More students will have the opportunity to stay on and study Year 12 at their local high school, with expressions of interest now open for high schools interested in providing Year 11 and 12 from 2019.
The Hodgman Liberal Government’s Plan to extend high schools to Year 11 and 12 is working with more students staying on at school and getting the qualifications they need to get a job or continue their study.
Extending high schools to Year 12 removes the perception that schooling finishes at Year 10, and removes barriers such as travel which can stop students completing their education.
Our Plan has seen the retention rate rise to 73.4 per cent, up more than 6 per cent compared to the dark days under Labor in 2012, while the Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE) achievement rate is now at 56.4 per cent, up by almost 10 per cent since Labor were in Government.
There has been a 58.3 per cent increase in enrolments in the first 12 schools to extend since 2014. With 74.1 per cent of Year 10 students in 2014 continuing on to Year 12 in 2016, this is the highest on record.
We are already well ahead of our first-term target of extending 21 schools with 30 schools already extended and another eight planned for next year.
The Hodgman Government has bold targets to keep pushing these results higher, because we know we still have more to do. In our next term, we aim to increase the Year 12 retention rate to above the national average, and to significantly increase the number of students who are achieving their TCE.
As more schools sign up for this initiative, more students have the opportunity to complete their education. In every case, school communities have voluntarily put up their hand to extend – because they know this program works.
EOIs open on Wednesday 18 October 2017, and close on Friday 17 November 2017.
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