1308.8 - In fACT - Statistical Information on the ACT and Region, Feb 2009
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/02/2009
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EDUCATION
Schools and students
There are currently 84 government school locations, 12 fewer than in 2005. There are currently 44 non-government school locations, one more that in 2005.
In February 2008 the majority of school students attended government schools. The propensity towards government schools was most pronounced in the primary school sector where 60.1% of school students attended government schools and 39.9% attended non-government schools. In the high school/college sector just over half (54.4%) of all students attended government schools at February 2008, while 45.6% attended non-government schools. Figures shown in the table below show a steady decline in student numbers in the government sector, down 7.4% between 2003 and 2008. In contrast there was an increase in enrolments of 6.8% in the non-government sector over the same time period. Government primary schools experienced the largest decline in enrolments of the three school levels (primary, high school and college), down 8.9% from 2003 to 2008. Government high school enrolments fell 5.2%, and colleges 6.6% over the same period. Overall, primary and secondary school student numbers declined by 1,109 (1.8%) between 2003 and 2008. Apparent retention rates measure the number of students in Year 12 as a percentage of their secondary schooling commencing cohort group (Year 7 for NSW, Vic., Tas, and the ACT and Year 8 for Qld, SA, WA and the NT). To calculate the rate, the total number of full-time students in Year 12 is divided by the number of full time students in the base year. The resultant figure is converted to a percentage. Care should be exercised in the interpretation of these results, as this method of calculation does not take in to account a range of factors, including students repeating a year of education, migration and other net changes in the school population. In small jurisdictions such as SA, Tas., NT and the ACT relatively small changes in student numbers can create apparently large movements in retention rates. The ACT has historically exhibited higher than average apparent retention rates than Australia as a whole. The graph above shows the apparent retention rate declined by 6.4 percentage points between 1997 and 2007 for the ACT (from 91.6% to 85.2%). Comparatively, all other states and territories, as well as Australia as a whole, have exhibited steady or increasing apparent retention rates over the same time period. Factors which could explain this decline in the ACT include more students choosing vocational education as a means of completing secondary schooling, students moving interstate between Year7/8 and Year 12, repeating a year of education and other net changes to the school population.
The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) primary school teaching staff in the ACT increased by 148 FTE teachers over the period 2002 to 2007. Over that period the student/teaching staff ratio fell, from 16.7 FTE students per FTE teacher in 2002 to 14.8 in 2007. Teaching staff numbers in secondary schools remained relatively constant over the same period, as did the FTE student to FTE teacher ratio. There were 12.5 FTE students to each FTE teacher in ACT secondary schools in 2007. Comparatively, student/teaching staff ratios for Australia as a whole were 15.9 for primary and 12.1 for secondary. Higher education
In 2006 the Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Canberra (UC) accounted for 89% of the total tertiary student body of the ACT. UC also had the highest proportion of undergraduate students (71%). The university with the highest proportion of postgraduate students was the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), with just under half of its student population undertaking postgraduate courses (49%). The only university offering enabling courses in 2006 was UC, and the university with the highest proportion of non-award course students was ADFA, with 11%.
In 2006, nearly three quarters of ANU students were full-time (72%), whereas over half of ADFA students were part-time (56%), the highest proportion of all higher education institutions in the ACT. ADFA had the highest proportion of male students (82%), and the Signadou campus of the Australian Catholic University (ACU) had the highest proportion of female students (75%).
The overall proportion of Indigenous students in each of the ACT universities remained steady over the 5 years from 2002 to 2006, with the exception of ADFA, where there was a decline from 19 students in 2002 (and a peak of 28 Indigenous students in 2004) to 6 students in 2006. In proportionate terms, this represents a decline from 1.0% in 2002 to 0.2% in 2006. Changes in Indigenous student numbers at ADFA was the main driver of changes to total Indigenous student numbers in the ACT from 2002 to 2006.
Overseas students accounted for 20% of all higher education students enrolled in the ACT in 2006. ANU had both the highest number of overseas students (3,246) and also the highest proportion of the total student body (22%). ANU and UC both had an almost even distribution of males and females among overseas students, with males in the ANU accounting for 57% of overseas students and in UC, 52%. All the overseas students at Signadou campus of ACU were female in 2006, and 92% of ADFA's overseas students were male. These proportions were similar to those of the total overall student bodies of each university. UC was the only university with offshore overseas students, and these students accounted for 48% of UC's total overseas students. The university offered joint programs at 13 overseas tertiary education providers in China, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China), Singapore and Vietnam, with courses including Masters in Business Administration and Economic Law and Masters in Education and Leadership. Students undertake these programs overseas, and when completed receive a UC course award. National Assessment Program on Literacy and Numeracy The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) conducts a National Assessment Program on Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) each year. The NAPLAN tracks achievement in reading, writing, language conventions (grammar and spelling) and numeracy through administration of a standard test to all Australian students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. 2008 was the first year the nationally standardised test was administered to all students nationwide. Student reports show what students know and can do, in the five areas tested, how they performed in relation to other students in the year group, and achievement against the national average and national minimum standard. Some key ACT figures from the first NAPLAN Summary Report for 2008 are as follows: Reading Of Year 3 students in the ACT, 94% were at or above the national minimum standard for reading, 2 percentage points higher than the national level. For Year 7, the percentage was 96%, one of the highest percentages for all states and territories, and 2 percentage points higher than the national average. Writing Of Year 5 students, 95% were at or above the national minimum standard for writing, which was 2 percentage points above the national level. Grammar and Punctuation The ACT had the highest percentage of Year 9 students at or above the national minimum standard of all States and Territories (95%), 5 percentage points above the national average. Numeracy Of Year 5 students, 95% were at or above the national minimum standard for numeracy, one of the highest percentages of all states and territories, and 2 percentage points higher than the national level. Year 9 ACT students were among the highest proportion at or above the national minimum standard for numeracy, with 97%. This was 3 percentage points higher than the national level. Participation rate The average participation rate across all year groups and all tests for the ACT was 95%. For further information please see the MCEETYA NAPLAN Summary Report, on the MCEETYA website.
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