The Victorian Government has announced the introduction of new literacy and numeracy standards that will be reported as part of VCE and VCAL results, along with extra support for struggling students.
Currently, Victoria is the only state not to explicitly include or plan to include literacy and numeracy standards as part of its senior secondary reporting.
As part of these reforms, $187 million will be invested to provide direct, individual support and tuition for those students who are struggling with their literacy and numeracy results.
The funding will provide 700 expertly trained teachers over the next four years, who will lead their colleagues in improving literacy and numeracy training in all government secondary school classrooms.
The reforms follow Victorian Minister for Education, James Merlino’s referral of this matter to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) to investigate options for changes to the VCE and VCAL.
The VCAA found there is value in explicitly reporting senior secondary students’ literacy and numeracy attainment levels as part of their VCE and VCAL certification.
From 2021, students completing VCE or VCAL will, as part of their General Achievement Test results, receive information about whether they have demonstrated or exceeded the literacy and numeracy standards typically expected of those entering the workforce from school.
“We don’t want a situation where a student is completing their schooling without being able to meet minimum literacy and numeracy standards,” said Minister Merlino.
“This is a change that has been called for by employers for some time, and with this additional support we will give every student the opportunity to be job ready.”
The GAT, which is already completed by students studying a Unit 3/4 VCE subject, will be modified to include explicit assessments of common reading, writing and numeracy standards for both VCE and VCAL students.
Students that perform below national minimum standards in Year 7 and Year 9 NAPLAN will receive individualised support delivered by expertly trained teachers.
This additional support will begin in 2019 before the changes to Year 12 reporting come into effect in 2021.
