Education and skills for the future

The Smart State vision includes an education and training system that equips Queenslanders with the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to succeed in a competitive, innovative and global society. High levels of education and literacy are the keystones of a knowledge economy. Higher levels of education and training foster better employment prospects and higher paid jobs. Skilled people also increase productivity, generate innovative ideas and improve the performance of their workplaces, and the success of businesses. Since 2002, the Queensland Government has implemented significant reforms in the education system and vocational education and training to ensure Queenslanders have access to the best education and skills systems possible. The Queensland Government is committed to improving education standards by adopting international best practice and ensuring all children receive strong educational foundations. The Education and Training Reforms for the Future initiative has significantly changed the Queensland education system since 2002. The reforms have driven major changes to the school curriculum, and the introduction of the Preparatory Year for all Queensland children. Another initiative is the establishment of the Queensland Academies - institutes of excellence where students who are high achievers can flourish in specific areas of choice. Investment in the education system is continuing. More than $500 million has been committed in the 2007-08 budget to modernise and build schools and training facilities, provide more teachers, and provide computers for all teachers. The Queensland Government has also made a $1.5 million commitment to drive high quality literacy and numeracy programs in state schools. The Queensland Government continues to implement the Queensland Skills Plan to build Queensland's skills base. Reforms made through this $1 billion investment represent the most significant package of changes to Queensland's vocational education and training system in more than 40 years.

Your Smart State, your say We have introduced major reforms to the education and training systems, and have increased access to higher education. How can we build on the Education and Training Reforms for the Future and our $1 billion Queensland Skills Plan to ensure our education and training systems prepare Queenslanders for the jobs of the future? We welcome your feedback.

Our Smart State achievements

Our Smart State achievements Queenslanders have taken up the challenge of learning or earning and we are achieving exceptional success in skills development. Nearly two-thirds of Queenslanders are working in jobs where Vocational Education and Training (VET) has been the main skills pathway to employment. Since 1998, opportunities for young people have increased. Over the past nine years, more people, especially young people, have gained higher-level VET qualifications, and fewer have undertaken pre-vocational training. Since 1998, the range of vocational education and training pathways for young people has expanded substantially. Young Queenslanders are commencing their apprenticeships and vocational skills training in school and are achieving qualifications that are highly regarded by industry. Queensland has led the way with the delivery of school-based apprenticeships and traineeships, with more than 40 per cent of the total commencements in Australia for 2006. A related accomplishment has been the fast-tracking of young people with VET qualifications into jobs where they can apply and extend those skills. More Queensland students are completing Year 12 and high numbers of students are achieving national benchmarks in reading, writing and numeracy. This is good news as Australian standards are among the best in the world. The addition of the Preparatory Year of schooling from 2007 will provide an even better foundation for Queensland children, helping them achieve throughout their school years and beyond.

Queensland schools are delivering strong educational foundations.
Queensland schools had high percentages of students achieving national benchmarks in reading, writing and numeracy during the testing phases in Years 3, 5 and 7 in 2005.⁹

More Queensland students finish Year 12 than the national average.
78.5 per cent of Queensland students completed Year 12 compared with the Australian average of 74.7 per cent.¹⁰

Students who complete Year 12 (%)

The Queensland population is becoming more skilled and knowledgeable.
In 2006 66 per cent of employed Queenslanders aged 25 to 34 years attained post-school qualifications, up from 60 per cent in 2002.¹¹

Percentage of total employed (%)

A Preparatory Year of schooling has been introduced for Queensland students.
More than 33 000 Queensland children are undertaking the first Preparatory Year of schooling in 2007 and it is estimated that this will increase to 54 000 children in 2008.¹²

Education and skills-related overseas exports are now over $1.5 billion.
Our education and skills-related overseas exports grew from around $500 million in 1997-98 to $1.5 billion in 2005-06.¹³

Education and skills related exports ($ billion)

Queenslanders in higher education equate to the Australian average.
The proportion of Queenslanders in higher education is in alignment with the national average - a long-term achievement from Queensland's relatively low historical performance.¹⁴

More Queenslanders are gaining Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications.
Queensland had 9 per cent more apprenticeships and traineeships in 2005-06 than the Australian average.¹⁵

Queenslanders are increasingly using household computers. 
Back in 1998 only 43 per cent of Queenslanders had access to a personal computer and only 15 per cent had internet access. In 2005-06, 72 per cent of Queenslanders had access to a computer and 61 per cent had access to the internet. The proportion of Queensland households with computer and internet access now exceeds the national average. ¹⁶

Future challenges

While these figures show Queensland is tracking well above the national average, there are still areas we can target for improvement, such as:

• retaining more high school students to Year 12 (or equivalent) and attracting more students to study at university will be an ongoing challenge in the face of the current mining boom
  
  
• attracting more students to study science, technology, engineering and maths to ensure Queensland is well prepared with skilled workers to fill the jobs of the future
  
  
• raising the achievement levels of poorer performing students, often from low socio-economic backgrounds, to meet the average achievement levels of more advantaged students.

Queensland Government programs and initiatives

Major reforms to the Queensland education system have been implemented through the Education and Training Reforms for the Future initiative:

• Queensland children have access to a Preparatory Year of schooling
  
  
• 15 to16 year olds are required to be either earning or learning until they turn 17
  
  
• professional training and support is being provided for teachers
  
  
• our schools are linked to their communities and the world through an extensive ICT network
  
  
• the new Queensland Certificate of Education which recognises a wider range of learning in senior secondary education.

A number of these key initiatives have been trialled and implementation is either continuing or beginning across the state.

