If you send your kids to a government school they get a free education. This is the promise of intergenerational fairness on which our egalitarian ideals rest, right?

Not quite.

Parents with kids in government schools pay, on average per child per year, $444 in school fees, $641 in camps and sporting equipment, $525 on electronic devices and $473 on uniforms and textbooks.

That’s because Victorian state schools aren’t funded for these essentials. So schools have to put pressure on parents to pay for them, at risk of their kids not being able to fully participate.

With rising cost-of-living pressures, this makes for a yearly whammy of financial stress that can be difficult even for relatively secure Victorian families to cover.

And it makes for some downright heartbreaking situations for Victorians who are struggling.

Like Radha*, who’s a single parent with 10 kids. Her income barely covers rent, bills, petrol and food for her family.

With all this year’s extra school costs, Radha had already fallen behind on her rent for the first time in her life.

Then her family had another massive shock: one of her relatives couldn’t care for her six children, and these kids have been placed in Radha’s care for at least a year.

Radha has taken the kids in and knows she’s done the right thing, but they all urgently need to start attending school and none of them have uniforms or textbooks, let alone expensive devices.

this makes for a yearly whammy of financial stress that can be difficult even for relatively secure Victorian families to cover

Radha’s story come to us from a community organisation, Community Information & Support Victoria, that’s trying to help her, and it’s an extreme situation but not an uncommon one. Another community organisation, Good Shepherd, has had over 900 requests for assistance with education costs this past financial year.

It can’t fall to individual families or even the community sector to cover the shortfall left by inadequate funding of government schools. Kids who can’t afford the right uniforms, textbooks and other school essentials are more likely to be bullied and to disengage from education or drop out entirely.

The start of the school year should be a time of excitement and anticipation, not financial hardship that reverberates through the rest of the year.

The Victorian Government should fully fund state schools by making uniforms, textbooks, digital devices and VET costs an essential part of the standard curriculum. These items would then be funded for each student.

Because Radha’s kids, and all kids, deserve nothing less.

*Name has been changed.

The Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) welcomes the opportunity to provide input into the Victorian Government’s Consultation for Senior Secondary Reform.

VCOSS is the peak body for social and community services in Victoria. VCOSS supports the community services industry, represents the interests of Victorians facing disadvantage and vulnerability in policy debates, and advocates to develop a sustainable, fair and equitable society.

VCOSS acknowledges the Victorian Government’s commitment to ensuring all senior secondary students have access to high-quality learning that suits their needs and interests. The Firth Review provided a welcome opportunity to look at strengths and weaknesses of the VCAL and VCE, and identified opportunities for reform to the current senior secondary certificates. 

While we commend the work that is underway to take forward the Review’s recommendations, VCOSS members have expressed concern that government has allowed insufficient time for students, community organisations, parents, and carers to engage with the proposed changes. Stakeholders acknowledge that the proposed reforms have come off the back of community consultation in early 2020, however, that consultation was broad. There is significant complexity to grapple with in this next stage of the reform process.  There is concern amongst VCOSS members that consultation has not happened early enough with key stakeholders to inform the reform design.

Government consultation has coincided with a fifth lockdown in Victoria, returning teachers and students to remote and flexible learning. This has shifted the focus for students and families to the immediate future, with concern from across the community that this lockdown is not ‘business as usual’ — the effects of working and learning from home, restriction of movement that creates distance between family and friends and a pause on recreational activities, are being felt more acutely.

Community sector organisations who play an important role in supporting the wellbeing of school communities have had to pivot to alternate forms of delivery while focusing on supporting students, families and workforce who are experiencing increased distress as a result of the lockdown – leaving limited time and capacity to engage in this significant piece of reform.

VCOSS members also note that this reform process is occurring concurrently with other flagship reforms, such as the design of the School Mental Health Fund and consultation on the Department’s Climate Adaptation Action Plan. Consequently, many VCOSS members have indicated they have no capacity to engage with this consultation on reforms to senior secondary certificates given the narrow window for consultation and competing demands. 

Concerningly, members also told us that although the students and families they support will be significantly impacted by changes to the VCAL, the consultation process is inaccessible for most of them.  To ensure these reforms are backed by the community, more work is needed to meaningfully engage with students, families, education providers, community sector organisations and industry, and provide opportunities for robust discussion about the impact and implications of these changes.

Opportunities and challenges

The introduction of a new vocational specialisation stream within the VCE to replace the Intermediate and Senior VCAL, and a new Foundation Pathways Certificate to replace Foundation VCAL presents a range of challenges and opportunities, as outlined below.

Communication and consultation

A key challenge will be communicating at each stage of the reform process, to ensure all stakeholders have the knowledge, information and support needed to provide robust feedback, make informed decisions about pathway choices, implement the reforms and successfully support students to transition into further education, training or employment.

In addition to the information outlined in the introduction, VCOSS members raised concerns about communication and consultation with:

• Schools and principals, including non-government flexible learning schools that specialise in providing support to learners with complex needs and who have experienced significant disengagement from education, and;

• Industry and employers.

Schools will need comprehensive support to understand and then implement the full suite of reform changes. The reforms are significant and, in parts, complex. For schools who will be new to delivering vocational and applied learning, or those who have previously struggled in the past to offer high-quality vocational and applied learning programs, there is a risk that without sufficient time and support they may struggle to successfully implement the new certificates, students will fall through the cracks and the secondary system will lose much-needed educators to TAFEs and Registered Training Organisations.

While the Department of Education and Training (DET) has primary responsibility for ensuring government schools are supported throughout the reform process, flexible learning schools will also need particular attention given their student cohort and need for flexibility in delivery. Some flexible learning school principals have told VCOSS they are not being provided with sufficient information at this stage of the process. For example, we have heard that in the flexible learning school space, there is limited awareness that DET is proposing to introduce the General Assessment Test (GAT) for students undertaking the vocational specialisation stream.  There are concerns that – as a consequence – the consultation process is not providing these stakeholders with sufficient opportunity to unpack the potential implications for their school and students with DET.

Early and sustained engagement with these stakeholders – and industry groups, employers, training providers and universities – will be vital in assuring the value of the new certificates, to ensure students have access to the full range of post-school pathways.

Flexibility

Flexibility is a core component of vocational and applied learning.  Flexibility supports students to remain actively engaged in their education. A flexible approach also assists educators and education support staff to provide a pathway back for disengaged/re-engaging learners.

The focus on flexibility will need to be maintained as the reforms progress to ensure it remains at the core of the new senior secondary certificates. Flexibility is fundamental to inclusive education offerings, meeting the differing needs of students in mainstream and special schools, and flexible learning settings.  For example, it will be important to consider timetabling in this reform process – including considerations for staffing and giving students time away from school/class to undertake VET subjects or School Based Apprenticeships or Traineeships (including HeadStart).

During the design of the reforms, careful consideration will need to be given to how the reforms can be implemented in flexible learning schools, which play an important part in re-connecting the state’s most disengaged learners with senior secondary education.  VCOSS encourages DET to work closely with these providers during the design process, to ensure flexible learning schools are set up for success in the implementation phase. It is vital that these schools be able to deliver the new certificates in a way that is compatible with their unique, evidence-informed student engagement models.

“As long as we have the ability to flex – that’s the most important thing” – Principal, Flexible Learning School

Empowering students

The Victorian Government has demonstrated its commitment to empowering student voice through the creation of the Amplify,[1] which makes it mandatory for every secondary school council to elect students and accord them with full voting rights, and through the creation of a dedicated position on the board of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

However, more can be done to increase the level of autonomy and power that students have in relation to their individual pathway.

Mandating nine and 11 of the 16 minimum units for the vocational specialisation and Foundation Pathways Certificate respectively, reduces the choice and breadth of subjects for students.

Students undertaking VCE have significantly more choice and self-direction in their learning.

It is important that the new vocational specialisation stream and Foundation Pathways Certificate balance mandatory units to give students the skills they need to successfully transition from senior secondary school to further pathways, while ensuring an appropriate level of student choice and autonomy.

VCOSS believes the proposed mandatory units should be subject to more extensive consultation with students before a final determination is made.  VCOSS members have raised concern about the level of engagement and consultation with students on the reforms to date.

Students are the key stakeholder in education reform. Consultation with students needs to begin early and be sustained throughout the process to ensure students understand the changes and can influence the reforms to reflect their aspirations for their educational journey. There is also a particular need to engage with students targeted for the Foundation Pathways Certificate to ensure this new design reflects their hopes and further pathway options.

Workforce

Changes to the senior secondary certificate have significant workforce implications for vocational teachers and the technical industry workforce. Several VCOSS members raised concerns about current workforce shortages, noting schools are currently unable to employ appropriate technical teachers for VET programs while industry is facing its own workforce shortages exacerbated by COVID-19.

Additional aspects of workforce raised by VCOSS members include:

• The need to support vocational teachers to ensure those who have the right approach to working with students who have traditionally undertaken VCAL are not lost due to qualification requirements.

• Ensuring vocational teachers’ teaching loads provide sufficient time to plan and support individual learner needs.

• The need to remove barriers to entry for prospective vocational teachers.  VCOSS members have had conversations with people in industry who expressed an interest to work in a VDSS (VET delivered in secondary school) program, but did not pursue this pathway because the process is onerous and too difficult.  DET could help attract highly skilled educators into the senior secondary system – and ensure schools have the ability to deliver the reform agenda – by removing administrative and other process barriers.

• Teaching loads also need to reflect the skill sets and expertise of teachers, rather than timetabling availability.

The role of VET and Structured Workplace Learning

Increased access to VET and Structured Workplace Learning (SWL) is welcome, and, if schools are supported to implement the reforms successfully, will see an increase in the number of senior secondary students pursuing opportunities that align with their interests.

Secondary students often access VDSS (confusingly also referred to as VET in Schools or VETiS) programs at school, delivered in-house or at another school through a VET cluster, rather than through TAFE.

VCOSS members expressed concern that VET clusters may struggle to absorb additional demand as a result of expanded provision through the reforms.  They noted that many VET clusters are already at capacity. Ensuring students have access to a breadth of high-quality VET subjects is integral to the success of these reforms. There must be a strong focus on the role of VET clusters and Trade Training Centres – they will need to be appropriately consulted, resourced and equipped to meet increasing demand of VDSS.

For students seeking to access VET subjects not offered directly by their school, it can be difficult for students and families to understand which subjects are available in their local area. While Local Learning and Employment Networks (LLENs) have resources that provide a range of options for students, these may not be visible to the entire school community.

As part of these reforms, consideration should be given to a broad communications campaign to raise awareness of resources that enable students and families to see which subjects are available in their local area.

For example, WynBay LLEN’s ‘Wyndham VETiS Partnership’and ‘Hobsons Bay VETiS Partnerships’ booklets provides information about which schools are included in the VET cluster, which subjects are available, when and where, and if it is a supported program.[2] This is invaluable information but its existence may not be widely known locally, and students and families living in other parts of the state may not necessarily have comparable information.

There is a need to create a central repository of this information so that it is readily available to students and families across the state.  This should include information about which subjects are “supported programs”.  This is particularly important for students with disability. There is the opportunity to potentially leverage the existing website for SWL as one option for integrating this information.

As DET works through the certificate reforms with other stakeholders, DET will need to work closely with LLENs who facilitate SWL to ensure they can meet the needs of students accessing this important learning component. Current funding for LLENs does not meet rising costs in line with the Consumer Price Index and other costs, such as increases in superannuation and the minimum wage. Without additional funding, LLENs will have reduced capacity to support SWL while demand increases.

Statement of Results

VCOSS members had mixed views about the Statement of Results.

Some members were pleased to see the inclusion of an enhanced Statement of Results to capture the skills, knowledge and achievement of students. They highlighted that the Statement of Results is particularly important for:

• Students who may choose to leave school before completing Year 12.

• Recognising a broader range of skills and experience that considers a learner more holistically.

They emphasised that the Statement of Results should include:

• Essential skills that prepare “young people for work, active citizenship and, most importantly, lifelong learning.”[3]

For example, the 2020 Shergold report Looking to the Future identified, in addition to literacy, numeracy and digital skills, every young Australian should develop the following skills throughout their schooling:

• life skills; interpersonal skills and communication; critical analysis and evaluation; teamwork and collaboration; problem solving; resilience and self-care; planning, organisation and accountability; workplace initiative; entrepreneurial skills and innovation; and active citizenship.[4]

The Statement of Results should have the capacity to capture these important skills.

• How far a student has progressed. The concept of “distance travelled”[5] acknowledges that students begin their senior secondary schooling at different starting points, including socially, emotionally, and academically. This would broaden the understanding and value of ‘successful outcomes’ and reflect a strengths-based approach.

This could include empowering students to reflect on the outcomes they have achieved, including in areas such as increased confidence, motivation and engagement.[6] 

However, some members had concerns about the impact of the proposed change, particularly for Foundation Pathways Certificate students.  Members noted that the consultation paper proposes that the Statement of Results replaces – rather than complements – the Foundation or Intermediate VCAL certificates that are currently awarded to students.  Our members identified some potential drawbacks for students who exit school prior to completing Year 12.  These and other matters are explored further under the Foundation Pathways Certificate section of this submission.

Resourcing

Currently, the cost of education, including VDSS, is a significant barrier for many students and families and can prevent students from low-income households from accessing subjects that align with their interests. New funding arrangements that mean “government schools will no longer request payments from families for essential learning materials for participation in VET”[7] is welcome, but will need to be clearly defined and monitored.

Costs for VDSS aren’t limited only to course materials but extend to costs of travel where the units are delivered at an external campus. The costs of transport should be included in the bucket of funding, to minimise barriers for students in studying their preferred course.

VCOSS acknowledges the Victorian Government is reviewing current funding for vocational and applied learning. Consideration should be given to ensure the funding envelope includes appropriate time for staff to plan and coordinate the reforms.

Consideration should be given to whether dedicated funding should be provided to schools for exclusive use in delivering vocational and applied learning to support delivery of high-quality vocational pathways.

Curriculum

VCOSS welcomes the inclusion of teaching students explicitly about their rights and responsibilities in the workplace and how to meet those responsibilities and advocate for those rights in the vocational specialisation stream.[8] While there is no explicit mention of this in the Foundation Pathways Certificate discussion paper, it should be included in this curriculum also, to appropriately skill students who undertake this pathway, noting some will have aspirations to transition straight into employment.

Similarly, professionalism is an important skill for all senior secondary students to acquire, but it is notably absent on the list of important skills for Foundation Pathways Certificate students in the stakeholder survey question.

Young people have spoken with the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria about a range of reforms they would like to see to the curriculum, including the provision of financial literacy, disability awareness education, and mental health first-aid training and programs that promote positive mental health wellbeing.[9] This feedback underscores the need for DET to actively engage students in reforms to the curriculum.

VCOSS members identified entrepreneurial skills as missing from the proposed reforms. Consideration should be given to including entrepreneurial skills, leveraging place-based opportunities with local employers and other community groups and organisations, and government agencies to increase practical knowledge and understanding.

Members raised concerns about whether schools will be required to offer the full breadth of vocational specialisation and Foundation Pathways Certificate units.

For example, the reforms outline students in the vocational specialisation must complete three Literacy units, which can include units from the VCE English group. Students in the Foundation Pathways Certificate will be required to under two Literacy units, or two units from the VCE English group. However, it is unclear if schools will be required to offer the full breadth of Literacy units to enable genuine student choice.  It is important to ensure students have access to subjects that best meet their needs.

If schools do not offer the full breadth of subjects, there may be unintended consequences for students. For example, if a student in the Foundation Pathways Certificate is only able to access VCE Literacy units, this may be a barrier to staying in school for students who have re-engaged after a significant time out of education.

An additional consideration is the breadth of the VDSS offering.  There needs to be a wide range of high-quality courses that provide students the opportunity to gain micro-credentials that assist in undertaking an apprenticeship, traineeship, or gaining employment post-school.

Foundation Pathways Certificate

VCOSS members have raised concern the design of the Foundation Pathways Certificate offers minimal value for students’ future employment prospects because:

• it is not a senior secondary certificate, and;

• it has insufficient rigour – there are concerns what is proposed does not ensure students have access to the skills (like professionalism, notably absent in the key skills in the survey questionnaire) and experiences (such as Certificate II VET units that provide direct employment pathways) that lead to further training or employment opportunities.

