HSC reform will label kids as ‘failures’ at 14,

Education Labor opposes plan
HSC reform will label
kids as ‘failures’ at 14,
says former principal
Kelsey Munro
Education
Disquiet is growing among parents and
principals over the government’s new
NAPLAN prerequisite that could see
more than half of the state’s students
fail at the first hurdle to get their HSC.
Under a surprise change brought in
by education minister Adrian Piccoli in
July, year 9 students from next year
will have to demonstrate a minimum
literacy and numeracy standard by getting
a mark of Band 8 or above in their
NAPLAN tests to qualify for their HSC
in year 12.
Half to two-thirds of the year 9 cohort
statewide got results of Band 7 or
below in their five literacy and numeracy
tests in the 2016 NAPLAN.
From 2017, students who don’t meet
the minimum standard in year 9 will
need to pass subsequent online tests to
qualify for their HSC.
It’s a move the government said is
designed to lift student literacy and
numeracy, but critics say it is transferring
HSC pressure onto kids before
they are mature enough to handle it,
and could see more than half of students
labelled as failures at a crucial
time in their development.
Labor’s education spokesman, former
Punchbowl principal Jihad Dib,
said principals are increasingly worried
about the implications of the reform,
which he said ‘‘places enormous
pressure on kids from the age of 14 to
get their HSC’’.
‘‘The announcement was made because
it sounds good but there was no
thought behind it. The more educators
have had time to reflect on it, the more
they express these concerns,’’ Mr Dib
said. ‘‘Many kids are just not mature
enough at 14, they’re not ready. It labels
them as failures to begin with.’’
Mr Dib also believed children who
struggle or come from non-Englishspeaking
backgrounds will be hit particularly
hard, and the reform will
mean year 9 NAPLAN will assume far
greater significance – so teachers will
‘‘teach to the test’’.
Mr Piccoli defended the reforms, adopted
after a West Australian model,
saying the vast majority of students
will meet the standard by year 12.
‘‘Part of it is trying to encourage students
to take the early years of high
school more seriously,’’ he said.
Students who don’t meet the standard
in year 9 will be identified early and
supported to improve their performance,
he said.
Mr Piccoli conceded lower socioeconomic
schools were likely to have
more students struggling to meet the
benchmark, but was confident ‘‘those
schools will get the most funding under
the needs-based funding model’’.
He pointed out that students will
have two opportunities a year to retake
the tests, up to five years out of school.
Mr Dib is sceptical.
‘‘What 22-year-old is going to sit a
test they didn’t pass when they were
14?’’ he asked.
Chris Presland from the NSW Secondary
Principals Association said:
‘‘There are some concerns, but at this
stage it’s pretty much just guesswork in
terms of how many students won’t
eventually achieve the standard.
‘‘We would certainly be concerned if
this proved to be a deterrent for stu-