The Queensland Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Framework (the Smarter Learning Framework) will be implemented in 2008 and will enable parents to see more easily how well their child is achieving and what is expected. The framework will define what Queensland students should learn, how they are assessed and how schools report student achievement.

Two Queensland Academies - the Queensland Academy for Creative Industries and the Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology - have opened with more than 320 students in Years 10 and 11. These academies are state schools that provide state-of-the-art facilities, industry experience, and the opportunity to fast-track tertiary study and mentored learning. The Queensland Academy for Health Sciences on the Gold Coast, a partnership with Griffith University, will also open for its first intake of students in 2008.

Through the Smart Classrooms initiative, there is improved capacity for Queensland state schools to provide opportunities for parents and teachers to communicate and access class work and learning materials electronically. A trial to assess ways of helping teachers to improve learning and communication through technology has led to a new, four-year initiative to supply all permanent state school teachers with a computer.

We are working to give Queensland school students access to the best possible facilities to provide young people with skills for the future through the Tomorrow's Schools initiative. We have commenced this $1 billion five-year modernisation program to improve school learning environments, particularly libraries and science laboratories.

The Queensland Government is committed to enhancing girls' and women's participation in Queensland's emerging industries, particularly science, engineering and technology (SET). In 2005 the Smart Women - Smart State Taskforce was established to advise the Government on strategies to increase girls' and women's participation in SET education, training and employment. In Queensland, women currently make up just 34 per cent of the state's SET workforce, including approximately 7 per cent of engineers and 16.7 per cent of information technology professionals.

The Queensland Government is currently developing a Ten Year Plan for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education and Skills in Queensland. The plan will encourage high standards of participation and achievement in these areas in schools, vocational education and training, and higher education. A discussion paper seeking comment on the development of the proposed plan has been released and is available on the Education Queensland website.

The $1 billion Queensland Skills Plan is steering Queensland's Vocational Education and Training (VET) system to respond to the rapidly changing skills needs of the economy, and delivers up-to-date training to more Queenslanders. Queensland Skills Plan initiatives include:

• Centres of Excellence to foster skills development in manufacturing and engineering, building and construction, energy, the mining industry and aviation.
  
  
• Skills Formation Strategies to support industry and regional stakeholders to work together on identifying and addressing factors impacting on skills development. Ten new skills formation strategies have been completed.
  
  
• Major upgrades to Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes and creation of more training places to give more Queensland students access to world-class facilities.

Under the Skilling Solutions Queensland initiative, centres provide face-to-face services for up-to-date information on local employment opportunities, career pathways, and training options. Funding of $13.4 million has been allocated to continue this service, and ten new centres were opened during 2006-07 at Hervey Bay, Chermside, Caboolture, Bundaberg, Ipswich, Cairns, Capalaba, Toowoomba, Gladstone and Southport.

A suite of initiatives has also been introduced to attract and retain more people in apprenticeships. This will be achieved by shortening some apprenticeships, increasing the travel and accommodation allowance, providing a $1000 early completion bonus for eligible apprentices, establishing an Independent Skills Assessment Service to help resolve disputes about progression and completion, establishing an apprenticeships information service and implementing the Train to Retain Action Plan to promote good workplace practices.

Skilling Queenslanders for Work focuses on helping young people, disadvantaged people, people with disabilities and people living in regional areas develop their skills to become more employable. It includes a range of project-based assistance and other financial support for skills development.

The Business and Skilled Migration Program aims to increase Queensland's appeal as an attractive destination to live and do business. In 2006-07, more than 706 business and skilled migrants were assisted, a capital investment of over $441 million was achieved, and over 1163 jobs were either created or retained.

The Smart State University Internships Program is a component of the Smart State Innovation Funds. This program provides support to universities to develop programs that provide undergraduate science, technology and engineering students with industry work placements. Nine Queensland universities have been awarded funding totalling $1.05 million over the two funding rounds.

Young Queenslanders have a better start to their schooling For the first time in more than 50 years, Queensland children are starting school with a Preparatory Year. This advantage gives them the same number of school years as other Australian states, laying a great foundation for their journey through life. The introduction of the Preparatory Year of schooling (Prep) has involved the preparation of more than 2200 teachers, 1300 teacher aides and 1000 administrators in state schools alone. More preparation is underway for next year when more teachers in Queensland schools will be teaching the first full cohort of Prep students. The Queensland Government has also supported Prep students and teachers by developing special Early Childhood Curriculum Guidelines and providing equipment suitable for very young students.

Schools and industry working together to give our children the skills that will take them into the future Sandgate State High School, Watkins Engineering, and North Brisbane TAFE are working in partnership to equip Sandgate students with real-life skills and to make Sandgate High a better place to learn. At Watkins Engineering, apprenticeship students are working with tradesmen from all over the world and are exposed to a diverse range of work from stair rails to a huge statue for the entry to a new Gold Coast housing estate. It provides a rare opportunity for students to engage in heavy fabrication work. At the commencement of the program, students were thrilled to receive special clothing and safety equipment provided through the Workplace Excellence Program. Two students each year undertake apprenticeships with Watkins Engineering. There is the potential for more. Watkins Engineering is expanding at a rapid pace and hopes to recruit apprentices from Sandgate High in increasing numbers well into the future. Current student, Tim, said, "I got the opportunity to do some real work in the industry and see if this type of work is what I want to take up in the near future. Actually doing the hands-on work with the staff gives you the idea of what working within the industry would be like." Eighteen students have benefited directly from the program since its inception in 2006, as part of Making Queensland's future - a manufacturing development plan.

 

Last reviewed 29 October 2007

^ to top