SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION

Mr PISONI (Unley) (15:34): My question is to the Minister for Education. What are the government's concerns with the new SACE, as expressed by the minister to a delegation of the History Teachers' Association at a recent meeting?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (15:34): My concerns are that it keeps being misrepresented horribly in the media by the member for Unley; that is my major concern. It is one of the most—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It is one of the most important reforms that has been undertaken in senior secondary schooling that we have seen in a generation. Historically, we have had a system where the senior secondary certificate has too much been about, and solely about, providing a means of entry into tertiary educational institutions. This is now genuinely a high school leaving certificate where we can warrant to the whole world that there will be minimum standards of both literacy and numeracy. We can now provide, for the first time, a genuine career path for those young people who are not destined for university but want to also take on the important and genuinely rewarding and worthy occupation of a trade.

So, instead of there being the provision in the later years of high schooling, of there being a narrowing of the arrangements that have been directed at taking people into university, this provides a vocational pathway now where young people can get a start on their trades, also ensuring that they will stay at school so that they complete year 12.

We have seen, under the previous government, the appalling situation where high school retention rates fell to 67 per cent. They took an education system which was the envy of the nation and threw it into reverse and they got the most extraordinarily bad results—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —where 67 per cent of our young people commencing high school did not actually complete their high schooling. We have now taken it this year to 84 per cent during the life of this government: a commitment to a future for our young people.

Our new SACE not only introduces minimum standards of literacy and numeracy, it not only provides vocational pathways, but it also introduces two other very important measures—the personal learning plan and the research project—which are about ensuring that our young people gain the research and inquiry skills that not only help them in the world of work but in life as well.

Increasingly, we are understanding that the types of jobs that exist in our community are going to be jobs requiring people to have the capacity for self-directed learning, for people to be able to understand how to solve problems themselves—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —and fundamentally being able to shape the questions themselves. These are the core skills that will enable young people to be successful in the world of work. We have had an education system which, in the past, has been about people sitting there and supplying answers to questions. We need inquirers. We need young people who actually become genuinely inquiring learners so that we can give them the sorts of skills that are going to assist them.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mr PISONI: The question was about the concerns about the new SACE that the minister raised—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr PISONI: —with the History Teachers' Association of South Australia. I ask that you direct him to answer the question.

The SPEAKER: I listened carefully to your point of order, but I think the minister is answering it in his own way and it is relevant.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Madam Speaker, I am addressing the sorts of points I made in all of the meetings that I have had—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —with the various associations that have come to see me. This is about providing a broader range of choice for our young people, being able to ensure that our young people, many of whom are not destined for university, can actually complete 12 years of schooling, because we now know that the sorts of jobs, even trade jobs, that exist out there, require the sort of literacy and numeracy skills and the high level of learning that will be available to us through 12 years of learning. We are proud of this certificate. That is not to say that it is not a challenge, because this is the first full year of its implementation. We will reflect upon all of the challenges that this new—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Exactly, we will learn from our experience here. We have committed to a review of the new SACE which will be completed at the end of this year. We are committed to a thorough review of it and we will learn any lessons that emerge from that review.