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<b>LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY</b> - Signing ePetition

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY - Signing ePetition - Reform to NESA HSC systems

To sign the ePetition, confirm you are a resident of New South Wales and enter your title, first name and last name. Once you click ‘submit’ you will have signed the ePetition and will be re-directed to the Legislative Assembly’s ‘ePetitions open for signature’ page

Reform to NESA HSC systems

To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly, The petitioners seek to establish an investigation into significant reforms that may be made to amend the archaic High School Certificate examination. The New South Wales school system is primarily under the guise of NSW’s Education Standards Authority, whereby the majority of schools are required to undertake a High School Certificate examination. This system has seen minimal change since reforms made in 1977 that require 50% of an internal assessment mark and 50% of a standardized examination mark for the calculation of a student’s Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR). Concerns arise from the academic deficiency of NSW students as a result of this rote learning system that impedes critical activity and therefore risks lower educational levels than state counterparts. Moreover, students are expected to work approximately 47 hours a week, including class time, to ensure success within this HSC system, this in comparison to the national average of working 31 hours per week for the average Australian adult. Furthermore, The Commissioner for Children and Young People’s investigation in 2003 has seen 1 in 11 adolescent suicides influenced by the HSC examination, with no significant reforms made to these systems as a result. As mental health concerns rise, measures to assist students are required and most beneficially supplied through reforms to NESA’s current HSC system. The undersigned petitioners therefore ask the Legislative Assembly to enact reforms to the NESA education system that might amend the grievances caused by this archaic HSC system.

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The Parliament of New South Wales acknowledges and respects the traditional lands of all Aboriginal people, and pays respects to all Elders past and present. We acknowledge the Gadigal people as the traditional custodians of the land on which the Parliament of New South Wales stands.