Some members raised concerns the Foundation Pathways Certificate may unintentionally place students that schools categorise as ‘difficult’ or who have complex needs into a separate pathway that offers students limited post-school opportunities.

More consideration is needed to ensure the Foundation Pathways Certificate is an appropriate substitute for current VCAL offerings, including how the certificate can support students to transition to post-school pathways and create value for prospective employers.

Further changes could include:

• a minimum requirement for students to undertake Certificate II VET subjects with appropriate support, with schools having to provide evidence as to why a student is better suited to undertaking a Certificate I. Certificate III units should be the aspiration, with appropriate support in place to assist students in achieving these goals.

• exploring traineeship or apprenticeship pathways. For example, once students have completed a Certificate II subject, HeadStart could be reoriented as a pathway opportunity for Foundation Pathways Certificate students. Headstart offers high support for both the student and employer, which increases the chances of a successful placement.

• Designing the Foundation Pathways Certificate to enable it to be undertaken and completed in one year, for students in Year 10.

During the consultation period, VCOSS has noted has been significant confusion associated with the Foundation Pathway Certificate discussion paper. In particular, we observe stakeholders are confused about whether this pathway is available for students in Year 10. VCOSS is concerned that due to this confusion, coupled with limited time for consultation, there may be misunderstanding by families and students wanting to provide feedback. In future rounds of consultation and communication efforts, the Victorian Government will need to ensure key aspects of the reforms are clear and accessible to all stakeholders.

Flexible learning schools

Flexible learning schools successfully work with students facing complex barriers to education because of their ability to be flexible and adaptable to meet the needs of individual learners. Some aspects of the Foundation Pathway Certificate design will need to allow for additional flexibility to enable these schools to continue to meet the needs of their student cohort. This includes:

• The minimum number of units. Completing 16 units may be a barrier for some students in flexible learning schools.

• The number of hours per unit. Without flexibility in the minimum number of hours, flexible learning schools may be unable to meet the requirements of the certificate. For example, flexible learning schools provide formal and informal learning in the class and would not be able to meet 100 hours per unit.

A (re)engagement model

The Foundation Pathways Certificate will be an important component of supporting student engagement and re-engagement for learners who have disengaged, or are at risk of disengaging, from education. In addition to the quality and post-school pathway concerns raised above, VCOSS is concerned that DET take action to ensure students in Year 9 and 10 have access to elements of the certificate, including VDSS, to sustain their engagement in school.

While the Foundation Pathways Certificate will be available for students in flexible learning schools, VCOSS understands it has not been designed for students in Year 10 or earlier who are in mainstream settings.

In Victorian government schools, Year 9 students access a range of career pathway activities that are design to help spark their interests and passions. For students at risk of disengaging from education, waiting until Year 11 to access a pathway that supports engagement in subjects that align with their interests and skills could have unintended consequences for their participation and retention. With the additional context of COVID-19 and transitions in and out of remote and flexible learning, it is particularly important that students have access to more flexible pathways, including VET, as early as Year 9 or 10.

Offering the Foundation Pathways Certificate to students before Year 11 and 12 could also support the sustainability of delivery, particularly where schools may otherwise choose not to offer the Foundation Pathways Certificate due to concerns that insufficient numbers of Year 11 and 12 students would take up the opportunity.

Students with disability

VCOSS members felt it unlikely all mainstream schools will offer both the vocational specialisation stream and the Foundation Pathways Certificate, potentially limiting options for students with disability in mainstream schools. Members suggested the Foundation Pathways Certificate could be offered as part of school cluster networks where not all schools make the decision to offer this certificate.  This would help to ensure students with disability best suited to this stream don’t miss out, and are not filtered into special schools as a result.

Students with disability who attend special schools should be encouraged and supported to undertake Certificate II VDSS subjects. VCOSS members raised concerns that students at special schools may have limited access to VDSS opportunities above Certificate I level. Where students undertake VDSS, consideration should be given to requiring special schools to provide evidence as to why a student is undertaking Certificate I instead of Certificate II to maximise the opportunities for students in these settings to build their skills.

VCOSS members also raised concerns that special development schools will not transition to offering the Foundation Pathways Certificate, despite this being suitable and appropriate for some of their student cohort.

There is limited information available about the interaction between these reforms and special schools and special development schools. This includes DET expectations about delivery and ensuring students with disability have access to the same opportunities to their peers in mainstream schools.

The role of youth workers

Support from a youth worker can make or break a learning experience. Having a youth worker alongside a teacher in a classroom has been proven to support the education and wellbeing needs of young people facing complex barriers to education and employment.[10]

To support the delivery of the Foundation Pathways Certificate as a re-engagement model, schools should be funded to employ youth workers to work alongside teachers to improve educational and wellbeing outcomes for students. VCOSS members stressed the importance of youth workers in supporting communication and engagement with students, and acting as a conduit with parents and carers.

Vocational specialisation stream

There is some trepidation around graded assessments, particularly for learners who may be experiencing mental ill health such as anxiety. VCOSS members stressed the importance of flexibility in how graded assessments are applied with a broad range of examples for how schools can provide graded assessments that meets the needs of their students.

In addition, while students with disability are entitled to access reasonable adjustments, VCOSS members note many students struggle to access these and the process is often onerous and time consuming. Equipping schools with the skills and knowledge to provide reasonable adjustments will be an important component of graded assessments and the GAT. Accountability mechanisms to ensure students with disability are provided with, and able to access, the supports they need should also be implemented.

Members also expressed concern that the introduction of the GAT will have a negative impact on students experiencing mental ill health, which can be exacerbated by undertaking a formal assessment task or exam. For these students, who don’t perform their best in formal assessments like the GAT due to anxiety or other mental health concerns, the GAT will not be indicative of what students know and understand.

Consideration should be given to whether the GAT is opt-in rather than opt-out for the vocational specialisation stream. Particular consideration of opt-in rather than opt-out should be given to flexible learning schools and special schools. For example, VCOSS members raised concerns that there is a risk special schools will not offer the vocational specialisation stream, even where this may be suitable for some of their students, in part, because of the requirement for students to sit the GAT.

[1] Victorian Department of Education and Training, Amplify: Empowering students through voice, agency and leadership, 2019.

[2] WynBay Local Learning and Employment Network, VETiS, <https://www.wynbayllen.org.au/vetis>, accessed 2 August 2021.

[3] Shergold et al., Looking to the Future – Report of the review of senior secondary pathways into work, further education and training, Education Council, June 2020, p. 38.

[4] Shergold et al., Looking to the Future – Report of the review of senior secondary pathways into work, further education and training, Education Council, June 2020, p .39.

[5] K Te Riele, M Davies & A Baker, Passport to a Positive Future: Evaluation of the Melbourne Academy, The Victoria Institute for Education, Diversity and Lifelong Learning, 2015.

[6] For example, in the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s 2014 evaluation of its Community VCAL program students were interviewed and provided an opportunity to express how far they had come throughout the year. See G Myconos, Lessons from a flexible learning program the Brotherhood of St Laurence Community VCAL education program for young people 2010-2013, Brotherhood of St Laurence, 2014.

[7] Victorian Department of Education and Training, Senior secondary schooling pathways reform, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/department/Pages/senior-secondary-reforms.aspx>, accessed 3 August 2021.

[8] Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, Vocational specialisation stream within the VCE Discussion paper, 2021, p.11.

[9] Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, Youth Policy Synthesis. Young People’s Recommendations for Victoria, June 2020.

[10] R Broadbent, K Hart, T Papadopoulos, The Hester Hornbrook Academy Classroom Youth Worker Research Project, Final Report, Victoria University, July 2019; VCOSS, TAFE: Accessible for all. VCOSS submission to the inquiry into Access to TAFE for learners with disability, October 2020.

• A new Victoria Skills Authority
  $17.7m in 2021-22 ($85.9m/5 yrs)
  Bringing together industry, providers and other stakeholders, the new Victoria Skills Authority will produce insights on priority training areas and inform an annual Victorian Skills Plan to better guide training delivery where it’s needed most.

• Getting Victorians back to work: our plan to minimise the risk and costs of greater inequality
  $7.6m in 2021-22 ($21.7m/4 yrs)
  Funding is provided to support community revitalisation and microenterprise development programs, support Victoria’s social enterprise sector and ongoing resourcing to monitor the Social Procurement Framework. This initiative also supports employment pathways for people with an intellectual disability through Impact 21 and establishing the Local Transition Response Service to support workers facing retrenchment.

• Tackling the digital skills divide to get Victorians into jobs
  $3.1m in 2021-22 ($6.2m/2 yrs)
  Funding is provided to increase places in pre-accredited digital literacy and employability skills training courses delivered by Learn Local providers to enhance the employment prospects of educationally disadvantaged Victorians.

• Recovery together: jobs and stimulus initiatives for Victoria’s multicultural communities
  $4.4m in 2021-22 ($4.5m/2 yrs)
  Funding is provided to develop a cross-government bicultural worker strategy aimed at recruiting and supporting bicultural workers to assist CALD communities to navigate government services.

• More training places for the TAFE and training system
  $84.5m in 2021-22 ($88.8m/4 yrs)
  Funding is provided to continue support for eligible students to enhance their skills and employment opportunities by providing subsidised vocational education and training.

• Increasing the funding of high-quality and accessible training
  $14.1m in 2021-22 ($99m/4 yrs)
  This will boost funding rates for TAFEs and other registered training providers in 2022, including subsidy rates, maximum concession contribution rates and non-Free TAFE fee waiver rates.

• TAFE reform
  $11m in 2021-22 ($15m/2 yrs)
  Funding will establish a new Office of TAFE Coordination and Delivery to enhance collaboration across the TAFE network and continue coordination of practical placements for TAFE students, including in priority industries such as allied health, individual support and community services, and early childhood and education and training sectors.

Analysis

Since the pandemic, employment in Victoria has rebounded with more than 200,000 jobs being created. Many of these jobs have been taken up by women and young people – two groups of workers who were among the hardest hit by job losses last year, during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even so, some jobseekers will require targeted support to participate in the state’s economic recovery. VCOSS welcomes funding in this Budget for community organisations to deliver economic security programs to support migrant and refugee women into employment, and investment in community-led initiatives that will provide increased education and employment opportunities for young people from African and Pasifika backgrounds.  

VCOSS has long advocated for place-based responses to job creation. We’re pleased to see the Government making investments that will help bring to life initiatives such as the Portland Economic Diversification Plan and the Hilldene Employment Precinct in Seymour, and activate the Food Manufacturing Precinct in Morwell as part of the Latrobe Valley’s transition and transformation.

We know that a sustained focus on building the community services workforce will be needed over the next decade to deliver on the Government’s significant investment across the sector.

Key investments in mental health, early childhood and teaching will also support thousands of new jobs across the community services sector. VCOSS welcomes the trial of Frontline Victoria, which will create a fast-tracked path for degree-qualified people to change careers and move into a role within child and family services. 

A fair indexation formula incorporating wage rises, the anticipated superannuation guarantee increase, portable long service leave levy and the different costs of delivering services in rural and remote areas is needed to ensure community service organisations can provide secure jobs, and maintain a high quality workforce.

VCOSS particularly welcomes funding to support the development of a bicultural worker strategy to support CALD communities’ engagement with government services. We know that during the public housing estate lockdowns, government relied heavily on volunteers as bicultural connectors; however, the type and volume of work performed and the expertise it required should have been professionally recognised and valued.

Student placements can play an important role in building the community services workforce Victoria needs. However, supporting student placements through investing in extra staff and supervision training takes time and costs money, and many community service organisations have limited capacity due to finite resources, high demand for services and short-term or inadequate funding. While this Budget provides brokerage funding for TAFEs to connect students with services to complete their placements, it doesn’t remove the burden from community service organisations. These organisations, which are heavily relied on for placements, are over-stretched and facing staff shortages. Government should build on the initiatives provided in the Budget by funding community organisations to host student placements to support a pipeline of workers for the future.

This Budget invests in key recommendations from the Macklin Review (Skills for Victoria’s Growing Economy), including the New Skills Authority, due to be launched in July 2021. The New Skills Authority is a welcome announcement and will support an integrated approach to planning for Victoria’s future training needs, including quality of teaching and training.

It is positive to see a funding boost for government-subsidised courses delivered by TAFE and other registered training providers; however, the devil will be in the detail about which courses will see a much-needed increase. For example, courses that disproportionately support disadvantaged learners, such as Foundation Skills and Certificate I and II courses, have subsidy rates so low that they make it hard for providers like Learn Local Organisations to give the intensive support some learners need.

Even with access to Free TAFE, the cost of vocational education and training can still be prohibitive for many students. We need to better support vulnerable learners at TAFE through providing bursaries and scholarships and ensuring that TAFEs can deliver more mentoring, pathways, literacy and numeracy support, assessment adjustments, counselling, and employer partnership development to facilitate workplace training.

Despite improvements in the youth unemployment rate, it still remains stubbornly high in Victoria. The state desperately needs a youth employment strategy that helps support young people into secure work. Designed in partnership with young people, this strategy should focus on increasing participation in education, training and employment, with a view to keeping young people in good jobs.

The reasons that people enter adulthood with low literacy, numeracy, problem solving and digital literacy skills are many and complex. They include (but are not limited to):

• Experiences of discrimination that have impacted attendance, participation and attainment in education – from early childhood through to schooling.

• Failure by early childhood providers and/or schools to provide learning support (for students with disabilities, this may also include a failure to provide reasonable adjustments such as adapting the teaching style or modifying the curriculum and assessments).

• Experiences of family violence, homelessness, mental or physical ill-health, or other circumstances that disrupt learning and are exacerbated when there is a failure by the education system (or other intersecting systems) to identify the need for, or provide, timely wellbeing supports or engagement/re-engagement programs.

• Impacts of poverty, with compounding effects for those who have grown up in families or communities that have experienced intergenerational poverty.

State, Territory and Commonwealth governments all play a part in supporting adult literacy. 

This inquiry provides an opportunity to consider and share examples of best-practice from around the nation, as well as profile concerns, challenges and gaps, and identify solutions. 

We call on the Commonwealth Government to:

• Invest in prevention and early intervention measures, such as those recommended in this VCOSS submission, so that fewer Australians enter adulthood requiring adult literacy support.

• Use evidence from this inquiry to work with States and Territories to improve access to high-quality adult literacy programs, for Australians who need this support now and into the future.

For example, Victoria has a vibrant adult community education sector comprised of more than 270 adult community education providers. These providers are embedded in local communities and provide rich examples of the value that is created, and the impact that is generated, when governments invest in community-led, place-based responses to improving adult literacy. The Commonwealth can draw examples from how Victoria’s Learn Local sector supports adults with low literacy into work through increased skills, and fosters social connection, builds trust and creates a sense of belonging (contributing to policy goals such as improved mental health and active citizenship).

Recommendations

VCOSS recommends that the Commonwealth Government:

• Commit to long-term funding under the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education and expand this to include the provision of three-year-old kindergarten.

• Boost Commonwealth funding to government schools.

• Permanently increase the rate of JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment and related income support to a level that ensures everyone has enough to afford the basics. The rate of Jobseeker should be at least $65 a day.

• Ensure activity requirements linked to income support payments have sufficient flexibility to support engagement in full time or part time training, even when training is not directly or immediately linked to employment outcomes.

• Foster collaboration and partnerships – including sharing, adaptation and scaling of best practice approaches – between State, Territory and Commonwealth adult literacy programs.

• Support transitions into adult education by funding community hub models and supporting other types of community-led responses.

• Improve the accessibility of government forms for adults with low literacy (and reduce the administrative and cost burden on community service organisations that support them), by initiating a codesign process to identify and implement solutions. 

• Take a national leadership role to improve digital inclusion, including funding community service organisations who deliver adult literacy programs to provide devices and internet access to adult learners.

The importance of adult literacy

Literacy, numeracy, problem solving and digital literacy skills give adults the tools they need to thrive in their communities. Having these foundational skills leads to greater self-esteem, confidence to build social connections and improved mental and physical health outcomes, improved job prospects, and greater personal and financial independence.

When members of the community aren’t supported to improve literacy and related skills, they are locked out of myriad opportunities. For example, VCOSS members report young adults with low literacy have difficulties securing apprenticeships because they lack the foundational skills required to support practical skill development. 

