Australian Education System and Current Kids and Young Adults

aznkevy on 23/07/2016 - 12:48

Hey fellow Ozbargainers, just wanted to some insight on people's views and personal experiences of the Australian education system as well as how they view or experiences of current kids and current young adults.
Here's my take from personal experience, being born in Melbourne and growing up here in Melbourne, I followed the Victorian curriculum and graduated from highschool last year… so my story will revolve around only VCE and my primary-highschool peers.

I went to a pretty average primary school, in a quiet suburb in the South Eastern areas of Melbourne, I first attended a below average average highschool for 2 years, and this is the part that I wanted to discuss.

The school's year 7 intake was about 200 a year, so relatively small for a suburban school, but nothing shocking, however the year 8's population would drop to 180 students, then year 9 would drop to 160 students, year 10 would drop to about 140 students or so, then year 11 would drop to 80 students and year 12 would have a population of 50 students, half or more of which would be studying VCAL(essentially a lower level of education) over VCE.

That means about 75% of the year level dropped out/moved by year 12. Some changed schools (such as myself) and most pursued other means of education (TAFE).

I personally see that parents could be a big factor for the dropout rates, many parents are too lenient here in Oz, as well as over protective of their kids, always pointing the finger at somebody else instead of becoming more strict with their kids and acknowledging their kids were in the wrong. Mixing with the wrong crowds could also be another factor, I see so many primary school peers who are on drugs and performing petty crimes, as well as walking around a shopping centre and seeing a pregnant primary school classmate.

And lastly, VCE(this is completely based of personal experience) the way the Victorian Education system is set up is quite ridiculous, from prep to about year 9 you learn basically nothing, throughout my first 2 high school years there were kids who couldn't do their multiplications up to 9 and still couldn't read properly. Year 10 was when there was actual work, because some kids started doing 1/2 (year 11) subjects and thats also the reason why my first highschool had the most significant drop out rates as most kids just want to complete year 10 and go to TAFE after experiencing year 10.

Education & Work

Comments

  • Diji1 on 23/07/2016 - 13:15
    +1

    So basically you've turned into a 65 year old complaining about young people at the age of 18.

    • aznkevy on 23/07/2016 - 13:17
      +1

      Where did you get that idea? This post was more about the Education young people receive plus the pathway they choose to go down than complain about kids.

  • whooah1979 on 23/07/2016 - 13:17
    +3

    Is there a question in your post?

    Anyways. One cannot force someone to learn something. They either want to learn or they don't. It's the way the world works and how it should.

    • aznkevy on 24/07/2016 - 06:03

      Nah not a question, just some thoughts and opinions, such as the one you just gave :)

  • Geekomatic on 24/07/2016 - 23:05

    My children & I migrated to AU from the USA in 2007. My son was 12, my daughter 7. To give them one school year together in their new country (him in 7, her in 3) meant having him essentially repeat 7 & her move up a grade (based on their birthdays & the differing school year structure US to AU).

    Both have said that it was far easier in AU. They had already covered a lot of what they found repeating into even the next year after. My son finished year 7 & I immediately went to the high school to discuss him moving into year 9. They agreed, as he was already able to complete year ten maths. Both kids are therefore 6 months ahead here, yet it was never a struggle. That's the opinion on the comparison on where AU is educationally. Also, my kids grew up in a very remote area, so they weren't in some sort of private, high-achieving place when we came to AU. In fact, part of the reason to keep my son back was to give him time to acclimate to what would be for him a "big city" high school environment by comparison to where they were coming from.

    Quality of school/teaching staff. Varied. I've spent many days ringing or setting up meetings when things weren't going as they should. There have been some great teachers in both primary & secondary. Both kids report some teachers having no control of their classes which caused them a lot of grief. That's when I move in to squawk— & if it isn't fixed, I move mine to another class.

    I agree on the "learning nothing" up to year 9 & then suddenly everything is massive & dire in prep for uni or TAFE….I agree on what I would consider a high rate of drop-out compared to the US. But then again, I'm talking "my" decade compared to now. Hard to tell if it's increasing or not- but I'm sure you could have a look at the ABS & get the stats there.

    Luckily, my son is self-motivated & while my daughter's not-so-much, she still managed to get through it (finishing year 12 end of 2016) & is set to enter uni first term next year. That miracle is directly attributable to the Big Picture program which started in her school when she was in year 9. She was accepted into it in year 10 & it has been amazing. It turned her entire attitude around. There needs to be a Big Picture in EVERY high school in AU, imho.

