Secondary & Vocational Education...

Secondary & Vocational Education...

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The Council’s education committee has submitted comments in relation to secondary and vocational education to the Legislative Assembly’s education committee. Unfortunately this submission was not reflected in the inquiry.

Secondary and Vocational Education in Gungahlin

Secondary education for Gungahlin.

Some issues for consideration

The Gold Creek senior school (years 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) is the only high school in Gungahlin. At this time there are no facilities for delivery of year 11 or 12 education in the Gungahlin district, with the Government facility not expected to be operational prior to 2009.

Due to the limited funding available to establish and maintain a quality secondary schooling model for Gungahlin, there will be a need to explore any options that can better utilise resources without compromising the quality of the education.

To introduce change into the existing college networks could meet with some resistance and may lead to conditions that are counterproductive. Gungahlin could offer an opportunity to revisit some of the established structures, to ensure that the best use of resources is achieved in Gungahlin, from the set-up stage.

Gungahlin offers an opportunity to consider if the current “College” model is suitable for the large percentage of students, who enroll in year 11, but will not continue from year 12 to university.

Vocational education in Gungahlin.

Some issues for consideration

Vocational education courses are generally resource intensive to deliver. Training resources include extensive plant and equipment, in addition to needing teaching staff with specialised training and industry experience. Although some vocational courses are much more resource-intensive than others, moves towards rationalisation of resources have been limited.

For some vocational courses, outsourcing arrangements with other colleges, CIT and other training organisations can provide a model that offers transferable qualifications for students without requiring the school to be resourced for delivery of the training program. There are also economies of scale which allow training in courses that are unsuitable for delivery within the school environment and/or where student numbers do not justify the expenditure of establishing and maintaining a suitable training facility, teaching staff and training program.

Gungahlin offers the opportunity to consider the establishment of a true “combined middle school/ high school/ college” model, with students in years 6, 7, 8 in the middle school, years 9 and 10 in the high school and years 11 and 12 in the college environment.

The option of extending the Gold Creek school to provide year 11 and 12 facilities, could be a cost-effective and educationally sound option for Gungahlin. This model could offer continuity of vocational training for students in years 9, 10, 11 and 12, without requiring additional resources or specialised teaching staff.

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