACE were fully canvassed, so it advertised nationally and its terms of reference were placed on the committee's website. Public hearings commenced towards the end of July last year, and the committee completed its hearings on 3 December. All in all, despite the committee's calling for submissions, a relatively small number of formal submissions were received. In total, we received 17 submissions consisting of nine written submissions and eight oral presentations, but that is not really surprising given the extensive consultation that I outlined earlier in the initial review.

Nevertheless, on behalf of the committee, I would like to thank the individuals and organisations who presented evidence to this inquiry whether through written submissions or by appearing before the committee. Through their evidence, the committee was able to gain a very clear picture of the key issues. Overall, most submissions received by the Social Development Committee supported the need for South Australia's senior secondary education to be reformed and were in principle supportive of the new certificate. There were, of course, areas of concern, which were addressed during the course of the inquiry.

For example, some witnesses earlier considered that there had been delays in communication about the new SACE and inadequate information about the proposed changes and its implementations. Our committee hearings were public and, no doubt, that information did get back to the minister. In subsequent witness statements, we noted reported improvement in that particular area. So, that is a factor of a review inquiry taking place at the same time as the implementation is in process within the department.

Other evidence focused on the external assessment component of stage 2 of the new SACE. At present, subjects are either entirely assessed or they have an external assessment component which varies between 30 and 50 per cent. As part of the new SACE, all stage 2 subjects will have the 30 per cent external assessment, with the remaining 70 per cent being a school-based assessment. That is the case for some subjects currently, but for a lot of subjects that will be a change.

Some evidence suggested that this was no problem and other evidence suggested that any reduction at all of the external assessment for some subjects may compromise the credibility of the certificate. Other matters raised—some of which are yet to be finalised as the new SACE has not yet been introduced—focused around the tertiary entrance rank used by higher education institutions to rank students for selection to particular higher education courses. The process of moderation is used to ensure that standards of assessment are comparable and fair and that the South Australian certificate aligns itself with proposed educational changes at the national level.

The committee also received evidence on the composition and representation of the SACE Board, the ongoing training and professional development of teachers and the capacity of the SACE to cater to the needs of disadvantaged students. The committee acknowledges that some ongoing issues need to be resolved before the new SACE is introduced. For this reason, the committee has recommended that an effective communication strategy needs to be established so that information regarding the implementation of the new SACE is conveyed in a timely fashion to all those affected by the changes.

The Social Development Committee identified a number of other areas in which improvements could still be made. Its recommendations include: that the government provide focused support to students at risk of disengaging from education; that sufficient resources be provided for the ongoing professional development to secondary school teachers; and that the government closely monitor any proposals to introduce a national Australian certificate of education.

Changes such as those proposed by the new SACE require open and ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, and the committee sees an ongoing role for the SACE Review Implementation Steering Committee, or a similar multi-sector structure. The committee I have mentioned has been set up for the purpose of implementing the new SACE, but we think it would usefully provide a forum for discussion of contemporary educational issues and, importantly, it will ensure that the senior secondary school sector is well placed to adapt to emerging educational labour market needs on an ongoing basis.

The committee believes that the membership of that committee should include representatives of the government, independent and Catholic school sectors, along with representatives of the further education and tertiary sectors. As mentioned, the committee believes that the existing structures have already allowed this dialogue to occur, and we should make use of them.

At a national level, discussions have occurred about the introduction of a national Australian certificate of education. The committee would certainly like to see the state government closely monitor the proposed introduction of a single nationally consistent Australian certificate of education and examine its likely implications for the new SACE.

Finally, the committee considers that an evaluation of the new SACE must be undertaken in due course to determine the success, or otherwise, in meeting the needs of the community. In particular, it must be responsive to the needs of students at risk of disengaging from the education system. We know that young people who drop out of school early are at far greater risk of engaging in antisocial behaviour, ending up on welfare or, worse still, in the prison system, and underachieving in further endeavours.

The committee strongly believes that the needs of disadvantaged students must be carefully examined as part of any SACE evaluation to ensure that they have the best possible chance of achieving successful outcomes.

In conclusion, the senior years of secondary school education are of critical importance for young South Australians and the state as a whole. The new South Australian Certificate of Education has been proposed as a way of responding to social change and economic needs. The committee believes it is necessary.

The committee has welcomed the feedback it received and has noted that, whilst we heard some criticisms overall, the evidence supported the proposed changes. The committee has put forward a number of recommendations that it considers will address the concerns that were raised. We hope that the government will take on board these recommendations.

Young people, irrespective of whether they are university bound, must have access to a system of education and training that provides them with the skills, the values and the knowledge to lead productive lives and positively contribute to our community. This remains a significant challenge; nevertheless, it is one that we must ensure is met.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:26): I commend the member for Taylor's remarks. This inquiry came to us via a member in another place (the Hon. Stephen Wade) in regard to the SACE in South Australia. A broad range of presentations was made to the Social Development Committee. Certainly, there was some criticism about changing the system we now have. There were some perceptions by people involved in the tertiary sector—in our universities, etc.—who were concerned that perhaps the new SACE would mean a dumbing-down of the system. As long as the recommendations are taken on board, it will make sure that we do not have a dumbing-down of our education system.

There is nothing more vital in our society than education. It has been found that people have gone right through the school system but they cannot even spell. This is supposed to get picked up in primary years but it beggars belief how people can get right through secondary education, to perhaps year 11 or year 12, and they can barely string a sentence together on paper. I think there are some real difficulties that need to be addressed there.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: No worries! The Attorney puts out a challenge—at any time, Attorney.

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, I am sorry I do not have a pair of skis and boots to go with you next week. Be that as it may, the educational standards of our children are not something to be trivialised. They need to be taken into account to make sure that young people can meet an adequate standard to complete their SACE requirements successfully and can go on to lead a broader life, perhaps doing a full university course.

The recommendations include vocational education and training courses in this program and that is a major plus, because not everyone is bound for a full academic career. In the past I think we have let students in the state down—those who are more aligned to technical education than academic—and it has only just been realised that there has been a really big gap in the last 20 years of education in that regard.

Overall, there are 26 recommendations. I hope that the SACE, as it is rolled out from next year, is monitored by the appropriate authorities to see that it is kept up to speed and gives the best education to students in this state that it can. Otherwise, if it does not work, the matter will just have to come back and be reviewed again.

I acknowledge that a huge body of work has gone into this issue. I hope that the universities do not find a problem or find that there is a dumbing-down of skills across the state, that entry requirements meet international standards, and that we can supply the best students, not just from our state and this country, but also from around the world. With those few remarks, I commend the report.

The Hon. P.L. WHITE (Taylor) (11:30): I thank the member for Hammond for his contribution to this debate and his valuable contribution to the work of the committee. An extensive review was conducted by government, involving a large number of submissions to the Crafter review. Since then the proposal has evolved. One thing I did neglect to mention is that there have been trials in at least 40 schools—probably more by now—on certain aspects of the new SACE. The committee did have confidence that there was a good process in taking what is a 20-year old certificate into the 21^st century.

Motion carried.