Comprehensive review into regional education

A comprehensive review of regional education will be conducted with the aim of getting more regional, rural and remote students to be successful at school and go on to further study, training and employment.

The review will investigate the key barriers and challenges that impact on the educational outcomes of regional, rural and remote students.

The independent review will be led by Emeritus Professor John Halsey of Flinders University.

“This review will look at education from school entry to job success and how we can improve results for rural and regional people,” Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said.

“Approximately one third of regional and remote students do not complete Year 12 or an equivalent unit of study and that number rises to almost two thirds of very remote students.

“Regional and remote students made up just 18.8 per cent of domestic undergraduate students at universities, compared to making up 26.4 per cent of the population in 2016.

“Professor Halsey understands the unique challenges faced by regional, rural and remote students and his review will come up with solutions to better support students in school and into pathways beyond school.”

Halsey commenced his career as a teacher and was a principal of two schools in South Australia and his experience spans across numerous positions outside of the classroom on advisory boards and in educational leadership roles.

The review will be conducted in consultation with key stakeholders and will benefit country people and country communities.

A discussion paper and online platform for public submissions will be available from April 2017.

The final report and recommendations will be presented to the Government by the end of 2017.

For more information on how to be involved please visit here.