While VCOSS recognises the central role of meaningful employment in supporting social and economic inclusion, we are pleased that the Committee is not limiting the scope of its inquiry to labour market outcomes. We welcome the Committee’s interest in examining the intersection of adult literacy with broader wellbeing outcomes. 

If we consider older Australians, for example, we note that:

• Older Australians have disproportionately higher rates of low literacy compared to the general population, including those in retirement age.[2]

• Low literacy can be a key factor in social isolation or loneliness. For example, VCOSS members report older people can feel reluctant to join a social group or engage in new activities due to low confidence and shame associated with low literacy. 

• Social isolation or loneliness can contribute to poorer health outcomes, lower quality of life, and increase reliance on government services.[3]

Recognise digital literacy

The terms of reference do not explicitly recognise the importance of digital literacy but this should be taken into consideration in light of government’s intentional shift to move to online service delivery[4] and the experience of COVID-19 highlighting the importance of digital inclusion in enabling social and economic participation.[5] Digital literacy is an essential competency and should be treated similarly to literacy and numeracy.[6] For adults with low literacy, low digital literacy can compound exclusion across all facets of society. The effects are even more pronounced for people who experience intersectional barriers such as English not being their first language (including Auslan speakers).

Parent engagement

Parents’ engagement in children’s education helps to set children up for success.  It promotes the value of education and supports children’s learning. Academic literature consistently shows that when parents engage, there is a positive impact on children’s attendance, behaviour, school retention, academic achievement and wellbeing.[7] 

This presents challenges where parents have had poor education experiences and/or have low levels of literacy. In these circumstances, parents may not see a role for themselves in supporting their children’s schooling, or they may want to support their child but are constrained because their own literacy needs have not been addressed. Either way, this can impact parents’ capacity to fulfil the role of their child’s ‘first teacher’ and model important behaviours such as reading to children from infancy. In circumstances where parents have not had an opportunity to develop an understanding of the value of education, our members spoke about this as a strong predictor of children developing poor literacy, numeracy, and problem solving skills.

VCOSS members noted children of parents with low literacy often become carers and/or translators for their parents, or present to the same services their parents access as a result of low literacy.

Prevention is the best form of investment

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Commit to long-term funding under the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education and expand this to include the provision of three-year-old kindergarten.

• Boost Commonwealth funding to government schools.

• Permanently increase the rate of JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment and related income support to a level that ensure everyone has enough to afford the basics. The rate of Jobseeker should be at least $65 a day.

•Ensure activity requirements linked to income support payments have sufficient flexibility to support engagement in full time or part time training, even when training is not directly or immediately linked to employment outcomes.

Provide universal access to early childhood education

Research demonstrates that access to two years of high-quality early learning in the years before school supports children’s cognitive, social and emotional development. This decreases the likelihood of entering school behind and sets children up for success. Children experiencing disadvantage, including those who may not have rich learning environments at home, benefit the most from two years of early learning.[8]

Starting school without the skills to excel can have life-long impacts and contribute to higher risk of disengagement from school, long-term unemployment and poor mental health outcomes.[9] When children start school behind they are less likely to catch-up to their peers[10] and the gap widens as children progress through their schooling.[11] For children who are not proficient in English, they are more than 90 per cent likely to be start school behind.[12]

State governments like Victoria are leading the way through significant investment in universal access to three-year-old and four-year-old kinder, and capacity building programs like School Readiness Funding to improve outcomes for children in the years before school.

State-led work can be better supported by the Commonwealth through a strengthened, long-term commitment to the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education. This agreement should be expanded to provide universal access to three-year-old kindergarten to support the best outcomes for children.

Boost funding for students in government schools

Schools provide protective factors for children and young people and are the most important place to build proficiency in foundational skills before young people transition into adulthood.

VCOSS members highlighted the impacts of COVID-19 in 2020, noting Victoria had prolonged periods of remote and flexible learning to limit the community transmission of COVID-19. They noted:

• Increased household stress as a result of pressure to support children with home-based schooling – this stress was particularly pronounced for parents with disability, single parents, and parents who have low English proficiency (including those whose first language is Auslan).

• The impact of digital exclusion, including inability to afford sufficient data, access devices for everyone in the household who needed one, and difficulties navigating digital technology, including keeping children safe online.

• Children and young people feeling isolated as a result of the digital divide, learning being inaccessible (including for students with disability), or having a home environment that was not conducive to learning.

These issues were heightened for parents with low literacy.

Members raised concerns that many students fell behind or regressed in their schooling throughout 2020. The Victorian Government has invested in several programs to provide additional support to students during 2021 including funding for a tutoring program,[13] increased mental health and wellbeing supports, and additional resources for programs that support students who have disengaged from learning.[14]

While these programs are welcomed, the Commonwealth has a key role to play in boosting the funding it contributes to government schools, not only to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 but as a key strategy to promote wellbeing and prevent disadvantage.

Over recent years, the concentration of disadvantaged students in public school systems has increased[15] while the wealth gap between non-government and government schools is also increasing.[16] Commonwealth funding for non-government schools continues to grow faster than funding for government schools.[17]

VCOSS is aware that the Commonwealth signed new funding agreements with the states and territories in 2018-2019.[18] Notwithstanding that, the Commonwealth should increase its funding commitment to public schools to reflect higher levels of disadvantage in public schools and the long-term economic benefit to the nation by boosting investment in education.

The Commonwealth Government can also lift its game for students with disability, starting with the Disability Standards for Education 2005. The Standards set out the rights of students with disability, the obligations of education providers, and provide guidance for the application of inclusive practices. Their effectiveness is limited by a lack of funding and resources to implement reasonable adjustments. Other issues include inconsistent application.[19] While the Government’s 2020 review of the Standards outlined a number of recommendations for change, including awareness of the Standards and capacity building, this is not supported by funding.[20] The Commonwealth should fund the implementation of the recommendations.

Lift Australians above the poverty line

Current social security payments don’t cover the costs of meeting the basics, forcing many Australians to live below the poverty line. This can have long-term impacts on people’s health, wellbeing, employment prospects, and can contribute to intergenerational inequality.

Children who experience socio-economic disadvantage are more likely to start school behind their peers,[21] and socio-economic disadvantage is one of the greatest indicators of reduced educational opportunity.[22] This means children living in poverty are more likely to be at risk of disengagement and experience poor literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills as a result.

The inadequate rate of income support makes it harder to engage in employment or training.  It leaves people without enough money to pay for transport costs or childcare, to afford digital devices and data to look for work or support training, and creates difficulties in looking after your health. For adults with low literacy, these challenges are exacerbated by difficulties accessing and navigating services, such as enrolling children in childcare.

The Commonwealth Government must lift the rate of income support payments in order to life Australians out of poverty. As a starting point, the rate of the Jobseeker payment should be raised to at least $65 a day.

The social security system also needs to have sufficient flexibility to enable adults to engage in full or part-time training to boost their skills, without restrictive requirements linking these opportunities to direct or immediate employment outcomes. This is particularly important for Australians with low literacy. We have outlined the important benefits of improving literacy and numeracy beyond employment outcomes earlier in this submission, and these should be explicitly recognised in Australia’s social security system through greater flexibility in activity requirements.

Support access to adult education

RECOMMENDATIONS

•Foster collaboration and partnerships – including sharing, adaptation and scaling of best practice approaches – between State, Territory and Commonwealth adult literacy programs.

•Support transitions into adult education by funding community hub models and supporting other types of community-led responses.

•Improve the accessibility of government forms for adults with low literacy (and reduce the administrative and cost burden on community service organisations that support them), by initiating a codesign process to identify and implement solutions. 

•Replace attendance-based funding in the Adult Migrant Literacy Program with enrolment-based funding.

•The Commonwealth should take a national leadership role to improve digital inclusion, including funding community service organisations who deliver adult literacy programs to provide devices and internet access to adult learners.

Champion flexibility and place-based programs

The adult community and further education sector in Victoria has a long and rich history and is primarily delivered through Learn Local providers.[23] Learn Locals are not-for-profit community organisations that provide welcoming, safe spaces for adults to learn and build foundational skills.[24]

Learn Local providers are embedded in local communities and offer place-based and, at times, cohort-specific programs that meet the unique needs of their communities. Learn Locals often support learners with high-needs, which takes additional time and resources. Some organisations employ additional staff – for example, a community worker – to assist learners who present with the most complex barriers. Even though these types of extra supports are integral to boosting learning retention, they are not usually built into adult literacy funding models.

The Commonwealth Government can help to support state and territory adult education programs such as the Learn Local sector in Victoria. This could include examining additional funding streams that recognise the costs of supporting high-needs learners, including for providers who deliver state-based Foundation Skills and federal programs such as the Adult Migration English Program (AMEP) or the Skills for Education and Employment (SEE) Program. The Commonwealth could consider expanding the remit of their programs or provide additional resources to state-based programs that support adult literacy without direct links to job outcomes.[25]

Support transitions into adult education

Not all adults with low literacy know how or where to access training programs to boost their skills and confidence. Similarly, community sector organisations who can provide soft entry points into training opportunities may not have the knowledge or resources to support adults to transition into the right programs.

Transition pathways need to be strengthened, particularly for members of the community who experience the highest barriers to participation. This includes people with mental ill health, people with disability who have experienced marginalisation in education, and people who are physically isolated in rural or remote areas.

Support community-led responses

Community hubs are one of the platforms that can be leveraged to improve outcomes for whole families and communities – in the context of this inquiry, VCOSS believes they can be utilised to support transitions. Community hubs take a number of different forms. They can be physical spaces that co-locate services, such as the Our Place model[26] or they can take the form of physically dispersed networks and open doors. Importantly, community hubs create trust and can be soft entry points into a range of services, including early learning for children, and adult education classes for parents or carers. For example, Doveton College provides a wide range of wrap around education and allied-health supports from maternal and child health services to playgroups, to careers advice and adult English classes.[27] Government can capitalise on the trust community service organisations hold within their communities by resourcing them to build connections or to create hub models.

The inability to read or complete forms is one of the key barriers for adults with low literacy identified by VCOSS members. Adults with limited family and social support networks, including through faith communities, rely heavily on community service organisations to support access to government services. However, many community service organisations face significant funding constraints and are not funded to support people to fill in complex government forms.

Insufficient funding to support access to services means community organisations don’t have the resources to build the capacity of adults with low literacy, leaving them with few levers to intervene in the cycle of low literacy. When community service organisations are unable to support adults to fill in forms, people go without access to health and income support. 

One VCOSS member, a disability advocacy organisation working in rural and remote Victoria spoke about the number of referrals they receive to support clients to fill in complex forms for Centrelink or the National Disability Insurance Scheme. As an organisation operating in a part of Victoria with limited service provision, options to refer clients to gain this support are severely restricted or non-existent. Organisations in this position are often required to divert limited resources to fill in forms to access vital government services rather than providing tailored, specialised support. 

Government can engage people with lived experience and the organisations who support them to codesign a solution that addresses their access needs and reduces the administrative and cost burden on front line organisations.

A range of other community-led programs that build trust and engagement should be considered as part of the diverse responses needed to improve adult literacy.

For example, the Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) focuses on the importance of parents and carer as first teachers and provides opportunities for parents to receive training and employment.[28] HIPPY could be expanded as part of a programmatic response to boosting literacy and numeracy outcomes.

Communities who have experienced systemic marginalisation need to be engaged about ways to improve adult literacy for their community. For example, many people in the Deaf community reportedly have limited trust in mainstream education institutions because they have not had access to highly-skilled Auslan speakers in the classroom to support their learning, or because they have experienced a culture of low expectations. This can impact the ability of deaf or hard of hearing people to improve their literacy skills in their first language which makes it harder to gain proficiency in English. The Deaf and hard of hearing community is one example of a community that wants and needs to lead adult literacy, numeracy, problem solving and digital literacy programs to build trust and ensure programs meet community needs.

Strengthen the Adult Migrant English Program

Recent changes to the Commonwealth-funded program AMEP remove the limit of 510 hours of free English tuition, extend eligibility from functional English to vocational English[29] and remove time limits to access the program.[30] These changes are welcome and should be sustained. VCOSS members spoke highly of the AMEP model, including key components such as zero cost to the participant and access and support to find free child care.

However there are further opportunities to improve outcomes for learners, maintain provider viability and retain the highly skilled workforce.

These opportunities include:

• Changes to the funding model – Payment for AMEP is made on attendance and doesn’t take into account the ongoing fixed costs of running the program or factor in that students will at times be unwell, be unable to attend due to caring responsibilities, or have religious or cultural events that can make attendance difficult, such as Ramadan. Community sector organisations who sub-contract AMEP spoke about the challenges this funding model presents, including undermining viability and contributing to a casualised and insecure workforce.

• Extending free child care – Adult learners would benefit from an extension of free child care beyond the current cap. This would enable adult learners, predominantly women, to engage in other opportunities to improve their English, build social connections and feel empowered in their new environment.

Digital inclusion

The first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 shone a light on a number of pre-existing challenges, including digital inclusion/exclusion. While state governments such as Victoria provided school students with devices and data to facilitate engagement in online learning, adult learners missed out.

Digital inclusion has three key components: ensuring people have access to devices and digital infrastructure; people can afford to access devices and enough data to meet their needs; and people have digital literacy.

Teaching digital literacy to adult learners with low literacy and whose first language is not English takes significant time. Recent changes to the hour limit of the AMEP will support teachers to build digital literacy skills alongside English literacy skills, however, access to devices and the internet remains a challenge.

The Commonwealth should take on a leadership role to address digital inclusion. This could include providing additional resources to organisations who deliver adult literacy programs to provide adult learners with individual devices and access to the internet to support learning. This would support digital inclusion and may also increase participation for learners when they are unable to attend face to face due to health concerns or other responsibilities.

Other issues

VCOSS members raised a number of other issues the Committee should investigate, including:

• The need for workforce issues to be addressed. This should include the relationship between funding models for foundation skills and the highly insecure nature of the workforce.

• The role of JobActive, local councils and employers in supporting the literacy needs of adults.

• Considering low English literacy as an eligibility criterion in accessing a range of government programs.

[1] Victorian Department of Education and Training, The Future of Adult Community Education in Victoria 2020-25: Ministerial Statement, 2019, p.1.

[2] Australia Bureau of Statistics, Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, Australia, 2011-2012, Cat No 4228.0, 2013.

[3] Deloitte Access Economics, The economic benefits of improving social inclusions, a report commissioned by SBS, August 2019; D Perry, Social isolation and loneliness – a neighbourhood house perspective, Neighbourhood Houses Victoria, 2020.

[4] Digital Transformation Agency, Vision 2025. We will deliver world-leading digital services for the benefit of all Australians, Australian Government, 2018.

[5] J Thomas et al., Measuring Australia’s Digital Divide: The Australian Digital Inclusion Index 2020, RMIT and Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, for Telstra, October 2020.

[6] P Shergold et al., Looking to the future: Report of the Review of senior secondary pathways into work, further education and training, Education Council, July 2020.

[7] M Castro et al., ‘Parental involvement on student academic achievement: A meta-analysis’, Education Research Review, v.14, February 2015, pp.33-46; R Chazan-Cohen et al., ‘Low-income children’s school readiness: Parent contributions over the first five years,’ Early Education and Development, v.20, issue 6, December 2009, pp. 958-977; R B McNeal, ‘Differential effects of parental involvement on cognitive and behavioural outcomes by socioeconomic status,’ Journal of Socio-Economics, v.20, issue 2, 2001, pp.171-179.

[8] S Fox, M Geddes, Preschool – Two years are Better Than One: Developing a universal preschool program for Australian 3 year olds – evidence, policy and implementation, Mitchell Institute Policy Paper No. 03/2016, Mitchell Institute, October 2016.

[9] S Lamb, J Jackson, A Walstab & S Huo, Educational opportunity in Australia 2015: Who succeeds and who misses out, Centre for International Research on Education Systems, for the Mitchell Institute.

[10] S Lamb, J Jackson, A Walstab & S Huo, Educational opportunity in Australia 2015: Who succeeds and who misses out, Centre for International Research on Education Systems, for the Mitchell Institute.

[11] P Goss & J Sonnemann, Widening gaps: What NAPLAN tells us about student progress, Grattan Institute, March 2016.

[12] Australian Early Development Census, Australian Early Development Census National Report 2018, Australian Government, 2019.

[13] Premier of Victoria, ‘Thousands Of Tutors To Bring Students Up To Speed’, Media release, 13 October 2020.

