Question Time

EDUCATION, ADULT RE-ENTRY

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:05): My question is to the Minister for Education. Under the government's adult re-entry policy, at which institutions will a person over 21 years of age but with no special needs or disability seeking to complete their SACE now be able to complete it, and what is the eligibility criteria?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development) (14:06): I thank the honourable member for her question, which seems to be recounting this misapprehension that the shadow minister for education has been running around about, and that is the question of TAFE and the relationship with SACE. Let me do it the long way—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Bragg!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —so that members opposite and the shadow minister can understand it. The SACE is a certificate; it is accredited by the SACE Board. It can choose to provide that accreditation to a range of different subjects and, increasingly, and under this government, more substantially as from next year, it will be allowed to take into account things such as vocational education and training—things that can be done within school or that can be done within TAFE.

The difficulty with the question here is that it proceeds from a misunderstanding about the way in which SACE certificates are actually constructed these days. SACE, which used to be the Senior Schools Certificate in what most of us would have known as matriculation, used to all be done in high school, except for those geniuses who managed to be successful and didn't need it. But, nowadays, it is a much more flexible arrangement that means that it can be completed in a range of different institutions: adult re-entry colleges, TAFEs and registered training providers. Just to add another degree of complexity, registered training providers are sometimes also adult re-entry colleges—some of them actually have accreditation.

What we have said consistently is that our adult re-entry colleges should be for people returning to get a second crack at getting their high schooling—that is what we have said they should be used for. We have been a victim of our own success because what has happened is that, because of our very high school retention rates, adult re-entry colleges are being used for things other than people trying to complete their high schooling. So, people are coming back, using them for WEA courses and all those sorts of things. We cannot afford to do that bit, but we can afford to continue to allow them to be used to allow people to complete their high schooling—that is what they were for in the first place.

There is another important interface here. A dramatically important budget announcement was the $194 million that the minister for further education announced in the Skills for All package—100,000 places over six years. We are talking here about a relatively small savings initiative. It is massively eclipsed by that initiative that will ensure that those people who are wanting to upgrade their skills—foundation skills or other vocational education training skills—can gain access to a subsidy that will assist them to do that, and that may be able to be done in adult re-entry colleges.

The other thing that is important to remember here is that we are placing our emphasis on the fence at the top of the cliff, not the ambulance at the bottom. The absolutely most important thing we can do is to ensure—

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Point of order, Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

Mr WILLIAMS: The minister was asked a very simple question: at which institutions can these people undertake their SACE? We have been listening to the minister for over three minutes now and he has not gone anywhere near explaining at which institutions these students will be able get their SACE.

The SPEAKER: I also think part of the question was criteria, etc. Sit down, member for MacKillop. I think there was something about criteria in the question also.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Exactly.

The SPEAKER: I am sure the minister will direct his answer.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: They fail to appreciate the fact that there are a range of institutions, and I have been setting out those institutions and the way in which they can do it. The other group of people—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: You will get a comprehensive answer because you don't like the fact that we are doing so much to allow young people to actually get on and get access to the training they need to make a success of their life. You don't like the sound of it but you are going to get it—in detail.

The other thing that we are doing is using our incredibly successful ICAN project, another $38 million for which was added into this budget. That project takes some of those older South Australians who are over 21 years of age who have become disconnected from school and engages them with a package of support to complete their high schooling. That occurs within the high school context—the high school proper, not the adult re-entry campus that sits next to the school. That is another initiative that goes to the question being asked.

Further, within our high schools, we are seeing innovative programs to allow those people who are not going to get their SACE but who, principals realise, need the foundation skills necessary to take the next step in their life to go on to TAFE or maybe employment. So, special campuses are being arranged, often collocated with TAFEs (in the case of Elizabeth TAFE and Fremont high school), that provide opportunities for those young people.

So there is a range of options for young people seeking to achieve high school qualifications and adults who are seeking a second crack. We are putting more resources than ever into this effort—an extra $203 million in the education budget—and all we get is misinformation from those opposite.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Torrens.