AHISA SUBMISSION

Regional Education Expert Advisory Group

30 January 2019

National Strategy for Regional, Rural and Remote Education

Drawing on the results of three surveys of members undertaken in the last 18 months, AHISA’s submission identifies key challenges in the provision of school education in regional, rural and remote (RRR) education. Suggestions on how governments might help to address these include:

• Governments must prioritise the recommendation of the Independent Review into RRR Education to improve access to and the use of information and communication technologies (ITC) in RRR education.
• To support the development of students’ post-school aspirations, the Australian Government could offer travel grants for secondary students in RRR locations to assist in attending university open days, undertaking student exchanges, or to attend special education opportunities such as youth leadership conferences or elite sports events.
• To support more schools in RRR areas to seek Registered Training Organisation (RTO) certification and therefore increase students’ access to VET courses, governments could: reduce the compliance burden for schools to obtain RTO certification by giving recognition to their existing status as education providers; reduce the compliance burden on staffing arrangements by recognising the teaching qualifications of teachers who must also hold a Certificate IV qualification in Training and Assessment to deliver VET courses and extend recognition of Certificate IV qualifications for teachers to five years; subsidise students’ enrolment in externally provided VET courses.

The submission also outlines a number of recommendations to government on ways to support out of area provision for RRR students.

Submission to the consultation on a National Strategy for Regional, Rural and Remote Education