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EDUCATION

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SCHOOLS

As at August 2009, there were 274 schools in Tasmania of which 207 (75.5%) were government schools and 67 (24.5%) were non-government schools. There were 168 (61.3%) primary only schools, 44 (16.1%) secondary only schools, 56 (20.4%) combined primary/secondary schools and 6 (2.2%) special schools.

Between 2005 and 2009, the number of Tasmanian schools decreased from 279 to 274. Over that period the number of special schools fell from 9 to 6, and the number of combined primary and secondary schools rose by 2 to 56.


STUDENTS

In August 2009, there were 80,907 full-time and 2,048 part-time students enrolled in Tasmanian schools. Of all full-time enrolled students in August 2009, 28.9% were attending non-government schools. From 2005 to 2009, the number of full-time students attending government schools fell by 5.1% (from 60,605 to 57,504), while the number attending non-government schools increased by 6.9% (from 21,899 to 23,403). In government and non-government schools combined, 54.6% of full-time students were enrolled in a primary grade (44,157) while 45.4% were enrolled in a secondary grade (36,750).

FULL-TIME SCHOOL STUDENTS

There were 5,591 Indigenous students (part-time and full-time) enrolled in Tasmanian schools in August 2009.


TEACHERS

There were 7,196 teaching staff in Tasmania in August 2009. Of these, 5,075 were female and 2,121 were male.

There were 5,936.6 full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching staff in Tasmania in August 2009. Of these, 4,209.4 were within government schools, 903.8 were in Catholic schools and 823.4 were in Independent schools.

Of all 5,936.6 full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching staff, 3,016.0 were secondary FTEs and 2,920.6 were primary FTEs.

Tasmanian schools have significantly more female than male teachers. In August 2009, the total FTE teaching workforce was comprised of 4,027.6 female FTEs and 1,909.0 male FTEs. At 79.9%, the female to male FTE proportion within the primary teaching workforce was higher than that within the secondary workforce at 56.1%.




Overall, in August 2009, the average number of FTE Tasmanian primary school students per FTE teacher was 15.1. In government primary schools the average was 14.8 while in non-government primary schools it was 16.0. The equivalent figures for secondary schools were 12.6 students, with an average of 12.9 in government secondary schools and 11.9 in non-government secondary schools.


APPARENT RETENTION RATES

In August 2009, the apparent retention rate of full-time Tasmanian students from Year 10 to Year 12 was 64.1%, compared to 67.8% in 2005. The apparent retention rate for females in 2009 was 70.1% and 58.1% for males.

In recent years, apparent retention rates for students in non-government schools have exceeded those for students in government schools. In August 2009, the apparent retention rate of full-time Tasmanian students from Year 10 to Year 12 was 68.1% for those in non-government schools, compared to 62.2% for those in government schools.

APPARENT RETENTION RATES, Year 10 to Year 12

STUDENTS ACHIEVING BENCHMARKS

In March 1997, all State, Territory and Commonwealth government education ministers agreed on the national goal: that every child leaving primary school should be numerate and able to read, write and spell at an appropriate level. The Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) publishes national reports which include the results of testing conducted to identify the achievement of students in each of Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 as measured against national benchmarks for reading, writing and numeracy.

In general, the results for Tasmania for 2009 show that the large majority of Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students are achieving at the benchmark level or better in reading, writing and numeracy. The highest percentage results for Tasmania were gained by Year 3 students for writing and numeracy where this cohort saw a respective 96.5% and 93.9% of students achieving at the benchmark level or better; the lowest percentage results were gained by Year 9 for writing (83.3%) and Year 7 for writing (88.5%).

Tasmanian female school students achieved better benchmark results than equivalent male school students across all categories and years.

STUDENTS ACHIEVING BENCHMARK IN READING, 2009

STUDENTS ACHIEVING BENCHMARK IN WRITING, 2009

STUDENTS ACHIEVING BENCHMARK IN NUMERACY, 2009

HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS

In 2008, there were 20,191 higher education students in Tasmania. Of these, 56.3% were female, 70.8% were undertaking a bachelor degree and 19.6% were undertaking postgraduate study. The most popular field of education study by Tasmanian higher education students in 2008 was 'society and culture' (23.1% of all students) followed by 'management and commerce' (19.3%).

HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS(a)

SOURCES

Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR)

Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA)

Schools, Australia (ABS cat. no. 4221.0)

Further information can also be found on the Education and Training Statistics Theme Page of the ABS website.