Tasmanian students may start school younger, stay longer
Tasmanian school students may start school earlier and finish later under changes to be considered by the State Government.
The Government plans to commission a review of the Education Act for the first time in more than two decades.
The review will look at the framework around the age students can start and finish school.
Students currently do not have to begin school until they are over five years old and they can leave when they are 17.
The review will look at changing that to a starting age of four and a half years and set a leaving age of 18.
Tasmania has the worst school retention rate in the country, with only 67 per cent of Grade 10 students going on to Year 11.
Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff hopes the review will modernise the system and create a job-ready generation.
It is estimated changing the ages could keep an extra 2,000 students at school.
Mr Rockliff said there also would be a focus on improving student attendance and examining how non-attendance was handled.
"Can we do attendance better? I'm sure that we can," he said.
"The discussion paper outlines the background to this, and invites feedback in terms of how can we ensure our attendance at schools in terms of percentages is far greater."
Public submissions on the review close at the end of the year.
The Government does not expect any legislative change until at least the end of 2016.
The Tasmanian Principals' Association's David Raw has welcomed the review which he said was long overdue.
"[The system] struggles to keep pace with current thinking in education ... some of the legislation around attendance reflects probably a 1970s model of education," he said.
Rockliff concedes 'frontline services' cut
Earlier, Mr Rockliff conceded budget cuts in his portfolio included a "frontline service".
The Government is promising no frontline workers will lose their jobs as it reduces the public sector to improve the budget's bottom line.
Last month's state budget flagged 700 public sector job cuts over four years.
It includes cutting the jobs of career pathway planners in high schools.
In a budget estimates hearing, Greens MP Nick McKim asked Mr Rockliff if this represented a broken promise.
"In what parallel universe are pathway planners not a frontline service?"
Mr Rockliff responded that pathway planning was an important frontline service.
But he said the changes would not include cuts to frontline services in schools and funding to every school had increased.
Labor claims the program involves 50 workers but the Government has not specified how many jobs will go.
Mr McKim questioned whether the changes would put extra demands on schools to provide the services and likened Mr Rockliff to a former Iraqi minister.
"I have to say you're sounding a little bit like the Iraqi minister for information who was proclaiming everything was fine while the bombs were bursting around," he said.
