School Retention Rates

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:42): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. Minister, what has the government done about the engagement of at-risk school and preschool students over the past 12 months?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for the Public Sector) (15:42): I thank the member for Florey for her question. Looking beyond what we are already aware of with the apparent retention rate for years 8 to 12 being at 96 per cent, I can say that the Aboriginal retention rate for years 8 to 12 rose to 86.1 per cent over the last year, which is of course a very good increase from the 2009 figure of 54.9 per cent.

The retention of students in the school system is one of the most important indicators of the effectiveness of that school system in addressing the very issue that the member has asked about, which is at-risk students. The fact that that figure has gone to that point makes us optimistic that we will be able to further increase those already solid foundations made.

We have been investing at the other end, for very young Aboriginal people such as the four Aboriginal children and family centres at Whyalla, Ceduna, Christies Beach and Ernabella, and we believe that they have helped to increase preschool enrolment, which will translate into better retention across the school system. Aboriginal enrolment, indeed, in our system has almost doubled since 1999, with 1,642 students enrolled in 2014. What that means is that more Aboriginal children are getting the benefit of early education, which means that they are going to prepared for starting school.

If we look at the other end of the spectrum—so, that related to preschool, but if we look at staying on not only through to year 12 but completing SACE: in 2014, 182 Aboriginal students completed all the requirements of SACE, which is up from 161 students in 2013 and 119 in 2012.

We also have homework centres, which are supervised after-school environments where Aboriginal children can get support to finish homework and also to run through the work they have done during school to make sure they are keeping up. In 2014, 386 Aboriginal students had the benefit of extra educational support from 12 homework centres across the state. We will keep working on our goals, which are ensuring access to quality early learning in remote communities, halving the gap for literacy and numeracy by 2018 and halving the gap for those completing year 12 or equivalent by 2020.

Other initiatives that are working to keep students more generally engaged include the Innovative Community Action Networks (ICAN). These programs are available across the state in high schools and primary schools and support our most vulnerable students, along with their families, to re-engage in learning. Over the years it has had an impressive impact on reconnecting children and young people with some form of education, training or employment, including in regional areas.

I can report that between 2007 and 2014, 6,215 disengaged students were supported to return to school or to transition to other education, training or employment pathways. On average, 70 per cent of these students successfully re-engaged each year. These young people have boosted their chances of employment and opened up new pathways for themselves, and they are participating in their community rather than being isolated from it.