❓ A parliamentary question regarding the removal of Year 11 and 12 courses at Roebourne District High School and the impact on students, particularly Indigenous and country students. The Minister defends the decision by highlighting better opportunities at Karratha High School and support for affected students.
AnsweredQoN 82Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ROEBOURNE DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL — REMOVAL OF YEAR 11 AND 12 COURSES
In light of the social circumstances in the Pilbara town of Roebourne highlighted in today’s The West Australian , I ask — (1) Is it true that the minister will withdraw all year 11 and 12 courses at Roebourne District High School between now and 2012? (2) Will the minister be providing any additional resources to Roebourne District High School to assist students with distance education? (3) How many students will be affected by the minister’s initial changes to cut classes from eight district high schools this year? (4) Has not the minister just given up on these kids, and is it not simply a budget cut that disadvantages Indigenous and country students across the state? Dr E. CONSTABLE
In light of the social circumstances in the Pilbara town of Roebourne highlighted in today’s The West Australian , I ask — (1) Is it true that the minister will withdraw all year 11 and 12 courses at Roebourne District High School between now and 2012? (2) Will the minister be providing any additional resources to Roebourne District High School to assist students with distance education? (3) How many students will be affected by the minister’s initial changes to cut classes from eight district high schools this year? (4) Has not the minister just given up on these kids, and is it not simply a budget cut that disadvantages Indigenous and country students across the state? Dr E. CONSTABLE
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
(1) Is it true that the minister will withdraw all year 11 and 12 courses at Roebourne District High School between now and 2012? (2) Will the minister be providing any additional resources to Roebourne District High School to assist students with distance education? (3) How many students will be affected by the minister’s initial changes to cut classes from eight district high schools this year? (4) Has not the minister just given up on these kids, and is it not simply a budget cut that disadvantages Indigenous and country students across the state? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
(2) Will the minister be providing any additional resources to Roebourne District High School to assist students with distance education? (3) How many students will be affected by the minister’s initial changes to cut classes from eight district high schools this year? (4) Has not the minister just given up on these kids, and is it not simply a budget cut that disadvantages Indigenous and country students across the state? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
(3) How many students will be affected by the minister’s initial changes to cut classes from eight district high schools this year? (4) Has not the minister just given up on these kids, and is it not simply a budget cut that disadvantages Indigenous and country students across the state? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
(4) Has not the minister just given up on these kids, and is it not simply a budget cut that disadvantages Indigenous and country students across the state? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
(1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
(1) Is it true that the minister will withdraw all year 11 and 12 courses at Roebourne District High School between now and 2012? (2) Will the minister be providing any additional resources to Roebourne District High School to assist students with distance education? (3) How many students will be affected by the minister’s initial changes to cut classes from eight district high schools this year? (4) Has not the minister just given up on these kids, and is it not simply a budget cut that disadvantages Indigenous and country students across the state? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
(2) Will the minister be providing any additional resources to Roebourne District High School to assist students with distance education? (3) How many students will be affected by the minister’s initial changes to cut classes from eight district high schools this year? (4) Has not the minister just given up on these kids, and is it not simply a budget cut that disadvantages Indigenous and country students across the state? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
(3) How many students will be affected by the minister’s initial changes to cut classes from eight district high schools this year? (4) Has not the minister just given up on these kids, and is it not simply a budget cut that disadvantages Indigenous and country students across the state? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
(4) Has not the minister just given up on these kids, and is it not simply a budget cut that disadvantages Indigenous and country students across the state? Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE replied: (1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
(1)–(4) Let me first define a district high school. A district high school caters for children from kindergarten to year 10. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : They are plenty that go K to 12—in fact, most of them. Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : District high schools cater for children from kindergarten to year 10. When the previous government announced that it would be phasing in a higher school-leaving age, there was a period of three years, up to last year, considered a transition year for some students who wished to stay at district high schools in years 11 and 12. The number of students affected this year in the eight schools mentioned by the member for Midland is 14. There may be one or two students in years 11 and 12 across those eight schools. Quite clearly, the quality of what those students are offered at a district high school is nothing like what can be offered in a senior high school where there is a broader range of opportunities. Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Mr P.B. Watson : So you’re putting them on a bus and sending them hundreds of kilometres away. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : The parents and students at those schools were given a choice; they were not told that they had to get on a bus. Where buses were available to bus them to a senior high school, and where most of the students from that year 10 cohort would have got on a bus and gone to a senior high school, they were offered that opportunity. Those students who lived further away were offered a place in a residential college for years 11 and 12 where they might be a weekly boarder. Substantial assistance is available to parents. A third option was to remain at the district high school with some support and enrol in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education. Those students had choices. I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
I visited the school in Roebourne late last year with the local member. Again, it is a fairly easy bus ride from Roebourne to Karratha High School. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Did the local member agree with the cessation of these courses? Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : The local member was with me and I consulted with the local member about this. Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Mr F.M. Logan : So he did agree. Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : The member should let me finish. I have opened the first stage of a new high school in Karratha that caters for year 11 and 12 students. It is co-located at the TAFE. This was decided while the Labor Party was in government. It is a sensational school. I cannot think of a better place for those young people from Roebourne to be going to school as they not only have the opportunities of a wide range of academic studies but also, because it is co-located with TAFE, a wide range of opportunities offered by TAFE. Those students will get a far better quality of education in Karratha than they could possibly get in Roebourne and that is why they are encouraged to be there. I was in Roebourne late last year on a day when there was a ceremony for youngsters who were involved in a program funded by two of the mining companies to encourage them to undertake further investigation. The vocational and further education programs are a collaboration between — Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Will the VET programs continue? Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
Dr E. CONSTABLE : These programs will give students the very best and widest possible range of opportunities that they could have. I am very satisfied that counselling parents and children to understand the wider opportunities available at senior high schools nearest to their home town where there is only a district high school is by far the very best way to provide the same opportunities that students in larger centres have in the metropolitan area.
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