[14] Premier of Victoria, ‘Supporting Students Through The Pandemic’, Media release, 7 August 2020.

[15] T Greenwell, ‘Everyone loses when schools are segregated – but some more than others’, Canberra Times, 14 December 2019.

[16] I Ting, A Palmer, N Scott, ‘Rich school, poor school: Australia’s great education divide’, ABC news, 13 August 2019.

[17] P Karp, ‘Australian government funding for private schools still growing faster than for public’, The Guardian, 2 February 2021.

[18] Commonwealth Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Quality Schools Package. The National School Reform Agreements, <https://www.dese.gov.au/quality-schools-package/national-school-reform-agreement>, accessed 24 March 2021.

[19] Victorian Council of Social Service, The right standards for change, VCOSS submission to the 2020 Review of the Disability Standards for Education 2005, September 2020.

[20] Commonwealth Department of Education, Skills and Employment, Final Report of the 2020 Review of the Disability Standards for Education 2005, 16 February 2021.

[21] S Fox, M Geddes, Preschool – Two years are Better Than One: Developing a universal preschool program for Australian 3 year olds – evidence, policy and implementation, Mitchell Institute Policy Paper No. 03/2016, Mitchell Institute, October 2016.

[22] S Lamb, J Jackson, A Walstab & S Huo, Educational opportunity in Australia 2015: Who succeeds and who misses out, Centre for International Research on Education Systems, for the Mitchell Institute.

[23] Adult Learning Australia, Adult Community Education. Australian Environmental Scan 2020, 2021.

[24] Learn Local, About Learn Local, <https://learnlocal.org.au/about/>, accessed 24 March 2021.

[25] For example, eligibility for the SEE program is made through referral from an employment services provider which excludes adults who would benefit but who may not able to engage in the labour market in the short, medium or long-term. See: https://www.dese.gov.au/skills-education-and-employment/job-seekers

[26] Our Place, <https://ourplace.org.au/>, accessed 24 March 2021.

[27] Doveton College, Our Family and Community Programs, <http://www.dovetoncollege.vic.edu.au/family-community/about-family-community/>, accessed 24 March 2021.

[28] Hippy Australia, Training and Employment, Brotherhood of St Laurence, <https://hippyaustralia.bsl.org.au/benefits/training-and-employment/>, accessed 24 March 2021; J Connolly & R Chaitowitz, Transforming employment aspirations: results of the HIPPY Tutors Study, Brotherhood of St Laurence, 2020.

[29] English skill levels recognised by the Department of Home Affairs are, from lowest to highest level of skill: Functional English, Vocational English, Competent English, Proficient English, Superior English. See https://www.australianskilledmigration.com.au/english-requirements/

[30] Department of Home Affairs, Adult Migrant English Program (AMPE). About the program, <https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/settling-in-australia/amep/about-the-program/background>, accessed 24 March 2021.

COVID-19 has caused profound social and economic dislocation, with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged Victorians feeling the impacts most acutely. VCOSS members report new and emerging culturally and linguistically diverse communities, including asylum seekers and refugees, are likely to have experienced the impacts of COVID-19 more severely than established culturally diverse communities and the broader population. The reasons are varied and include: difficulties understanding or navigating a range of systems, less established networks of support, and limited English or literacy.

Early childhood education is a key window of development in a child’s life. Two years of high-quality early learning for children who experience disadvantage or vulnerability, including low proficiency in English or being socio-economically disadvantaged, can turn the tide for building strong foundations for later learning and good life outcomes. Many Victorian children had their participation in early childhood education disrupted during the initial COVID-19 response phase. For some children, this disruption was because of economic factors. Measures were instituted by the Victorian and Commonwealth governments, for example, to introduce temporary payment relief, however, as we move into the COVID-safe environment, and relief measures cease, the return to fee-for-service early childhood education and care is a key issue of concern, given that many Victorian families will continue to experience economic hardship through this next stage of the pandemic’s trajectory.

Culturally and linguistically diverse families who experienced heightened vulnerability during COVID-19 should not have their access to a range of early learning restricted by financial barriers.

Many of the recommendations made by VCOSS in its substantive submission are amplified by COVID-19. In particular, COVID-19 highlights the critical need to formally recognise and fund communities for the role they play in providing trusted and accurate information, and the need for greater investment in outreach to ensure families are connected before times of crisis hit.

Key recommendations that are particularly relevant in the context of COVID-19 include:

• Build on existing community and social capital to increase awareness of early years services
• Provide accessible resources to address language and literacy barriers
• Fund a ‘community connector’ or ‘peer workforce’ model
• Integrate the use of bicultural and bilingual workers in mainstream services
• Provide additional funding for interpreters

Key recommendations moving forward to ensure culturally and linguistically diverse families can access early years services are:

• Consult with people from CALD backgrounds to understand how they feel culturally safe, using an intersectional lens
• Support families experiencing vulnerability who may be facing cost or eligibility barriers to access affordable early years services
• Ensure every child can access early childhood education, regardless of where they live or the time of year
• Increase collaboration between services to promote ‘hubs’ and soft access points
• Create spaces for parents to build connections by participating in group settings
• Ensure services are run in culturally safe and familiar places such as shopping centres and libraries
• Invest in greater collaboration between outreach services to reach places where families gather

Access to timely, accurate and trusted information

VCOSS members report some culturally and linguistically diverse communities, in particular new and emerging communities, struggled to access updated and relevant information about the pandemic, particularly during the early stages of stay at home measures when information was changing regularly.

Barriers for new and emerging communities can include limited English, different stages in the establishment of structures and support systems, and difficulties understanding and navigating government systems or community agencies.

VCOSS highlighted in our substantive submission that there is a need to build on existing social capital and connection within communities. COVID-19 has highlighted that how information is disseminated, accessed, and trusted in diverse communities can differ significantly to the rest of the population. When information is changing regularly, it needs to flow through trusted and legitimate channels and through communities directly. This can be achieved through word of mouth, faith leaders, community leaders and associations, or community radio.

In some communities, particularly those who have experienced prejudice or overt racism through public discourse, or whose social and political contexts in their country of origin differs significantly to Australia, there can be a distrust of the media and governments. This makes the connection to timely, translated and accurate information from communities directly even more important during a pandemic.

While translation is important, VCOSS members report who the message reaches needed more consideration. For example, posters in communal spaces of a public housing block has limited reach when families are not able to utilise those communal spaces.

Other issues relating to the dissemination of information included assumptions of literacy, having to navigate webpages in English to reach translated information, and subsequent policing or over-policing of communities by police or neighbours when information did not flow quickly enough to children and families who were then not adhering to stay at home measures.

Strategies that would have supported culturally and linguistically diverse communities to better access the information they needed, particularly new and emerging communities, include:

• Ensure information and advice is provided through a range of media, including television, online, apps and radio and in a range of accessible formats including pictorial and oral
  • For example, VCOSS members noted ad campaigns on mainstream television networks by diverse Australian celebrities, sports stars or popular culture figures would have helped to disseminate public health messages. VCOSS members report even where these messages are in English, there is significant community reach through communities seeing themselves reflected through diversity which creates talk, attention and circulation of the video amongst communities.
• Directly engage multicultural, refugee and asylum seeker organisations to support the dissemination of information
• Engage leaders of culturally and linguistically diverse communities, who are trusted sources of information, to distribute advice through their communities
  • Formal and informal community networks undertook significant work in reaching their communities to provide accurate and trusted information. This role of ‘connecting’ quickly and directly, rather than waiting for information to be released in language, meant community members were doing translations on the spot. This was often the only accessible information available to people with limited or no English, literacy, or understanding of government systems (for example, to log on to the DHHS website for updated information).
• Ensure schools and universities provide information in a range of languages and formats.

Accessing services

Through stay at home measures, the shutdown of many services and closure of public and community spaces, families not already engaged in services are more likely to have faced barriers throughout the pandemic. In particular, newly arrived members of the community who have limited English and a limited understanding of the service system are at heightened risk of social isolation and missing out on key supports, due limited access to up to date and accessible information, or limited access to devices and the internet.

Local councils and community sector organisations have a range of innovative ways they bridge connection with families in ‘place’ in their local communities, who may be hard to reach in non-pandemic times. This became increasingly difficult during COVID-19. For example, families who may ordinarily be connected to services through ‘soft entry points’ such as shopping centre playgroups, or through community hubs where services are co-located have been unable to access these points of connection due to the closure of many services and no face to face contact, limiting important informal opportunities to connect.

Policing and issuing of fines for people who breached directions may have had a disproportionate impact on culturally and linguistically diverse families.

For many culturally and linguistically diverse families, stay at home measures exacerbated existing inequalities. For example, large families in overcrowded or severely overcrowded housing had limited space to study, learn or work and no access to public spaces such as libraries for relief. VCOSS members report some families in severely overcrowded housing who sought relief from going outside to the local park or open space were then approached by police, further compounding stress.

While the Victorian Government announced students would have access to onsite learning if they did not have an appropriate learning environment at home, VCOSS members report some culturally and linguistically diverse families were denied access to onsite learning, despite living in severely overcrowded housing and having access to limited or no internet or digital devices. Culturally and linguistically diverse communities were not in the government’s ‘priority cohort’ for receiving devices, sim cards or dongles. Learning from home was also a challenge for parents with limited English who could not understand how to use technology or how to support their children’s learning.

While early childhood education and care services remained open, and became free during COVID-19, adults were given limited access to these spaces to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission. This meant that even where families were still engaging in services onsite, parents and families were unable to gather in spaces for social connection and support. For families without access to appropriate technology, this severely restricted pathways for social connection and wellbeing support.

VCOSS members also report some new and emerging communities who did not have a detailed understanding of the service system were at a disadvantage in accessing broader supports, including telehealth or online playgroups.

The barriers presented in the shutdown of services highlights the importance of families already being engaged in a range of early years services to support connection and wellbeing throughout times of crisis. Outreach services and deeper integration of services is vitally important to ensure all families are able to deeply connect with their local communities. Existing engagement supports follow-ups and check-ins from services – but, if services don’t know who may be vulnerable and who may be missing out on support, this constrains the ability for targeted outreach and connection during a pandemic.

Engagement: an early learning sector strength

One of the key strengths of the early learning sector is its engagement and connection with families. One VCOSS member, a peak body for early learning services, reported that a number of services (predominantly kindergartens) with culturally and linguistically diverse families had positive engagement with families and children during COVID-19, including through the use of ‘remote learning’ resources.

Strong relationships and trust between services and families was fundamental to the ability of services to work positively with families in informing them about stay at home measures, accessing their services (be it on-site or through learning from home), and understanding the needs of each child and their families. Building relationships, trust and engagement also enabled services to:

• Utilise existing communication channels such as email and apps to stay connected with children and families
• Understand the needs of children and their families and use a range of strategies to sustain engagement and meet these needs, including:
  • providing tailored activities to suit the learning from home environment – from providing one activity a day to a range of activities to engage a child for many hours, and drawing on items usually found in the home to support activities
  • learning about other challenges families were facing such as supporting learning from home for school-aged children, managing work, including job loss, supporting extended family, and being generally exhausted.

Access to digital devices and technology did not appear to be a significant issue for these families for the purposes of remote early learning.

Many services reported having existing staff from a diversity of cultural backgrounds with a number of languages spoken, helping to build trust, cultural safety and understanding between services and families. Some services are reporting 100 per cent reengagement of culturally and linguistically diverse families back to their services.

VCOSS notes that these learnings and positive experiences are only a small sample of a large and diverse early learning sector. However, this does highlight the strength of the early learning sector in engaging families who are linked in with their services.

It also highlights the importance of integrating bicultural and bilingual workers and growing the diverse workforce to reflect the diversity in the community. This helps with the accessibility and understanding of early learning, and supports services in understanding how they can create culturally safe environments for children and families.

Asylum seekers and refugees

VCOSS understands there has been a significant increase in presentation of refugee and asylum seeker families with children to emergency relief support services during COVID-19.

Many asylum seekers and refugees experienced heightened financial vulnerability during the pandemic. Being ineligible for the Commonwealth’s JobKeeper subsidy meant many asylum seeker and refugee workers were amongst the first to be laid-off when businesses closed, and without access to appropriate government income support, many families have relied on community service organisations to meet basic needs like covering the costs of housing and purchasing food.

Increased financial vulnerability had significant flow-on affects including exacerbating the digital divide and therefore ability of families to engage in services or gain appropriate supports (for example telehealth, remote learning), which then in turn had impacts on isolation and wellbeing.

Impacts experienced by asylum seekers and refugees during COVID-19

Many of these impacts have been experienced by the broader population, including culturally and linguistically diverse members of the community who have permanent residency, Australian citizenship or other substantive visas. However, little to no access to government income support and more precarious employment means the experience of these impacts for asylum seekers and refugees are more severe.

Key challenges faced by asylum seeker and refugee families relating to accessing services and education include:

• Financial vulnerability and subsequent inability to meet basic needs or purchase devices or internet for accessing information, services and remote learning.
• Stigma in accessing or to be seen to be accessing support services, including in rural areas.
• Digital exclusion and impacts on remote learning.
• Not understanding the restrictions, and also the support and assistance they are eligible for or are able to access. For example, some families were reluctant to request devices for remote learning as they worried they would have to pay for it.

VCOSS members also reported the intersection between cultural and lived experience and technology barriers were complex. For example, as supported playgroups were not able to run in person during COVID-19, some services moved to online digital playgroups. VCOSS members report a distrust in technology and surveillance as well as defined gender roles, acted as a barrier for some families to engage in these digital playgroups. This occurred even where there was enthusiasm from the mother, due to the husband’s distrust of technology and surveillance.

These barriers demonstrate the need for culturally and linguistically diverse communities to have greater input into emergency planning and for greater resources to become available to support access and engagement in services so that families are well connected during times of crisis.

The Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on lessons from Remote and Flexible Learning, which was instituted as part of the Victorian Government’s COVID response.

In making this submission, we are highly attuned to context. Our community is in the throes of unprecedented social and economic dislocation caused by a global health pandemic. We understand that the Victorian Government has had to make decisions at pace, based on the best available public health information at any given time. We particularly acknowledge the extraordinary scale and speed of adaptation that the Department of Education and Training was required to make in order to establish and operationalise Remote and Flexible Learning.

Throughout this time, VCOSS’s focus has been – as it always is – on vulnerable students and families: those for whom school is a refuge from violence, abuse or neglect, and those who rely on schools for meals, for mental health care and other wellbeing supports, for additional learning support, and for educational resources that aren’t readily available at home (for example, a quiet space for individual study, or access to books, news media, digital devices and internet). We have also been concerned for students who, pre-COVID, had risk factors for early school leaving or were on a pathway back to education after a period of school disengagement, and the impact that COVID adaptations have had on their engagement.

Once the decision was made to move to Remote and Flexible Learning, VCOSS welcomed the Victorian Government’s commitment to keeping schools open for vulnerable students, and those whose parents are essential workers, to have their learning supervised onsite.

VCOSS also welcomed the Victorian Government’s acknowledgement of the digital divide between students and its commitment to provide devices (laptops and tablets) and internet access to every student who needed this support during the period of Remote and Flexible Learning.

Through partnership forums such as the Human Services and Health Partnership Implementation Committee (HSHPIC), the Department of Education – Community Sector Organisation Governance Group and the Education State Schools Guiding Coalition, we were made aware of rapid adaptations to school-based wellbeing supports to try and maintain continuity of support to the most vulnerable students and families, and work to sustain established school re-engagement programs such as Navigator.

At the outset, whilst acknowledging these commitments, we did express concern that some students may still be left behind – in particular, students with additional needs who may usually have a teacher’s aid and/or other school-based supports to enable their participation and assist their learning.

The feedback we have had from VCOSS members during this time shows a mixed picture. Remote and Flexible Learning was experienced differently across (and within) different student cohorts, educational settings, and places (local areas).

For some students, changes to the usual school routine, not having to travel, and being away from a school environment they can find stressful represented freedom and helped them to thrive. Some VCOSS members reported that online learning increased students’ sense of agency and improved their engagement. Distribution of devices has provided some students with home internet for the first time ever. The body of this submission identifies what worked well and should be sustained.

There have also been students whose experience of Remote and Flexible Learning has been negative. This is because they experienced systemic barriers associated with having a disability, experienced delays in receiving devices that enable internet access, were trying to study in a home environment not conducive to this purpose (e.g. living in overcrowded housing), lost peer connection and/or reported a reduction in their wellbeing.