    My son is currently studying & will graduate with a dual-degree in computer science/computer systems engineering. His experience has been that his uni (though well respected) is not well organized at all, with it very difficult to find who is responsible for handling what. No one knows who to send you to for help so you get sent in circles a lot. It can take a week of calls & in-person queries to get a small crumb of info. I don't know if this is in all uni's, but I have heard similar stories from his mates. This is a young man who is currently in the top 1% of all undergrads & is not afraid to speak up— so I can only imagine how it plays out for anyone not forceful or tenacious enough.

    As to whether some parents are too lenient, I'd have to say, "yes", based on parents I've seen. It seems that of the friends who dropped out, my kids had never seen their parents at parent/teacher meets. I'd also say that there are many who just aren't involved in their children's educations, at all. It's a shame, too. I see how Big Picture helped so many who were falling through the cracks in some way (my daughter was one) & one of the the biggest issues for most was lack of parental input. However, I also have to say that the traditional, linear "read/retain/recall" type of regimented systems in most schools, doesn't lend itself to parents being able to help much with the actual school work/methods. Big Picture was the exception & I saw a lot more input for the students involved in it.

    Lastly, I don't place all blame at the feet of parents. We all know people who try to do all they can to support their kids & the kids just push it away. So, there are always two sides.

    HTH

    PS: go here to learn more & to watch the student stories about Big Picture— it's truly inspiring!

    • aznkevy on 30/07/2016 - 12:59

      Thanks for the reply, that was very informative! :)

  • ontherocks on 06/09/2016 - 19:27

    I work exclusively with kids deemed to be 'at-risk', which I assume are the students you are referring to. The school I work at has no more than 26 students with 2 classes (9 & 10) and I have found that many kids can't cope with a mainstream system (an obvious statement, I know) and struggle to shrug off the reputations they have formed in the early years of high school and latter years of primary school. By removing them from an environment, which has been negative for so many years they are able to start to form positive connections between education and "future". In short, I feel that there must be more alternate options for students, which means there must be more schools or alternate education settings such as ours. We try to treat our students like adults and encourage them to own their own problems, however, although I have seen a lot of success there are also students who simply refuse to take the options provided for them.

    • BiotBargin on 06/09/2016 - 20:40

      one of the problems i have seen that there is to many options and the students are looking for the biggest cop-outs they can. i have seen an out break of whining because students find out there bludge subject actually had an end of term exam.

      a basic problem in my opinion is technically they cant keep a child down unless they basically dont show up and produce nothing and hence these students are pushed through to they basically get to senior schools which then have to deal with the problem else the students are out of the system altoghter and straight down to centrelink and hence the pass rates keep dropping else the system would end up with a swag of students failing and would appear rather embarrasing to the education system. what makes it even more horrendous now is that teachers are getting the life sucked out of them slowly by beaurcrats wanting more statisical data to qauntify the down hill trend.

      another factor dragging the system down hill are transient students - how people are allowed to turn up to term 2 in school and leave at the end of term 3 each year and get a pass is beyond me.

      • ontherocks on 06/09/2016 - 20:49

        Was this intended for my comment or OP?

    • Geekomatic on 06/09/2016 - 22:32

      Did you look at my link?

      I'm wondering how any educator could be against it?

      http://vimeopro.com/bigpictureau/student-stories/

      • BiotBargin on 07/09/2016 - 07:20

        what your link shows, in all fairness, is a minority and thats the sad part. your always going to find sucess stories but by in large, there is a lot more fail then people want to know about or willing to admit to and yes the parents are a massive part of the problem, as the original poster made reference to.

        • Geekomatic on 08/09/2016 - 16:03

          Actually, the truth is that every kid in that class were the ones "circling the drain" when the program started, and every one of them did amazingly well for themselves. I'm speaking of the two classes I am personally aware of. The other year prior I didn't know.

          So, yes, this works & no, these weren't kids who all happened to have fantastic parents. What happened is that the kids were allowed & encouraged to follow their passions. Their exhibitions were different each term, so they had a chance to "try on" a few things during the year. They went forward armed with tools to help them to achieve their goals. That, is what this program is all about.

          If Big Picture were to move into every school, I honestly believe the difference would be astounding.

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