SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION MERIT AWARDS

Ms BETTISON (Ramsay) (14:50): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. Will the minister inform the house about the achievement of last year's year 12 students?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:51): I thank the member for Ramsay for her question. I am delighted to be able to highlight the achievements of South Australian students who completed their SACE last year. Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in the SACE merit ceremony which recognises and celebrates the students who achieved excellence in the South Australia Certificate of Education results. Once again, His Excellency the Governor of South Australia and Mrs Scarce hosted the awards in the beautiful gardens of Government House.

With a record number of subject merits achieved last year—1,013 were achieved by 770 students—presenters were kept very busy awarding the certificates. The record number of merit awards is just one reason to be proud of last year's cohort of students. For a start, 13,404 students achieved their SACE. That is an additional 1,093 students on the previous year. Almost 86 per cent of these students achieved an Australian tertiary admission rank. I am pleased to note that the largest ever number of Aboriginal and Indigenous students gained their SACE, a great achievement for those students, and we will continue to work to further boost this number.

As part of the SACE ceremony, I had the honour of presenting the 2013 Tennyson Award to the most outstanding English studies student. This year, for only the third time in its 112-year history, there were two winners. Joanna Brookman from South Australia and Rachael McCullough from the North Territory shared equal place. It would have been a relief, I am sure, to both those students, that the rule of making joint winners sit another exam to determine one winner is no longer observed.

As members may be aware, the Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training is based on our SACE, and a version of SACE is also offered at colleges in Malaysia and China. Our SACE certificate is of national and international standing. Being internationally recognised, it opens doors to exciting study and work opportunities for young South Australians. With an increase in the number of students achieving SACE, more young South Australians will be able to access these opportunities.

As we shine a light on the students, I would also like to recognise the dedicated teachers, parents, carers and families—all who have provided support and guidance throughout their schooling journey. I want to congratulate the merit winners again, and all those students who completed their SACE last year, and wish them all the very best in their futures.