In some instances, this was exacerbated by the stress of lockdown, including the closure of (or limited access to) community spaces, and inability to connect in the same way with formal and informal supports (for example, programs run by community service organisations, peer and extended family networks).

While we understand that the Department of Education and Training worked to adapt wellbeing supports, to ensure vulnerable students continued to have access to school psychologists and other wellbeing resources, some students who might previously have had access to mental health care through school did not get the support they required and needed to find new avenues to access support.

VCOSS has identified the following lessons from the Remote and Flexible Learning period.

Each one is unpacked in more detail in the body of the submission, and is framed as a recommendation for government. Many of these recommendations have their roots in pre-COVID times. In many ways, the pandemic has magnified pre-existing faultlines and opportunities, and the rapid adaptations made during this time show what is possible:

• Lesson 1: We cannot break the link between disadvantage and educational outcomes unless we address the technological divide. Having reliable internet access and a digital device for schoolwork at school and at home is essential to students’ participation and learning. Every Victorian student should have a laptop or tablet and internet access. The rapid deployment of devices to support Remote and Flexible Learning has been a game-changer for some of the State’s most disadvantaged learners. Going forward, the Victorian Government should sustain the provision of devices to students who do not otherwise have access to these at home.

• Lesson 2: Students with disabilities face additional health, learning and development needs that often require targeted teaching support and access to specialist therapists and integration aides. The period of Remote and Flexible Learning heightened barriers for students who do not receive the tailored support they need to fully participate in learning – for example, we heard from the Association for Children with Disabilities that families were told by teachers that they were not required to provide differentiated learning plans. Additionally, existing in-school education supports were not adapted to support students and families to engage with home-based learning. In addition to the educational impacts, this has affected the mental health and employment participation of many families. COVID-19 has highlighted the need for the Department of Education and Training’s emergency planning and response to have an increased focus on the adaptation of education support at times of crisis. More broadly, there is a need for the Victorian Government to boost funding and support to students with a disability.

• Lesson 3: Interface issues between the education system and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) have become more pronounced for students and their families. The National Cabinet has shown what is possible, in terms of federal-state collaboration and joint problem-solving. The Victorian Government should seize this opportunity to work with the Commonwealth to fix outstanding issues at the interface of state education and the NDIS, so that all students with disabilities have access to the supports they need to thrive.

• Lesson 4: While Remote and Flexible Learning has not worked for every student, a strong message we have heard from students (via our members) is that they do want to retain flexibility and variety in the way their learning environment is structured. In particular, there is an appetite to do more in terms of integrating face-to-face and online learning beyond the COVID environment. The Department of Education and Training could explore this in the context of Education State goals to increase student agency and increase engagement, retention and completion.

• Lesson 5: COVID-19 is anticipated to generate more demand for support services as a consequence of increased unemployment and poverty, mental ill-health, substance use, and family violence. Students exposed to – or experiencing – these challenges will be at heightened risk of early school leaving. The Victorian Government should ensure eligibility criteria and funding for school and community-based engagement/re-engagement programs (for example, Navigator and School Focused Youth Services) enables schools and community-based providers to be responsive to young people’s needs.

Bridge the technological divide

Pre-pandemic, access to a device (such as a computer or iPad) and a secure, reliable internet connection were important for students to get the most out of their education. The move to remote learning during COVID-19 meant these devices became vital – without them, the learning experience was compromised, and important connections to teachers and peers were disrupted.

One-in-five households in regional Victoria, and one-in-ten households in metropolitan Melbourne, have no internet access at home. During the early COVID-response phase, Victorian Government restrictions meant that community facilities where people go to publicly access the internet, for example, libraries, were closed. While this was an urgent public health measure, it had an unintended consequence of heightening the educational disadvantage of some of the State’s most vulnerable students.

Not-for-profit organisations such as State Schools’ Relief received thousands more requests for assistance with internet access and extra devices.

The Victorian Government acted quickly to deliver thousands of laptops, devices, SIM cards and dongles to students, to enable access to online learning. Devices were given first to priority cohorts including senior secondary students, students in bush-fire affected areas and families who couldn’t afford an internet connection. This was a major logistical exercise for the Department of Education and Training. VCOSS acknowledges the scale and complexity of the task. For many students who received devices, having those devices was a key determinant of whether remote learning was successful and effective. However, some of the challenges included:

• Some students waited several weeks for their devices, meaning they missed out on weeks of online learning.
• Because demand exceeded supply, some students outside the priority cohorts missed out. For example, VCOSS members report some culturally and linguistically diverse families with multiple children only had one device to share between siblings.

Some correspondence sent to families asking them whether they needed a device or internet access was not translated into languages other than English, leaving migrant families and families with low-levels of literacy unaware of the support available. Some refugee and asylum seeker families did not approach schools requesting a device because were worried they would need to pay.

We are still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In parts of Melbourne, there is a surge in confirmed cases. There will likely be an ongoing need for devices in the context of the pandemic. However, the need for internet connection and devices will not end with the pandemic. In 2020, a laptop and device for internet access are a student’s ‘tools of the trade’. No access to devices and internet can mean students are unable to complete homework or participate fully in the curriculum. In the absence of government provision, some families go without other basics to cover the costs of these essential learning tools[1].

VCOSS has been deeply concerned to hear anecdotal reports that some students have already had to return their devices as they return to onsite learning. Every student in Victoria should be able to participate fully in learning at school and at home. Students who have received devices during the period of Remote and Flexible Learning should be able to retain these.

However, beyond COVID, the Victorian Government should provide devices to all students who do not otherwise have access to these at home.

Provide additional support to students with disability

Students with disabilities experience significant systemic barriers to education participation and engagement[2], and have lower Year 12 or equivalent attainment rates relative to other student cohorts[3].

These barriers have become magnified during COVID-19. During the period of Remote and Flexible Learning, VCOSS heard that there was a lack of specific guidance and information for students with disability. The Association for Children with a Disability experienced a 25 per cent increase in education-related calls to its Support Line. Additionally, 20 per cent of calls to the DET’s newly established Parent Line related to students with disability, far outweighing the proportion of students with disability[4].

Support for students with disability was inconsistent across Victoria and driven by school-level interpretation of policies and government guidance. For example, some students with disability were not provided with reasonably-adjusted course materials to enable them engage with remote learning on the same basis as their peers, raising concerns about students falling behind and heightened risk of future disengagement.

Additional supports usually available in the classroom were often not provided during online or remote learning. As well as limiting students’ ability to engage with online learning, this placed significant strain on families. Families and carers supported their children to engage in remote learning without the additional assistance that would otherwise have been provided in the classroom. Some families had to take unpaid leave, or lost work, due to increased caring responsibilities.

This period of Remote and Flexible Learning also highlighted the need for the education system to interface more seamlessly with the National Disability Insurance Scheme. VCOSS is very concerned by reports that – in the absence of appropriate support from schools to assist parents to oversee home-based learning for students with disabilities – some students with a NDIS plan used funding for daily support during remote learning, reducing access to vital developmental supports.

Addressing the learning support needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged students

The Victorian Government announced that students who were unable to learn from home were able to access onsite schooling, including:

• students who did not have appropriate supervision at home, or an appropriate learning environment
• children in out-of-home care
• children deemed by Child Protection and/or Family Services to be at risk of harm
• children identified by the school as vulnerable (including via referral from a family violence agency, homelessness or youth justice service or mental health or other health services and children with disability).’

However, communication and decision-making by schools was inconsistent and in some cases contradictory.

VCOSS is aware of vulnerable students, including children with disability and children in residential out-of-home care who were denied access to onsite learning. Some schools cited insufficient onsite staffing, while others provided no justification for their decisions.

For some students who did try onsite learning, working remotely in a classroom with very few children or different ages and class levels was too difficult. One VCOSS member organisation reported that 80 per cent of the young people in their residential care facilities were being supported to learn from home, despite clearly falling within the cohort eligible to attend school onsite.

For those students who were able to access onsite learning, it was often a result of extensive advocacy by support services, like disability advocacy organisations. Access to onsite learning, and its accompanying supports, should not be reliant on advocacy, but instead on clear principles and guidelines that enable access.

Provide ongoing flexibility to students

Remote and flexible learning has demonstrated the importance of providing students with an array of options to suit their individual needs. While some students struggled, some students thrived in the environment of remote and online learning. Amongst student cohorts that we were particularly concerned about – for example, students with histories of long disengagement – we have heard reports of positive outcomes and experiences during this time, including students engaged in the Navigator program and TEACHaR program.[5]

For example, almost 50 per cent of young people engaged in Anglicare Victoria’s Navigator program in the Western Melbourne Area engaged positively, or to some extent, in remote learning, with 24 per cent of students demonstrating an improvement in their attendance/participation during remote learning.

VCOSS members report students who responded positively to remote learning felt less anxious, which significantly increased engagement and enthusiasm for schoolwork. This reduced anxiety related to previous feelings of disconnection from peers and teachers, feeling behind in school-work, and negative perceptions of their ability.

Case study: Venusha, 13 years*

Peer friendships made through online learning and improved self-confidence may be the key to supporting Venusha back to the classroom.

Venusha had been refusing to go to school over a long period. With the introduction of online learning she agreed to go to school, whilst there weren’t other students around, and she collected a laptop to commence online schooling.

Venusha has been connecting with classroom peers online who have assisted her with logging in/accessing the work and she is now enjoying these friendships. Venusha has now committed to doing her school work and feels more confident to ask for assistance from the school.

Given Venusha’s positive school online experience she may feel more open to attend her school. Her work is modified and it will be manageable for her. Venusha’s father is hopeful that she will return to school post online schooling.

Anglicare Victoria, Navigator program, Western Melbourne

*Name has been changed to protect student’s identity

The ability for students to move at their own pace was an important contributing factor for students thriving in online learning. Remote learning enabled students to:

• take small steps to reengage (for example, working their way up from logging on each day to actively completing school work)
• work through classwork at their own pace
• prioritise and direct their learning as needed, helping students gain confidence in their ability to complete work, sparking motivation and hope.

Case study: TEACHaR Program

All 165 students in residential care, home-based care and linked with family services in Anglicare Victoria’s TEACHaR program had outstanding results from the period of remote and flexible learning.

Students thrived in their one-on-one online learning sessions with the TEACHaR program, with students enjoying greater control in self-directing their learning, taking breaks when needed, and even feeling empowered when teaching teachers how to use aspects of digital platforms. Teachers found that during online learning, instead of becoming frustrated, students were able to hang up when they were overwhelmed, or say the line was dropping out to signal their need for space.

Some young people who would not engage in face-to-face learning began engaging in the program online and some students even requested additional work.

Approximately 50 per cent of students in this program want a dual modality of learning moving forward, to incorporate face-to-face and one-on-one learning, as well as online opportunities.

For many young people, finding a positive connection to peers or teachers and building positive experiences at school will help increase and maintain their engagement in the future. As students return to face-to-face learning, School Focused Youth Services are an important support, providing students with opportunities to connect with students, make new friends, build self-confidence and connect with other teachers in the school.

VCOSS understands the funding for this program is due to expire at the end of 2020. School Focused Youth Services need secure funding to ensure young people who have reengaged during remote learning continue to have ‘sticky’ points to keep them engaged.

VCOSS is also aware that the Navigator program – which was heavily subscribed pre-COVID – is also likely to have increased demand in these next stages of the pandemic. VCOSS has long advocated for additional expansion of this highly-effective program, including changes to eligibility criteria so more students can get support earlier. Ensuring funding for engagement/re-engagement programs matches demand should be an important priority for the Victorian Government going forward, as COVID has heightened the risk factors for early school leaving.

[1] Borrell, J, ‘The Stress, the Strain & the Pain: The impact of school costs of families and the CISVic sector’, Community Information & Support Victoria (CISVic), May 2020.

[2] Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA), Education: Ensuring inclusive education for children and young people with disability, <https://www.cyda.org.au/issues/education>, accessed 30 June 2020.

[3] ABS, Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, Cat No 4430.0, October 2019.

[4] Association for Children with a Disability, Submission to the Inquiry into the Victorian Government’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, June 2020.

[5] Anglicare Victoria, TEACHaR, Tutoring for Children and Young People, <https://www.anglicarevic.org.au/teachar-a-tutoring-program-for-vulnerable-children/>, accessed 29 June 2020.

Introduction

Victoria is on a journey to “build a world-class education system and transform Victoria into the Education State”[1].

The Victorian Government’s Review into Vocational and Applied Learning in Senior Secondary Schooling is an opportunity to ensure that the system transformation taking place in secondary schools is responsive to the diverse needs, preferences and aspirations of Victorian learners.

A responsive, future-focused system is one that provides young people with a variety of flexible options, experiences and career pathways while they are at school (or undertaking secondary-level education in an equivalent learning environment), and sets them up to make a successful transition to life beyond the school gate.

It is important that these options, experiences and pathways are inclusive of high-quality vocational and applied learning. Vocational and applied learning has relevance to all Victorian learners. However, the provision of vocational and applied learning in schools (and in the community, through flexible learning organisations), is also an important strategy for preventing education disengagement and early school leaving, and facilitating a pathway back for those who have left.

While students disengage from school for a variety of reasons, for some students the precipitating factors include:

• Experiencing a disconnect between what they are taught (and/or how they are taught), and their interests and aspirations
• Insufficient support to address complex personal barriers to learning.

A key strength of vocational and applied learning is that it offers students the flexibility to pursue their interests, and to work at a pace that meets their needs. This flexible pace is particularly beneficial for students whose participation and engagement in learning may be impacted by their experience of homelessness, family violence, neglect, abuse or other trauma, mental ill-health or disability.

Another key strength of vocational and applied learning is access to on-the-job experience and industry exposure. Students gain an insight into potential career pathways, while learning practical skills that they can apply to future studies, training or work.

This is highly relevant to the ‘future of work’ policy conversations that currently occupy the Victorian and Commonwealth governments, the education and training sector, employers and unions, as well as young people and their families/carers and advocates. VCOSS notes that this Review is taking place at a time when:

• It is estimated that young people may have up to 17 jobs over five careers[2] in their lifetime.
• Employers are seeking graduates/new workers with complex skills (sometimes referred to as ‘soft skills’ or ‘21^st century skills’), including adaptability, problem solving and critical thinking to be able to transition between jobs.
• There is significant future job growth in skilled industries, including the community services industry.

Given the severe economic shock and social dislocation caused by COVID-19, which is having – and will continue to have – a disproportionate impact on young people entering the labour market for the first time, it is more important than ever that the education system adequately prepares young people for their future by providing them with the skills, training and experience they need to engage in meaningful employment and other opportunities.

This submission focuses on the ways in which vocational and applied learning can prepare all young people for their future, and in particular, meet the needs of disadvantaged young people.

Recommendations

Design and reputation

• Ensure flexibility remains a key component of vocational and applied learning so students can remain actively engaged
• Keep the Foundation, Intermediate and Senior levels of VCAL, but consider applying more flexibility to the Foundation level
• Provide access to wrap-around supports for students experiencing disadvantage
• Expand access to the Program for Students with Disability and move to a new strengths-based functional needs assessment funding model
• Expand the Navigator program to support young people to stay engaged in school
• Remove dual enrolment eligibility restrictions for young people at school who want to do a VET course outside of VETiS, so they can access Skills First funding
• Develop students’ complex skills and practical skills while they are at school
• Give all students access to industry exposure starting from Grade 5 or Grade 6
• Give all students access to industry experience, including Structured Workplace Learning (SWL)
• Provide students with regular access to a support worker both inside and outside the classroom, when undertaking VETiS and SWL.
• Provide students undertaking SBATs, SWL or other workplace learning experiences with a mentor where the student, school or host employer identifies the student would benefit from this additional support.
• Redesign the way in which partnerships between industry, employers and the education system works
• Motivate industry and employers to have a stake in providing students with exposure and experience
• Boost the understanding, value and reputation of VCAL by creating clear career pathways and opportunities
• Provide schools with more career practitioners

Delivery

• Fully fund vocational and applied learning in school and community settings
• Enable all students to equitably access VETiS, SWL and workplace learning experiences by ensuring schools have funding to address transport disadvantage for their student cohort
• Offer blended learning for rural and regional students and ensure teachers are appropriately trained to deliver this model
• Provide tailored support for students with disability to undertake vocational and applied learning, including reasonable adjustments and career advice
• Provide tailored and individualised support for young people in the juvenile justice system
• Use government funding to enable VET providers to develop and deliver courses that meet industry needs in rural and regional areas, including delivery of courses for VETiS and SBAT students.
• Include applied learning as a proficiency in teaching degrees
• Schools should provide adequate opportunities for teachers to ensure their skills and knowledge are up to date
• Provide teachers with access to training and information to meet the needs of students

Outcomes

• Prioritise and capture outcomes that assist students to achieve complex skills and life skills

Objectives of applied learning

The Victorian Government’s Consultation Paper asks what the objectives of applied learning should be.

VCOSS believes that the primary objectives of the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), VET in Schools (VETiS) and School-based Apprenticeships and Traineeships (SBATs) should be to ensure that students, especially those who experience disadvantage and vulnerability, have access to:

• A variety of flexible pathways to complete secondary school
• A variety of learning options to suit their needs and aspirations
• Structured workplace learning and other forms of industry exposure and experience, so that they can acquire a range of 21^st century skills and have a strong foundation from which to secure ‘jobs of the future’.

Design and reputation

Vocational and applied learning presents significant opportunities for both students and employers. These opportunities are deeply connected to the design and reputation of vocational and applied learning pathways.

Enhancing the design and reputation of vocational and applied learning will help to increase the numbers of students accessing opportunities such as Structured Workplace Learning. This is an appropriate reform objective, particularly in the context of preparing young people for the ‘future of work’. However, it will be important not to lose sight of disadvantaged learners who have traditionally been a priority cohort for vocational and applied learning.

This section of the submission identifies opportunities to enhance design and reputation, including opportunities to increase the engagement of students who have disconnected from learning, and to bring forward the window for early intervention programs for those who are at risk of disengaging. This works needs to start from the ‘middle years’[3] onwards.

Certificate considerations

The Victorian Government’s consultations have considered the merits – or otherwise – of combining the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) and the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) into a single certificate (with both vocational and academic pathways).

VCOSS members have told us that they would face significant barriers to their continued provision of VCAL if it were combined into a single certificate with the VCE.

They describe the application process to provide VCE as difficult and onerous, and advise that many high-quality community providers would not have the size, funding, staffing structures or resources to successfully register.

Should the two certificates be combined, this would likely mean a host of providers who currently provide Community VCAL would be unable to register, under current registration processes. The potential loss of these providers from the system is a significant risk to government and the community, given that many Community VCAL providers prioritise the re-engagement of disadvantaged young people who have disconnected from mainstream schools and support them to complete secondary education.

Consequently, VCOSS advocates for the retention of both certificates, to protect against this risk. That said, we do believe there is merit in exploring reforms that enable more flexibility and permeability between the VCAL and VCE. All students would benefit from having access to learning and work experiences that sit outside the pathway they are on.

Support students to thrive

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Ensure flexibility remains a key component of vocational and applied learning so students can remain actively engaged
• Keep the Foundation, Intermediate and Senior levels of VCAL, but consider applying more flexibility to the Foundation level
• Provide access to wrap-around supports for students experiencing disadvantage
• Expand access to the Program for Students with Disability and move to a new strengths-based functional needs assessment funding model
• Expand the Navigator program support young people to stay engaged in school
• Remove dual enrolment eligibility restrictions for young people at school who want to do a VET course outside of VETiS, so they can access Skills First funding
• Develop students’ complex skills and practical skills while they are at school

Continue to embed flexibility in vocational and applied learning

Flexibility is a key component of VCAL in both course design and delivery. It is also one of its greatest strengths.

It enables teachers to adapt to their students’ learning needs and to align and integrate learning with students’ interests. This flexibility is often characterised as “meeting students where they are at”, and VCOSS members report that it provides a richness to the VCAL certificate that differs significantly from VCE.

Flexibility in course design and delivery enables students to direct their energy and efforts into areas of study that are meaningful to them. For example, if a student is interested in the hospitality industry and is undertaking a project on a café, teachers can increase relevance to the student by incorporating numeracy into the work by learning how many coffees were sold in a day and then working out how many beans were needed to make that many coffees.

This can help increase a young person’s motivation and engagement in their learning environment, and build an aspirational mindset – important foundations for post-school transitions.

In community-based settings, flexible course design and delivery are often accompanied by flexible wellbeing supports that ‘wrap around’ a student, depending on their needs. These wellbeing supports enhance student outcomes (both academic and social). They provide important insights into wellbeing that could assist mainstream schools to enhance the support they provide to students, and help to prevent suspensions and expulsions of vulnerable young people from school. More detail on this is provided later in this submission.

Case Study:

Melbourne City Mission’s independent school The Hester Hornbrook Academy provides flexible learning to students who have disengaged from mainstream school environments and “present with a mix of mental health issues, homelessness, drug and alcohol use, juvenile justice exposure, family breakdown and/or very low personal agency and social capital.”[4]

Flexibility enables the Academy to tailor their approach to VCAL to meet the needs of individual students by programming learning around a student’s goals, and their own pace, and in ways that accommodate students’ changing circumstances[5]. This can help motivate students who are better able to direct their learning, focus on areas of interest or personal strengths, and feel secure in knowing that potential setbacks can be overcome through continued course flexibility.

Maintain current VCAL levels

Maintaining the Foundation, Intermediate and Senior VCAL levels is important in ensuring young people can access vocational and applied learning regardless of what their starting point is.

Students experiencing disadvantage and, in particular, those who may be reengaging in education after a significant period of absence, need access to a range of options that suit their needs and will accommodate their level of learning.

VCOSS members advise that some changes to the Foundation level could support further retention and progression of students experiencing disadvantage. For cohorts of highly disadvantaged young people who may have disengaged from education for a significant period of time or face other complex barriers to meaningfully engage in education, even greater flexibility should be applied to the Foundation level.

At this Foundation level, a range of opportunities need to be available to students from the perspective of a flexible, person-centred approach. This level of flexibility could include reviewing the required 100 hours of VET activity. For example, removing this requirement for those students for whom this may not be conducive to supporting their wellbeing, particularly if they need to attend an off-site RTO without the familiarity and support of their usual learning environment. Another option could be to integrate existing VET Certificate I or preparatory courses into this VCAL level. VCOSS members report that some young people beginning VCAL at Foundation level may benefit from a more structured opportunity to learn life skills and social development that this option could provide, and better prepare them for, Intermediate and Senior VCAL.

Help students get the support they need in mainstream educational settings

The Victorian Government’s Consultation Paper remarks that: “The Review has heard that VCAL plays an important role in providing pathways for students with special needs or in special settings, and students reengaging with education.”

This observation accords with VCOSS’s insights. As noted earlier in this submission, the flexible course design and delivery is a major contributing factor. However, the other significant factor is that Community VCAL providers, in particular, have embedded high-quality, flexible and holistic wellbeing supports into their delivery model.

VCOSS is concerned that all students receive – as needed – appropriate wellbeing supports through their education provider, in order to establish and/or sustain their preferred education pathway. Students who wish to undertake VCE should not feel compelled to choose Community VCAL because they fear their wellbeing needs won’t otherwise be met.

All young people experiencing disadvantage should be provided with holistic, wrap-around supports to overcome barriers to meaningfully engaging in education.

Schools are an important environment for young people to build protective factors to mitigate against stressors and poor health outcomes. Schools can be places where young people feel socially connected, build strong relationships with peers and teachers, and develop a sense of their strengths and skills[6].

However, schools can also be challenging environments for young people who experience bullying, have been exposed to trauma or who have a mental illness. Mission Australia’s annual Youth Survey reflected this, with Victorian young people identifying coping with stress, mental health and school or study problems as the top three issues of personal concern[7].

Research suggests that significant numbers of young people have been exposed to a traumatic event[8], and approximately half of all serious mental health issues in adulthood begin before the age of 14[9]. Young people who live in out-of-home care, who are under youth justice supervision, are refugees, are experiencing homelessness, are LGBTIQ, or Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander young people are more likely to experience trauma[10]. When social disadvantaged is coupled with experiences of trauma, such as family violence or child abuse, it can significantly increase the negative outcomes for young people’s wellbeing[11].

The health and wellbeing of young people is vital to their ability to remain engaged in school, perform well academically, build strong social connections, and transition successfully into post-school pathways[12]. For young people experiencing disadvantage or who are more likely to have experienced trauma, additional supports are needed to overcome barriers to participation, learning and attainment.

Young people who are at-risk should be provided with access to comprehensive wrap-around supports to ensure they can thrive at school and meaningfully engage in education.

In particular:

• Programs such as the Victorian Government’s Mental Health Practitioners in Secondary Schools[13] are a great start to supporting young people in their school environment. More comprehensive and intensive support should be offered to young people who experience disadvantage so they can overcome barriers to engaging in learning. These supports could include youth workers, allied health professionals, housing and homelessness support, and legal support[14] on a more intensive basis. Schools as community hubs are particularly successful in providing these essential supports to students and families as they co-locate wrap-around services, ensuring better access[15].
• Innovative models could be explored and adopted in mainstream settings, as well as community settings, to support students that need it most. It is critical that these supports be extended to students enrolled in mainstream schools but who are receiving their VCAL education through a Community VCAL provider such as a Learn Local. VCOSS members report difficulties accessing these supports for students in these circumstances.

Innovative models could include onsite access to youth workers. For example, at the Hester Hornbrook Academy, a teacher and youth worker work alongside each other, with smaller in-class teacher to student ratios to support the education and wellbeing needs of young people.

Students surveyed under this model provided overwhelmingly positive feedback of having a youth worker in the classroom. Students agreed the youth worker supported them including in removing personal barriers the students faced, general and personal support, and support with academic work, amongst other things[16].

While there is a continued role for both mainstream and community settings to support disadvantaged young people, more should be done in mainstream settings to support all students to thrive without immediately shifting responsibility to Community VCAL providers to support some of the most disadvantaged students. When mainstream schools do not put appropriate procedures and supports in place for students who are experiencing structural disadvantage, or who have additional learning needs, this places enormous pressure on Community VCAL providers who pick up the pieces.

In striving for a fair, just and equitable system, mainstream schools must do more to support all students and young people to engage in education through access to wrap-around supports.

Support young people to remain engaged in school

With approximately 10,000 young people in Victoria alone disengaging from education each year,[17] existing programs proven to support engagement and reengagement should be expanded. This includes the Program for Students with Disability and Navigator. If these programs are expanded, more young people will be able to access support earlier, helping to minimise gaps in their learning.

Students with disability are at particularly high risk of being excluded from mainstream school due to behavioural issues[18] that often relate to insufficient support.

A 2015 evaluation of the Hester Hornbrook Academy found more than one quarter of students had a disability or illness, with staff suggesting the number may be higher with several students likely to have an undiagnosed disability or illness[19]. Across Victoria as a whole, approximately 15 per cent of students need reasonable adjustment at school to participate on the same basis as their peers[20].

These issues are particularly relevant for vocational and applied learning due to the higher numbers of at-risk or disadvantaged young people who currently choose these pathways.

VCOSS members report ongoing challenges for VCAL include students being disparaged in mainstream schools. This is linked to a perception in schools and in the broader community that VCAL students have poor attendance or poor literacy and numeracy skills. VCOSS members have been very clear that VCAL inherits many issues that takes time to deal with, and which with appropriate supports and interventions, could have been minimised before students were ready to begin their senior secondary schooling.

While VCAL is, and should be seen as, a certificate for all young people to gain experience in applied learning and access to career opportunities, it is also a critically important option for students with diverse learning needs and students experiencing disadvantage.

Interventions that start earlier and capture more students to ensure they are able to remain engaged in school is vital to improving not only the life outcomes for young people, but for the reputation of VCAL.

For students with disability, every student who requires additional support should receive it. This means expanding the Program for Students with Disability, and rolling out a new funding model based on a strengths-based functional needs assessment[21]. Moving away from a medical-needs model and to one that is focused on maximising the abilities and learning of students with disability will help more young people with disability thrive.

The Victorian Government has invested in programs to support young people who have disengaged or who are at risk of disengaging from school, including young people in out-of-home care or who have come into contact with the justice system[22].

Schools and community agencies, including VCOSS members, report the Navigator program is making a significant impact in reengaging young people back into an education or training pathway. However, access to the program is constrained with demand for support outstripping supply. Additionally, there is an identified need to broaden the eligibility criteria so the program can bring forward the window for early intervention.

Currently the Navigator program only supports people aged between 12 and 17 who are missing more than 70 per cent of their classes. There is a gap in targeted, high-intensity reengagement programs for children in the ‘middle years’ despite this being a growing area of concern[23]. Eligibility criteria should be loosened and funding boosted to include children as young as 10 who have missed up to 50 per cent of their classes, so that intervention starts earlier.

Doing more to support students to remain engaged in education will reduce some of the issues VCAL ‘inherits’ by intervening earlier.

Dual enrolment

Current policy settings mean that young people are not able to be enrolled in both school (in a mainstream or flexible learning setting) and enrol as a government subsidised (Skills First) student in a VET course (that is if they wish to undertake a VET course outside of VETiS). SBATs are an exception to this rule.

This is a significant constraint and additional barrier for young people who may already be experiencing disadvantage, or be at-risk of disengaging from school. The system needs to have greater flexibility to enable young people to access a range of options that suit their needs and encourage them to remain engaged in education within their school environment, by removing dual enrolment constraints. For example, if students need to leave school to undertake their VET course of choice because they are unable to do so as part of their VCAL or VETiS program, they will not have access to the age appropriate supports available to them in their familiar school settings.

Case Study:

Matilda* lives in out-of-home care and is completing her VCAL certificate with a flexible learning education provider. Through appropriate support and fostering her interests and aspirations, Matilda wanted to undertake a Cert III in Patisserie at her local TAFE for two days a week, while continuing at her flexible learning provider for three days a week. Matilda wanted to continue at her flexible learning provider to maintain continuity and stability in a familiar environment and to focus on her literacy and numeracy. This would support her study in patisserie. As a young person in out-of-home care, Matilda was eligible for the Skills First Youth Access Initiative[24] which means she doesn’t have to pay for her vocational course. However, current restrictions prohibit dual enrolments, meaning that Matilda could not remain in her flexible learning setting and access the TAFE course through the Skills First Youth Access Initiative, and not pay fees. This policy disconnect does not support young people in their learning aspirations.

*Not real name

VCOSS members report some students may obtain a principal’s exemption from school to attend a VET provider in its place, but VCOSS understands this is difficult and not always in the best interests of the young person. Young people should have the option of continuing their education at school while pursuing further training, especially if they face additional barriers.

Embed complex and practical skill development into the school curriculum

For VCAL and VETiS to continue to meet the needs of all students, the curriculum must take into consideration employer, industry and student need. For example, there is growing demand for young adults to have ‘complex skills’ and practical skills coming into the workforce.

Schools are not consistently equipping young people with the skills and knowledge they need for the future, despite being an important environment where young people spend a significant amount of time. Schools are well placed to teach and support young people to learn the skills they need beyond literacy and numeracy, such as adaptability, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration.

The future of work is changing, along with the skill sets young people need to succeed. There is growing agreement that schools need to shift their focus beyond academic outcomes and look towards new capabilities such as the ability to respond to opportunities and problems creatively and experimentally[25]. These are ‘complex skills’ that are hard to learn and hard to teach (though they are sometimes referred to as ‘soft skills’ or ‘21^st century skills’) and they are becoming increasingly important[26].

VCOSS members report disadvantaged young people can miss out on information sharing or ‘know how’ from family networks to help understand and navigate some of the more practical sides of becoming a young adult. This can include how to behave in a professional environment, working and employment rights and responsibilities, and developing ‘complex skills’.

Practical life skills and ‘complex skills’ should be embedded in the school curriculum to ensure all young people have the opportunity to obtain the tools they need to succeed now and into the future.

Vocational and applied learning is a valuable opportunity for young people to learn these skills with the added benefit of seeing what these skills look like in real world environments, for example when undertaking Structured Workplace Learning. Industry exposure and on-the-job experience also provides young people with an opportunity to learn first-hand employer expectations and how to behave in a professional environment.

Bolster industry exposure and work experience

Exposure to a range of industries and career options, as well as engagement in meaningful work experience is vital for young people to explore their interests and plan for their post-school pathways. Early exposure to practical career activities may also help improve student’s school engagement and motivation if they can see the connection between school, work and career.

Young people identify ‘hands on’ experience as extremely valuable in learning about their interests and career pathways and evidence shows “the fewer career development activities young people participate in, the more likely they are to be uncertain about their careers, disengaged from education or training, and unemployed.”[27]

To ensure that vocational and applied learning continues to meet the needs of all students studying in an applied stream, workplace learning and industry exposure should be bolstered to ensure it is meaningful.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, work will need to be done to ensure young people can still access ongoing and meaningful industry exposure and experience to maximise their learning, help informed pathway decisions, and to support engagement and retention.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Give all students access to industry exposure starting from Grade 5 or Grade 6
• Give all students access to industry experience, including Structured Workplace Learning
• Provide students with regular access to a support worker both inside and outside the classroom, when undertaking VETiS and SWL
• Provide students undertaking SBATs, SWL or other workplace learning experiences with a mentor where the student, school or host employer identifies the student would benefit from this additional support

Expose young people to different industries

Exposure to a range of industries through immersion programs, activities and experiences starting from late primary school would help build students’ knowledge of different opportunities, spark their curiosity and foster aspiration for their future.

The Department of Education and Training funds Local Learning and Employment Networks (LLENs) to facilitate student access to Structured Workplace Learning (SWL) placements,[28] and has an initiative to offer vulnerable students in years 7 to 10 industry exposure to support meaningful work experience opportunities.[29] While these reforms provide a good foundational structure to assist young people to engage in work experience and exposure to industry, they don’t start early enough and miss the opportunity of providing students with a breadth of industry knowledge and exposure.

Students need exposure to a range of opportunities relating to different industries starting from as young as Grade 5 or 6 to give students important opportunities to understand what different careers and industries entail, and what the possibilities are, without feeling locked into a career pathway. These opportunities could be tailored to reflect industries in local communities to foster greater community connection. VCOSS members continue to report that young people often do not have a real understanding of what different jobs or careers entail which has a significant impact on their senior secondary pathway choices. As these experiences can help bolster student aspiration, they can also support retention in school. This can help boost the reputation and options young people see through vocational and applied learning pathways.

Case study:

Hume Whittlesea Local Learning and Employment Network

We run a program for Year 10 students called ‘Finding my Place’. As part of the 8-week program, students are taken into an industry setting such as Costa mushroom farm. We do this because there are so many different elements to that industry that helps students expand their understanding of what working in a particular industry looks like. For example, students see there are research elements related to developing the environment to grow, as well as the growing and horticultural aspect. Students then see other elements of the industry such as the packeting, marketing and promotional side.

It’s a great way of introducing the concept that in any given industry you have a number of different aspects and pathways to choose from.

Emphasise the importance of on the job experience

SWL and on the job training are not compulsory for all students undertaking VCAL. While there are strong recommendations for the majority of VETiS courses to include this component, many do not have requirements for SWL.[30] In recognising the importance of SWL, schools should prioritise supporting all students who would like to access SWL into these opportunities. To minimise the difficulties navigating, understanding and supporting SWL, schools and host employers should be provided clear SWL guidelines and expectations. These initiatives would go hand in hand in Rethinking Partnerships (refer to page 26 of this submission).

The value of on the job training is significant. It can be an efficient way to teach and to learn, can lead to better alignment with the skills sought after in the workplace or industry, and gives students the opportunity to obtain an understanding of the workplace[31]. As such, all young people undertaking vocational and applied learning should have access to workplace experiences.

VCOSS members report that negotiating student placements for SWL is based on what the hosting organisation is able to afford or commit to. This can mean that placements vary significantly for students and could last anywhere between a couple of days to a 20-week placement. For students who do have the opportunity to engage in SWL, some may be missing out on meaningful work experience if they can only negotiate one or two days of placement.

For students undertaking a course or unit that does not mandatorily require engagement in SWL, these students may be missing out on this opportunity entirely.

More comprehensive frameworks need to be put in place with appropriate resourcing to ensure all young people undertake meaningful work experience so they can learn different skills, get a taste for the workplace and experience first-hand important insights into industry and career pathways.

While these experiences are important for young people, they can also be overwhelming and hard to navigate. Young people undertaking any form of external training or workplace learning whether it be SWL, through an SBAT, or work experience, should have regular access to a support worker both in and out of the classroom. Acknowledging that not all young people have the confidence to proactively seek support, regular access to a support worker who liaises with each young person would assist with any issues that might crop up. VCOSS members raised concerns about the ability of some employers to adequately support a young person undertaking SWL, and the lag time between the information flowing on to schools, LLENs or Community VCAL providers. These support workers would be well placed to troubleshoot small issues and should be appropriately trained in appropriate referral system to ensure the young person can get the support they need to have a meaningful experience.

Young people who experience additional barriers should also be provided with mentors to support their aspiration and retention. VCOSS members report this would be particularly valuable for young people, including students with disability, those who live in out-of-home care and those who are Aboriginal. A National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) study found a university mentoring program delivered to rural and low socioeconomic status secondary students effectively raised student aspirations to attend university[32]. The study also suggests similar mentoring projects in both sectors could work together to provide further education pathways for all young people, in both vocational and academic career paths.

In interviewing young people in secondary school, the Australian Research Alliance for Children & Youth (ARACY) found students emphasised “the importance of positivity, acceptance without judgement, genuine listening, and providing guidance based on experience while respecting their autonomy” when identifying an ‘ideal’ support person[33]. Mentors could help bridge this role for students experiencing disadvantage, especially where they are able to connect with the lived experience of the young person’s circumstances.

Build the reputation of vocational and applied learning through partnerships

Reforming the way in which industry, employers and the education system work together can support VCAL and VETiS to meet the needs of all students who want to study in an applied stream, while boosting the reputation of vocational and applied learning. This needs to be accompanied by a clearer narrative about career opportunities vocational and applied learning offer.

Vocational and applied learning through VCAL can be enriching and provide young people with robust and lifelong opportunities through the skills, experience and qualifications they gain. Young people are also able to obtain a nationally recognised VET qualification whilst at school, in some instances the level of these courses may lead straight to employment, or they may provide a solid pathway to further education and training post school. Some programs such as Head Start and SBATs also provide opportunities for young people to earn while they learn in school. However, the understanding of these opportunities and the tangible benefits of vocational and applied learning are often misunderstood, not promoted, or simply unknown.

By having stronger relationships between key stakeholders to visibly promote and embed these opportunities and industry exposure, students, families and the broader community will be able to gain a better understanding of the value and benefits of VCAL.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Redesign the way in which partnerships between industry, employers and the education system works
• Motivate industry and employers to have a stake in providing students with exposure and experience
• Boost the understanding, value and reputation of VCAL by creating clear career pathways and opportunities
• Provide schools with more career practitioners

Rethink partnerships

This Review is taking place alongside the Review into Skills for Victoria’s Growing Economy, and this provides a unique opportunity to reform the way in which connections between schools and education settings, students, employers and industry both meet growing skills shortages while matching careers with student aspirations, strengths and interests.

A reformed system that clearly demonstrates the value of vocational and applied learning, with clear links to career pathways and opportunities would help boost the reputation of VCAL and shift the stigma away from both VCAL and the VET system as VCE and higher education’s less desirable counterparts.

Head Start is an existing program that helps connect students with employers and industries and delivers on-the-job training while students complete their schooling[34]. However, it is not widely accessible and does not reform the vocational and applied learning system as a whole.

Victoria could look both locally and to international models to reimagine the way in which the current dual certificate system in Victorian secondary schools could embed deeper relationships with relevant stakeholders to provide young people with post-school opportunities.

International models in Germany and Switzerland have dual-track training systems that enable young people in secondary school to undertake “in-company training” alongside school education. This means that young people spend between three to four days per week in a company to learn specific skills in that profession, supplemented by several weeks of training from broader industry bodies to fill any gaps in the specialised training, while studying the essentials and theory at school[35].

If you’re not interested in an academic pathway and your strengths lie elsewhere, why not earn a wage while learning and come out of secondary school with a qualification, or close to completing a qualification, while having some money and a career.

Many of the current areas of skill shortages are also future growth areas, with a high demand for workers. A reformed system could motivate business to have a stake in providing students with experience and industry exposure. In Switzerland, for example, the industry sector partners with the state “to develop industry qualifications and assessments, training curriculum, and additional course work for students. The system produces highly skilled, ready-to-work new employees for Swiss businesses, serving as a real and important economic incentive for business to participate[36]”. The VET system in Australia consults with industry, however a reformed model could address the current concern that the VET system can be slow to respond to industry need and changes.

Newly introduced Tech Schools in Victoria are already playing a bridging role by providing students with immersive experiences, particularly in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), and involving local businesses and industry in the design of courses[37].

There could be a bigger role for Tech Schools in Victoria in supporting the training and applied learning components of a reformed vocational and applied learning system and adopting components from Germany or Switzerland’s dual-track system. This model could be supported by Local Learning and Employment Networks (LLENs) who have long-standing diverse and deep relationships in their communities, to provide the independent brokerage role between schools, local businesses and industry.

It will be important that a reformed dual track model maintains a strong focus on providing young people with meaningful opportunities and not risk locking them in to specific pathways early in their schooling. The focus must not be on churning out workers to meet industry need.

Clear and aspirational career pathways

VCOSS members report young people and their families do not know or understand the range of career pathways, jobs and industries available to them.

VCOSS members also raise concerns that some young people feel locked into a career pathway or trajectory when undertaking specific VETiS or SBATS as part of VCAL.

There is a pressing need for clear and comprehensive information about different opportunities and career pathways in VCAL to assist young people, their families and the community to understand the full benefits this qualification can provide. School career practitioners also need to be skilled and equipped with this knowledge and information.

The Victorian Skills Gateway addresses some of these gaps, but does not appear to be widely known and could be better utilised. The website contains a number of inaccuracies regarding what courses are required or recommended for particular occupations, and inaccuracies in salary expectations for these occupations. Some courses do not clearly indicate occupation or career opportunities, while others do not capture some of the more aspirational career pathways that a course or career can offer.

It is important that career progression pathways are provided so that young people can be both aspirational about their futures, and also make informed decisions that align with their strengths and interests.

An accurate and up-to-date website would make it easier for school career practitioners to better advise and support students.

Career practitioners in schools should also be appropriately skilled and knowledgeable to provide information and advice. The Victorian Government has made welcome changes to upskills career practitioners[38], however, VCOSS members report schools need more capacity through additional career practitioner positions to provide young people with meaningful and accurate information. This is particularly important for young people experiencing disadvantage who may need additional support, or who do not have family networks who can help understand and navigate post-secondary school pathways.

Schools and career practitioners also need to actively promote VCAL itself, as well as the opportunities it provides. VCOSS members report some young people leave secondary school without knowing the certificate existed and were not given the opportunity to explore whether or not was a viable option that aligned with their interests and strengths.

Having a platform that provided a range of people in varying industries to showcase what VCAL helped them achieve could build the aspiration and reputation of the certificate. This could include high-profile Australians who undertook a vocational and applied learning pathway and have set-up very successful businesses and career opportunities.

Making clear the links between vocational and applied learning and employment opportunities is particularly important for young people with disabilities to help them make informed decisions about their post-school pathways. Young people with disability need tailored advice and career practitioners, teachers and school communities with high aspirations for them.

VCOSS members reflected there was not enough opportunity for people who have completed VCAL to showcase what this pathway enabled them to achieve.

Delivery

Provide equitable access for all students to high-quality, relevant courses

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Fully fund vocational and applied learning in school and community settings
• Enable all students to equitably access VETiS, SWL and workplace learning experiences by ensuring schools have funding to address transport disadvantage for their student cohort
• Offer blended learning for rural and regional students and ensure teachers are appropriately trained to deliver this model
• Provide tailored support for students with disability to undertake vocational and applied learning, including reasonable adjustments and career advice
• Provide tailored and individualised support for young people in the juvenile justice system
• Use government funding to enable VET providers to develop and deliver courses that meet industry needs in rural and regional areas, including delivery of courses for VETiS and SBAT students

Adequately fund vocational and applied learning

Funding is a significant area of concern in the delivery of vocational and applied learning. Vocational and applied learning needs to be fully funded in mainstream and independent schools, and eligible community providers to ensure equitable access for all students who want to undertake it.

In particular:

• VCAL programs in general are underfunded, as compared to VCE. This issue is further compounded as the learning experiences for many students who access VCAL would be improved in smaller classes with more individualised learning.

The nature of applied learning means that it should be flexible and adaptable. Adequate funding is needed to ensure vocational and applied learning can respond to the individual needs of students at a consistently high quality. This should include resources to accommodate smaller class sizes so teachers have the time to appropriately adapt the curriculum to the interests and abilities of each individual student.

• VETiS programs often incur additional costs to the students, which can create unreasonable and avoidable barriers to participation. These costs are often several hundred dollars per student.

For families who are on low incomes, this acts as a significant and prohibitive barrier for some students who cannot afford to pay, meaning they miss out on studying their preferred course that attracts extra fees, or the opportunity to study vocational and applied learning at all.

VETiS courses in rural and regional areas may also cost more to run and may require additional funding to meet these costs.

• Travel costs to undertake VETiS, if not done at the school campus, often become the responsibility of the student. This can be a particular constraint for young people in rural and regional areas who may need to travel extensively to attend their chosen course.

Schools should have sufficient funding to ensure students and families do not face out of pocket costs to attend VETiS, SWL or other workplace opportunities by having to pay for public transport or other travel options where public transport is not available.

Access for rural and regional communities

Not all VCAL, VETiS and SBAT students in rural and regional areas have access to relevant and high-quality applied learning, particularly when choosing VET courses.

Blended learning should be developed and offered in these areas to help remove some of the barriers that currently exist in accessing high-quality options. In the broader VET context, government should incentivise VET providers to develop and deliver courses that meet industry need in rural and regional areas to provide career exposure and pathway opportunities, including those courses offered through VETiS and SBATs.

Blended learning can include online components, as well as workplace learning, excursions or immersion experiences, and zoom learning (for example, a webinar). This model should be accompanied by access to appropriate supports so students can get the help they need when they need it.

Teachers need to be appropriately trained to deliver a blended learning model so it is efficient, effective and meaningful for students. Effective blended learning costs the same as face to face learning and should be funded to reflect this.

A variety of VET courses should be widely available to ensure young people have access to courses that reflect their interests and aspirations, and should not be offered only on the basis of workforce growth. However, there is a need for courses in rural and regional areas to have some connection to future career opportunities so that young people who have a desire to do so, can access career pathways that enable them to remain in their communities. VCOSS members report available VET courses in rural and regional areas don’t always reflect job opportunities in the region. This makes it difficult for young people to understand and explore future career opportunities that may enable them to gain meaningful employment in their local community post-school.

There are two ways this issue could be addressed. The first considers VCAL, VETiS and SBATs within the broader VET context, and recommends a move away from demand-driven funding in the VET system. RTOs need to allocate significant funding to meet compliance requirements which contributes to a move towards offering courses with large take-up to bring in money. This means that courses that may be extremely valuable in a particular region but are likely to have take-up too small to cover larger compliance costs are unlikely to be developed and offered. Moving to a new funding model would better enable providers to offer some courses that match industry need in rural and regional areas, and this would have a flow on effect of what courses are on offer for secondary school students

A second way of addressing the mismatch between courses offered and industry need is for government to use a funding mechanism to incentivise providers to offer identified courses. The costs of developing a course and finding or training skilled teachers to deliver it can be significant, including courses offered to VCAL, VETiS and SBAT students. Government can provide funding through a tender process to incentivise providers in rural and regional areas to develop and run courses that may have small up-take but that service an industry need in rural and regional areas. This will enable students undertaking VCAL, VETiS and SBATs an opportunity for broader industry exposure, access to courses that link to job opportunities, and the chance to begin learning the skills they need to get a job in their local community.

Access for students with disabilities

Students with disability should have specific and tailored responses to support their access to vocational and applied learning at school. People with disability continue to have much lower employment rates than people without disability, and Year 12 attainment or equivalent is still low relative to other student cohorts[39].

VCAL, VETiS and SBATs should be options for students with disability if it aligns with their interests and strengths. However, VCOSS members report some students with disability are ‘filtered’ or pressured into VCAL without real choice or support to build on their strengths, aspirations and interest, to help decide which pathway is most suitable for them.

Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) found that less than one-fifth of students were supported in understanding their strengths and skills for post-school transition[40]. Students with disability need tailored support that starts early in their education to foster aspiration for their future. This is especially important in light of ongoing anecdotal evidence of ‘gatekeeping’ where children with disability are refused entry or enrolment into a school, or are restricted in attending school full-time[41]. As a starting point this places large number of students with disabilities without access to education and impedes many young people’s ability to make it to senior secondary schooling.

Some students with disability require reasonable adjustment to equally participate in education. These considerations need to be equally applied to vocational and applied learning including in assessments and outcomes. Relevant course material and information about vocational and applied learning needs to be in accessible formats, including Easy English. Additionally, students with disability need tailored support to ensure they can meaningfully participate in SWL or other industry exposure or work-based experiences. These measures need to be accompanied by tailored supports to meet individual student’s needs.

A concerted effort needs to be made to ensure all education settings – mainstream and specialist – are appropriately and adequately supporting students with disability into aspirational post-school pathways, including supporting students to explore and undertake their interests in VCAL, VETiS and SBATs.

Provide people in youth justice centres with meaningful education

VCOSS members report young people in youth justice centres are not receiving the full benefits of a meaningful education while on remand or completing a sentence.

Many young people in youth justice centres have experienced high rates of abuse and trauma, and there are high rates of intellectual disability in the youth justice cohort[42]. Education is particularly important for this cohort of young people and can support future opportunities of meaningful employment and social connection.

These young people often need tailored responses to support their learning needs. This should include environments that reflect similar learning needs and support to ascertain the level and abilities of each young person so they get the support they need to learn. VCOSS members report VCAL is often constrained in these environments by security or resourcing decisions. While these are important considerations, young people in youth justice centres, including those on remand, need to feel safe and appropriately supported to engage in education.

Case Study:

VCOSS member Jesuit Social Services works with young people in Parkville and Malmsbury Youth Justice Centres. Their experience is that VCAL delivered in Parkville College is a valuable learning option for some young people while in detention. However, they note that young people would benefit from more individual support, such as one-on-one tutoring. In a group environment, where young people are at different levels of need and ability, Jesuit Social Services notes that many young people are unlikely to reveal their learning challenges and may disengage from class.

VCOSS members also report young people in justice centres need access to more hands-on applied learning opportunities to improve their skills and opportunities for when they exit the system. There is also a need for more ‘joining up’ of the education young people received and obtained while in a youth justice centre, and the opportunities and pathways available to them once they re-enter the community.

Support a high-quality workforce

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Include applied learning as a proficiency in teaching degrees
• Schools should provide adequate opportunities for teachers to ensure their industry skills and knowledge are up to date
• Provide teachers with access to training and information to meet the needs of students

Teachers need the right information, training and resources to deliver high-quality teaching, support students and to improve the quality of vocational and applied learning.

Teacher qualifications should include compulsory best-practice training on applied learning, and view applied learning as a proficiency, rather than a skill acquired only by undertaking an elective, specialisation, or through professional development. VCOSS members report some teachers complete their university degrees without knowing VCAL exists, and have to retrofit their skills to suit applied learning. The lack of visibility of these skills and curriculum within teaching qualifications contributes to the notion that VCAL is a second-rate option.

In addition, VCOSS members report not all teachers who deliver VETiS have appropriate training in the subject they teach. Some teachers have only completed a short professional development course in the subject they deliver, compared to others with extensive industry experience. This can impact the quality of the education young people receive. For example, concerns were raised that a teacher undertaking a two-hour professional development in a particular subject compared to a teacher who has significant industry experience, is likely to yield different levels of quality for any given course. VCOSS acknowledges this is a complex area of policy and notes more compliance requirements are unlikely to have intended positive outcomes.

Teachers are well placed to identify young people who are at-risk of school disengagement, but not all teachers have the necessary training or skills to identify the young people who may need additional support. Teachers, including teachers who deliver VETiS, should have access to resources and training to help them identify the needs of students who may be struggling or at-risk. Teachers should also have access to appropriate training, information, resources and supports to help them meet the needs of particular cohorts of young people (for example, trauma informed practice).

Outcomes

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Prioritise and capture outcomes that assist students to achieve complex skills and life skills

Successful educational outcomes for students need to be reconceptualised to capture the skills required to succeed in the workplace. While literacy and numeracy are fundamental skills, VCOSS members report there is growing concern from industry that young people are not leaving school with the practical knowledge and skills they need, such as interpersonal skills and how to behave in a working environment.

The skills young people need to be successful into the future are difficult to quantify and hard to assess but include “complex skills” such as adaptability, creativity and problem solving.

VCAL needs more comprehensive data capturing to reflect the wide range of outcomes that could be considered successful. As well as practical workplace skills, success might look like retention over the year or involvement in mentoring or with employers.

Data should also capture “distance travelled”[43]. Students begin their senior secondary schooling at different starting points. Some students may be re-engaging with education after a significant period of absence, while some students may still hold precarious links with education after facing complex barriers to engagement such as experiences of family violence, alcohol and drug related issues, mental ill health, and frequently changing placements in out-of-home care.

The concept of “distance travelled” enables outcomes to take into consideration factors that make a significant difference for individual young people, such as continued engagement in education where this has previously been an issue, or improved resilience, building of trust and transferrable “complex skills” needed for the future.

Empowering students to reflect on the outcomes they have achieved through vocational and applied learning is one way to capture this data.

For example, in the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s 2014 evaluation of its Community VCAL program, students were interviewed and provided an opportunity to express how far they felt they had come throughout the year in those harder to assess outcomes such as confidence, motivation, engagement and resilience[44]. This could be a valuable way to gain insights into the successes of vocational and applied learning, while providing students with an opportunity for self-reflection and personal growth.

[1] Department of Education and Training, About the Education State, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/educationstate/Pages/vision.aspx>, accessed 28 April 2020.

[2] Foundation for Young Australians, The New Work Order, 2015.

[3] ‘Middle years’ generally refers to children and young people between the ages of 9 to 12 or 9 to 14.

[4] R Broadbent, K Hart, T Paapadopoulos, The Hester Hornbrook Academy Classroom Youth Worker Research Project, Final Report, Victoria University, July 2019.

[5] K Te Riele, M Davies & A Baker, Passport to a Positive Future: Evaluation of the Melbourne Academy, The Victoria Institute for Education, Diversity and Lifelong Learning, 2015.

[6] Victorian Department of Education and Training, The State of Victoria’s Children Report: A focus on health and wellbeing 2017, 2019.

[7] E Carlisle, J Fildes, S Hall, B Perrens, A Perdriau & J Plummer, Youth Survey Report 2019, Mission Australia, 2019.

[8] S Bendall, A Phelps, V Browne, O Metcalf, J Cooper, B Rose, J Nursey & N Fava, Trauma and young people. Moving toward trauma-informed services and systems, Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, 2018.

[9] Beyond Blue, Mental health conditions in children, <https://healthyfamilies.beyondblue.org.au/age-6- 12/mental-health-conditions-in-children>, accessed 11 March 2020.

[10] S Bendall, A Phelps, V Browne, O Metcalf, J Cooper, B Rose, J Nursey & N Fava, Trauma and young people. Moving toward trauma-informed services and systems, Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, 2018.

[11] Victorian Department of Education and Training, The State of Victoria’s Children Report: A focus on health and wellbeing 2017, 2019.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Victorian Department of Education and Training, Mental health practitioners in secondary schools, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/health/mentalhealth/Pages/mental-health-practitioners-secondary.aspx>, accessed 11 March 2020.

[14] See for example WEstjustice’s School Lawyer program, <https://www.westjustice.org.au/community-development-and-law-reform/community-development-and-law-reform-projects/school-lawyer>.

[15] See for example, Doveton College.

[16] R Broadbent, K Hart, T Paapadopoulos, The Hester Hornbrook Academy Classroom Youth Worker Research Project, Final Report, Victoria University, July 2019.

[17] Victorian Department of Education and Training, Greater Returns on Investment in Education: Government Schools Funding Review, December 2015.

[18] J Watterson & M O’Connell, Those who disappear: The Australian education problem nobody wants to talk about, University of Melbourne, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Report No.1, 2019.

[19] K Te Riele, M Davies & A Baker, Passport to a Positive Future: Evaluation of the Melbourne Academy, The Victoria Institute for Education, Diversity and Lifelong Learning, 2015.

[20] Victorian Department of Education and Training, The Education State: Review of the Program for Students with Disabilities, 2016, p. 30.

[21] Victorian Department of Education and Training, The Education State: Review of the Program for Students with Disabilities, 2016.; Victorian Department of Education and Training, Functional needs assessment pilot, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/functional-needs.aspx>, accessed 6 April 2020.

[22] See Victorian Government: LOOKOUT Education Support Centres; Navigator; Springboard; Local Learning and Employment Networks; School Focused Youth Service; Education Justice Initiative and; Hands on Learning.

[23] See for example, Whittlesea Youth Commitment, Hume Whittlesea Local Learning & Employment Network, Middle Years in Whittlesea: A collective response. A municipal middle years strategy for the City of Whittlesea, 2017.

[24] Department of Education and Training, Skills First Youth Access Initiative, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/Skills-First-Youth-Access-Initiative.aspx> accessed 7 April 2020.

[25] M Anderson, B Hinz, H Matus, The Paradigm Shifters: Entrepreneurial Learning in Schools, Research Report, Mitchell Institute Report No. 04/2017, 2017.

[26] Deloitte Access Economics, Soft skills for business success, DeakinCo., 2017.

[27] Parliament of Victoria Economic, Education, Jobs and Skills Committee, Inquiry into career advice activities in Victorian schools, August 2018.

[28] Department of Education and Training, Structured workplace learning, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/careers/work/Pages/structuredlearning.aspx>, accessed 31 March 2020.

[29] Department of Education and Training, Transforming career education, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/transforming-career.aspx>, accessed 31 March 2020.

[30] Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, How SWL Works, <https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/curriculum/vet/swl-vet/Pages/HowSWLWorks.aspx>, accessed 30 March 2020.

[31] Deloitte Insights, ‘The path to prosperity. Why the future of work is human’, Building the Lucky Country #7, 2019.

[32] Curtis D, et al., Op. Cit., p. 25.

[33] ARACY, Please Just Say You’re Proud of Me: Perspectives of Young People on Parent Engagement and Doing Well at School, Canberra, 2019, p.4.

[34] Department of Education and Training, Head Start apprenticeships and traineeships, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/headstart.aspx>, accessed 15 April 2020.

[35]M Bax, ‘How does dual training work?’, Bildungs Perten Netzwerk, <https://www.bildungsxperten.net/wissen/wie-funktioniert-eine-duale-ausbildung/>, accessed 6 April 2020.

[36] National Center on Education and the Economy, Gold Standard: The Swiss Vocational Education and Training System, <http://ncee.org/swiss-vet/>, accessed 6 April 2020.

[37] Premier of Victoria, The Schools: Delivering The Future Of Education For Victorian Students, Media Release, 26 April 2016, <https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/tech-schools-delivering-the-future-of-education-for-victorian-students/>, accessed 6 April 2020.

[38] Department of Education and Training, Transforming career education, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/transforming-career.aspx>, accessed 31 March 2020.

[39] ABS, Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, Cat No 4430.0, October 2019.

[40] Children and Young People with Disability Australia, The Review of Senior Secondary Pathways Into Work, Further Education and Training: Submission to the Education Council, 2019.

[41] ibid

[42] J White, K Te Riele, T Corcoran, A Baker, P Moylan R Abdul Manan, Improving educational connection for young people in custody, Final Report, Victoria University, University of Tasmania, Deakin University, June 2019.

[43] K Te Riele, M Davies & A Baker, Passport to a Positive Future: Evaluation of the Melbourne Academy, The Victoria Institute for Education, Diversity and Lifelong Learning, 2015.

[44] G Myconos, Lessons from a flexible learning program the Brotherhood of St Laurence Community VCAL education program for young people 2010-2013, Brotherhood of St Laurence, 2014.

Download the submission below.

The Victorian Government has brought forward autumn school holidays, essentially shutting public schools from Tuesday March 24th. This decision was made on the advice of the state’s Chief Health Officer.

VCOSS doesn’t have a formal view on this matter—that’s not our area.

But it must be acknowledged that closing schools, even temporarily, will produce wide ranging and potentially disastrous social consequences.

So, here are eight things that must be considered as we shut the schools and send kids home:

	1. What happens to kids without a computer or the internet? Not everybody is lucky enough to have digital access at home. Digital resources and video conferences will achieve little if kids can’t access them or engage fully.
	2. What happens to kids who usually have support from a teacher’s aide? Some children need a little extra help in the classroom to follow the curriculum and learn to the best of their ability. What’s the plan to ensure these students aren’t left behind?
	3. How do we protect kids who experience violence at home? It’s a sad reality, but home isn’t safe for every child. School is a refuge for some kids. How do we protect kids who may be stuck at home in an environment that is unsafe?
	4. How do parents in ‘essential’ jobs keep working? If children being at home means adults who are critical to the fight against Coronavirus (and efforts to cushion its impacts, such as family violence, disability support or community health workers) cannot work, then school closures may cause untold harm.
	5. How do we support parents and carers already doing it tough? Some families are already only just holding things together. For single parent families, foster carers and kinship carers in particular, school hours provide a chance to rest, complete chores or engage in paid work. How do we support these families and prevent burnout?
	6. How will we feed kids who rely on a School Breakfast Club? Thousands of Victorian kids receive a free and nutritious breakfast every school day through the Victorian Government’s School Breakfast Club program. The meals are provided because those kids often don’t get regular or healthy meals at home. How will we ensure they still get fed?
	7. How do we look after kids’ mental health during a shutdown? Many kids struggle with their mental health and are helped by school counsellors. These children risk losing that support, just as they’re also dealing with loneliness and anxiety associated with the wider COVID-19 pandemic. How will these kids get the mental health support they need?
	8. How do we make sure all kids go back to school after the crisis? Roughly 10,000 kids disengage and drop-out of school each year, jeopardizing their mental health and putting them at risk of homelessness and criminal activity. How do we make sure these kids (who are already teetering on the edge of disengagement) stay connected during the shutdown, and return to school when they reopen?

We hope this list highlights some of the unintended consequences that may occur as a result of school closures.

VCOSS has never said “shut the schools” or “don’t shut the schools’.

Our message is simple: if schools must close, we must look after all those kids, parents, carers and families in our community who are vulnerable, and who might suffer as a result.

The cost of sending your child to a so-called “free” Victorian government school is now between $800 and a whopping $4,500 each year.

“This is a massive cost burden on families and it comes at the worst possible time, straight after Christmas,” Victorian Council of Social Service CEO Emma King said.

Not all families can cover the costs alone. A survey of VCOSS members reveals the main items families need help with are books, fees, uniforms and computer devices.

Last year alone, community agency State Schools Relief distributed 12,000 pairs of socks, 7,000 textbooks, 200 iPads, 700 school bags and 50,000 t-shirts to families who couldn’t afford them.

Changes in recent years with many schools requiring monogrammed uniforms, expensive blazers and BYO digital devices are increasing the burden on families. These expenses are on top of the cost of transport to get kids to school, which itself can run into the hundreds of dollars.

Ms King said public schools are meant to be funded to such a level that so-called “voluntary” parent payments and hidden fees aren’t necessary.

“Parents shouldn’t be relied on to prop-up our public schools,” she said.

“It’s the government’s job to make sure schools are funded to deliver a standard education free of charge.”

“Underfunding not only puts an unfair cost burden on families, it makes it harder for kids to fully participate in school.”

“Every child deserves a high quality education. It shouldn’t matter where they live or how much their parents earn.”

Ms King said the Victorian Government should be applauded for recently allocating more money to help kids attend school camps, sporting activities and excursions. But she said a bigger effort and more funding are still needed.

VCOSS is recommending the Victorian Government urgently:

1. INCREASE core public school funding to such a level that all hidden fees and payments can be abolished.
2. FOLLOW NSW’s lead and make public transport free for all students travelling to and from school.
3. ESTABLISH a subsidy scheme to help struggling families pay for extracurricular sport or recreation activates.

Ms King said any families struggling with back to school costs should speak to directly with their school, State School Relief (on 8769 8400) or the National Debt Helpline (on 1800 007 007).